A half-the-hemisphere event with a name as grand as the Great Southern Bioblitz sounds like something only scientists contemplate, but it’s actually quite the opposite.

The ‘GSB’ is a mass inventory of the natural world, in spring, in the Southern hemisphere, and it is built on the observations of people like you and I, looking in our own back yards.

There aren’t enough scientists in the world to be where we all are, see what we all see, hear what we all hear. You and I, whether we realise it or not, might be sitting on our verandah listening to a bird that has never been recorded here before, looking at fungi no-one has ever classified, watching a small creature that we see every day – but no-one else ever has.

The GSB is a 3 day window where people use the iNaturalist app to capture those observations. You don’t even need to know what you’re recording – that’s all sorted for you. And who knows what you might find!

Contributing is a great feeling. And there is nothing quite like hearing back from the iNaturalist team with the scientific name and extraordinary facts of something you have submitted.

If you have a mobile phone and a minute to spare, you can be a part of this mass snapshot of nature between the 28th and 31st October.

If you’d like to know how to use the app and have some practice beforehand, keep an eye on our events pages for free events in the leadup to the GSB, like our Spotlighting Night Walks, Frog ID walks and ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ nature walks.