Some of you might like to read my just-published article about iNaturalist and interspecies relatedness. It appears at the on-line Journal of Wild Culture. Here’s the link: [https://www.wildculture.com/article/solitary-executioner-clownfrog-wants-you-know-she-exists/1862]
–Max
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Great article! Thank you for sharing.
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This leads me to wonder, what is the most-observed single individual of iNat? There’s probably a famous specimen tree somewhere…
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Re: you statements about humans being records in iNat. Humans could be considered the species most represented in iNat. If you look at what an iNat record is " An observation records an encounter with an individual organism at a particular time and location.", there’s a human as part of every record, the observer. Also the purpose of iNat is to connect people with nature. Sure people are a part of nature but connecting people with people is doesn’t help you connect with nature as a greater whole.
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Great question–there must be an easy way to find out, no? Maybe by contacting one of the site administrators?
Not sure I take your meaning…In any case, my hope was to show how iNat fosters, among the humans who use it, a sense of connectedness to individual non-human lifeforms. There are plenty of other platforms where people can connect with people, and one could say that iNat has a role to play in this as well (as our exchange makes manifest). But what’s special about iNat is its fostering of a sense of the individuality of every non-human being, rather than reducing them merely to types or representatives. I hope this point came through clearly in my article.
Good article, thanks. I used to be an avid collector of biological specimens for research. To put it bluntly, my encounter with an animal was often not just a brief crossing of paths, it was the end of the line for that individual. I’m a photographer these days, so my encounters with nonhuman organisms are now like the chat you might have with a stranger before you go your separate ways. A lizard I photographed three years ago might still be out there, foraging for insects as it was when we met, but maybe not. The dragonfly I encountered on the same day is surely long since dead. The bristlecone pine I photographed last year was there before I was born and will likely still be there after I’m dead. But regardless, I remember those encounters and I still have their images. So does iNat.
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I don’t know what the most-observed individual is, but Gerald is probably the most-discussed.
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This is one of the most photographed bristlecone pines in general, with decent representation on iNaturalist. There are probably better contenders though. (Ironically, this is a snag, not even a live tree.)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7667735
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16694556
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/17150020
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35660008
We were talking about iNat with a friend the other day, and I told him I like iNat because it gives a kind of solemnity to the event of meeting another organism.
It marks the moment for the posterity:
- I am human, from the order of the vertebrae - homo - etc
And then the organism goes - I am a gasteropod from the family Helicidae, etc.
Just like in the Odissey
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I thoroughly enjoyed your take on the definition of a casual observation, “If you post a snapshot of your human cousin Greta as an observation, she will be designated — along with any photos of your pet canary, or your sled dog, or a giraffe from your local zoo — as “casual,” which is iNat lingo for: “This really belongs on Facebook or Instagram.””
That is perhaps the definition that best captures the implicit meaning of a casual observation! Thanks for the good words and the hearty laugh! A wonderful read!
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I’m probably just missing the irony. I lumped your statement into the “there are no human records, they don’t want human records” bin.
And… I failed to mention that I really enjoyed your article. I think you make a very good argument for connecting individuals and nature in general.
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There are some vagrant birds which get swarmed by every bird-watcher in a large region. Ones that stay for several months can accumulate a large number of observations which are definitely all of the same individual.
For example there are 32 observations of a Great Kiskadee in Rondeau Park, Ontario, Canada:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16295265
There are 37 observations of a Varied Thrush near Bark Lake, Ontario, Canada:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/36410744
Those are the most-observed individuals I know of, but @jdmore might have the right idea searching for iconic trees.
Don’t forget about the 40 observations of the Rock Sandpiper in SF:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=854&taxon_id=3839
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Oh, of course. I forgot about the tendency of birders to drive 50 mi to see something they heard about.
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Thanks, “tallastro”! Much appreciated!
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Sometimes much more than 50 mi…
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