# Why is the number of observers (at least in Nova Scotia) going down?

**URL:** <https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/why-is-the-number-of-observers-at-least-in-nova-scotia-going-down/84987>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [September 5, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/why-is-the-number-of-observers-at-least-in-nova-scotia-going-down/84987 "2026-09-05T12:28:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![randylauff](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/randylauff/32/29183_2.png) [@randylauff](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/randylauff)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/why-is-the-number-of-observers-at-least-in-nova-scotia-going-down/84987/1 "2026-09-05T12:28:16Z")

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I’ve been recording the number of observers in Nova Scotia for a few years, on a daily basis. On the 18th of August there were 24330 observers; today, after almost daily double digit decreases, there are 24271 observers. The only increase during this time of observers was on 24 August, a 204 observer increase. These numbers seem odd…is it a glitch or are duplicate accounts being merged?

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**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/why-is-the-number-of-observers-at-least-in-nova-scotia-going-down/84987/2 "2026-09-05T12:58:24Z")

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i didn’t actually look into your issue, but what you’re describing sounds like [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/total-number-of-inat-species-is-decreasing/31811/27](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/total-number-of-inat-species-is-decreasing/31811/27).