THE CHAMPIONS!
Champions. All of you, are champions.
The contest has ended with our group of 140 people recording an astonishing 32,186 observations of more than 7,803 species. We were aided by 1,384 identifiers.
The International Biodiversity Championship was intended as a flag - something to point out the tremendous richness we are living with, and that the opportunity to enjoy that richness is with us every day, right outside your door.
Third place goes to 'Team Hellbenders' from North Carolina, USA- they have now become the USA National Champions.
After a very hard fought race, Team Russia 2020 came in the second place. Well done!
And the INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIP goes to the GREAT SOUTHERN BIOBLITZ! with 1,409 species recorded at the end of competition. Orchids, sundews, kangaroos, and snails their list is a sweeping inventory of the ordinary and extraordinary of Southeast Australia.
In this competition we had intergenerational teams, all female teams, international teams, teams from many nations and walks of life. Please take the time to look through the observations and enjoy what you have all accomplished. New geographic records may emerge. Maybe even a new species. Your observations are of value, and the community created even more.
The email addresses associated with registration will receive information about prizes and an invitation to help organize next years competition.
You are all champions, and I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did.
Best,
Sea
Comments
We had a great time and cannot wait to participate again. We joined kinda late so we didn't have time to train the 2 teens on our team and we had other activities going on we had work around. Next time we will be better prepared.
Thanks so much, Sea. As a member of the 2019 championship team, I’m so impressed with the 2020 field. Those Australians really did an amazing job, but all the others were impressive, too. I love to look at the global map of observations.
Congratulations to GREAT SOUTHERN BIOBLITZ, what an incredible accomplishment! Your observations are such a great way to enjoy the biodiversity of your area, and make me want to pack my gear and travel... I also want to compliment you on the great photography that shows so much detail of each individual you observed. Really well done. Congrats also to Team Russia 2020 and Team Hellbenders! You rock!
We California Wild Women had a wonderful time participating. It was really great to team up and tackle the various habitat types in our area, while trying to avoid popular destinations that attract crowds. It was a bit challenging to get everything posted in the allotted time frame, though. The City Nature Challenge format, with observation days followed by upload and ID days, is a little easier for time management. But those were the rules for all of us, and I guess we all struggled and cursed the sometimes slow internet speed...
Thanks for organizing this, @sea.
See you all on iNat!!
I had a blast, thanks for organising @sea :D
Thank you, thank you, thank you @sea for organizing this event. This was not only fun, but a most welcome diversion from the current crisis. Additionally, I was challenged to find new places to explore for more diversity as well as look more closely at the organisms all around which I don't always slow down to appreciate. Between the miles on foot and in the car, as well as the hours uploading, I'm rather exhausted too. I can only imagine what the winning teams must have put in, so I send a hearty congratulations to you all!!
Hi everyone!
Participating in this was such a blast. It was a bit funny that here in the midst of southern Aus winter we had been enjoying weeks of beautiful blue sky and mild conditions, which changed to hail, gale force winds and even snow (rare for this coast) right when the Challenge started! Thanks to my team mates for the motivation to get out there regardless and help me rediscover what a joy it is to go out observing biodiversity even in quite extreme conditions - the animals and plants are still out there! I was really pretty excited with some of the things we observed.
Thanks and respect to the other teams especially the Russians who were so prolific in their observations, it is fantastic to connect with other naturalists from the other side of the world. The competition was thrilling! Thanks to @sea for organising!
Cheers,
PossumPete
Hi all,
It was a real challenge to compete against Australia. We decided to take part just a couple days before the start and, I hope, did all our best. Initially, we are "botany team" enriched by the participation of a mycologist. Surely, we would need a bug expert next year ) And of course someone from the seashore. Although only four Russian teams were taking part, our experts were even more motivated than participants.
Thanks a lot for the teams from all around the world! Astonishing final figures will help @sea to promote the Championship as a major international bioblitz next year.
Thanks all! I'm totally wrecked as a result of work and bioblitzing this week, but really enjoyed the event and competition. Special mention to Team Russia who kept us on our toes the whole way!
I've found new species (for me), made new friends and lost much sleep and it's been great!
See you next time and around on iNat, or if you are ever in my area and would like a guided tour, send me a message!
Thanks @sea for organising; great updates, great event!
All the best,
Nick.
Thank you all very much. The Australian team has done an incredible job. Congratulations. It was an amazing adventure for me to participate in the championship. I just recently joined the community and immediately plunged into the championship :) An incredible experience.
First of all, congratulations to everyone, you all did fantastic throughout the competition! For those that are new, welcome to iNaturalist, and I hope we'll see you more around iNat! I hope everyone enjoyed the event as much as I did, going outdoor for hours and going to sleep at an unreasonable time because of all the uploading and IDing, and especially setting up an alarm for waking up early to see the result :P
Shout out to Team Russia 2020 for being a fantastic rival, you guys had some amazing observations! Keep up the huge naturalist effort! And Team Hellbenders, congratulate on being the new USA National Champion of 2020! I hope everybody learned a few things, found some memorable species, and most of all, stay safe in this tough time!
Cheers,
Tim :D
Congrats!
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