Where have all the albino crayfish gone?

[rddvet]

They're all in P3. We dove there today and couldn't find a bend in the cave without crawfish.

[skip]

How does one go about volunteering to help with fauna counts and other studies? I would love to help out.

Michael Angelo has a training program for volunteers. He's MA on this forum, and I suspect will be contacting you soon or posting here.

skip

[MichaelAngelo]

Skip is correct. As NACD Conservation Chair we began doing counts in springs in Mo. In addition we will be working with WET by helping them setup a count in Jacob's Well. Now that I am moved to Florida I am planning on adding counts in some of the non state park springs both in the High Springs Area and Marianna area. What I have done is organize teams of divers local to a system. That team runs the counts monthly and sends the report back to me where I add it to a database. We have just begun working with Jason Gulley adding water monitoring instramentation It is my hope that by adding differant teams in differant states we can build a national database of underwater cave fauna. As with Kelley anyone interested in volunteering please pm me

[Walter Pickel]

It seems to me that there are less and less albino crayfish in the main caves.

I bet there are a ton in Bonnet. Kelly?

[Draker]

Actually. I don't think there are any crayfish left in Bonnet. I bet the gator ate them all.

[SLIM]

? I am wondering if with the new tecnology that we have in lights, if they can sense the light sooner and are there for able to hide before we are able to see them unlike when the lights were not as bright.

Just a though.

SLIM

[TracyN]

Great MA. Sign me up.

[MichaelAngelo]

? I am wondering if with the new tecnology that we have in lights, if they can sense the light sooner and are there for able to hide before we are able to see them unlike when the lights were not as bright.

Just a though.

SLIM

That may be true, but I believe it's more about learning to see the fauna. Most of the cave adapted fauna are very small and some times hard to distinguish them from backgroung particles (cave snow), so it becomes about refocusing your eyes to see the tiny stuff. It's hard to explain or understand how to do it till you get it right. Kinda like learning to hit a baseball as a kid. At first that ball is a white streak. Dad can say "keep your eye on the ball", but your still swinging at a white streak. One day you refocus your eyes and see a white globe coming at you and you make contact, a small euricka moment. Once you begin to learn how to see them it opens a whole new world. At least it did for me.

[Kelly Jessop]

I bet there are a ton in Bonnet. Kelly?

Fewer than you'd think,and this probably a function of water quality,because Bonnet is more bad than good due to tannic river vents.

[Kelly Jessop]

? I am wondering if with the new tecnology that we have in lights, if they can sense the light sooner and are there for able to hide before we are able to see them unlike when the lights were not as bright.

Just a though.

SLIM

There is only one troglobitic crayfish that is noted to be light responsive,Procambarus lucifugus. For the most part species have more tactile response,which is important to elude predators