For 84 days, from late May to early August, the sun doesn't set on the tundra near Barrow, Alaska.
Researchers keep watch on hot springs bats
Researchers keep watch on hot springs bats The southern half of the Queen Charlotte Islands
is home to some of the world's rarest and tiniest bats. The bats
remain asleep until May, when the temperatures are warm enough to
ensure the insect reproductions are high enough to keep them well
fed. Doug and Faye Burles have been studying bats for several years
at the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and often live in a tent
for months. They sleep during the day and work during the night
when the bats are active. Faye uses military night-vision goggles
to watch the creatures in their natural habitat and Doug uses radio
telemetry, in which a receiver picks up the bats' echo locations as
they fly through the night. There are 975 different types of bats.
This makes bats one of the most differentiated mammals on the
planet (only rodents have more species). The Gwaii Haanas site is
an important place to research bats because the area is used as a
sort of maternity ward. Pregnant bats use the same geothermal
energy that heats water at the hotsprings by sitting on the rocks
where there is heat and steam. When they have stopped lactating
they just fly away. Doug and Faye are interested in two types of
bats, the little brown bat, which is found in B.C., and Keen's
long-eared bat, of which few specimens have been collected. The
main objective of their research is to try to get an actual count
of how many bats come to the site to breed, and also to evaluate
the future risk to the habitat. As number of visitors to the
hotspring area increases, the pressure to develop the area further
increases too. <> FEBRUARY 1999
Cool Articles
