National Parks BioBlitz 2016 is Coming to Fort Caroline!

Date: May 11, 2016
Contact: Shauna Allen, Chief of Resource Stewardship and Partnerships, [phone] ext. 115

Grab your magnifying glass and explore nature in Fort Caroline National Memorial like never before! On May 20-21, national parks across the country, including Fort Caroline National Memorial, will participate in the National Parks BioBlitz. BioBlitz is a fun, fast-paced biological survey of a park's creepers and crawlers, plants and pollinators, mammals and more! The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th birthday with more than 100 BioBlitzes across the country.

During this free, two-day event, teams of scientists, naturalists, students and volunteers will discover and document the insects of Fort Caroline. Stations will be set up along the park nature trail to teach attendees about different types of insects and their habitats, as well as to find and identify insects. Insects will be photographed, and images and data uploaded to the iNaturalist web application.

The BioBlitz will run from 9:00 a.m.- 8:30 p.m. on Friday and from 9:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Fort Caroline National Memorial is located at 12713 Fort Caroline Road, Jacksonville, FL 32225.

American Express is the national sponsor of the 2016 National Parks BioBlitz. The Fort Caroline BioBlitz is also sponsored by the Timucuan Parks Foundation and REI.

Explorers of all ages are needed. All events are free and open to the public. Whether you have a couple of hours or a full day, there are activities to engage the whole family. To learn more about the Fort Caroline BioBlitz or to register go to: https://go.nps.gov/focabioblitz 

To learn about the more than 250 BioBlitzes taking place across the country: go.nps.gov/2016bioblitz and Natgeo.org/bioblitz.