2024-04-01 17:16:42
If eclipses have always attracted the attention of humans, animals are not insensitive to them either. Behavioral disturbances have, in the past, been observed in many species. These phenomena are difficult to study, due to the very fleeting nature of eclipses. On April 8, in North America, the Moon will be perfectly aligned between the Earth and the sun.
A rare total solar eclipse will be observable on April 8 in North America. A rare event, which it will, for example, be possible to witness from Niagara Falls. There, authorities are warning of the massive influx of curious people and have prepared for it by declaring a state of emergency.
This astronomical phenomenon, which has intrigued and fascinated since the dawn of time, is of interest to the scientific community: animal specialists in particular, who report unusual behaviors directly linked to eclipses.
Notable disturbances recorded in several species
During previous eclipses, there have been many reports around the world of birds, insects and other animals interrupting their normal activities. USA Today reports thus several examples, put forward by researchers through their observations. Within zoological parks, “Pink flamingos gathered in a circle around their babies to protect them”. Giraffes, for their part, “started galloping around their enclosure”while “Flocks of birds large enough to appear on radar suddenly left the sky and perched in the trees.”
That’s not all, since “the gorillas were heading towards their shelters, waiting for their last meal of the day”. Perhaps such a phenomenon also acts on the reproductive instincts since “Galapagos tortoises have started mating”. A skeptical professor of comparative anatomy at the University of North Carolina was forced to see an impact of eclipses: “I thought it was absurd, that animals would be affected”he confided, before admitting that he had made a mistake.
-
Read also
Niagara Falls: up to a million curious people expected for the eclipse, state of emergency declared
The Canadian agency Science Presse underlines that the influence of solar eclipses on wildlife has been documented for a long time. “The earliest known study is attributed to the Boston Natural History Society, which in 1932 brought together volunteers to observe ‘animal life’ behaviors during the event.”we learn.
A certain caution regarding these studies is required. The latter, in fact, have a series of limits. First of all, says the Science Presse agency, “these are essentially short-term studies”, the Sun being completely hidden for only two minutes. Moreover, “they are intermittent — since a total eclipse is rare and does not return at regular intervals”. Finally, the works “are generally limited to the observation of a single group over the course of a single day”a limiting factor given that a “robust study of animal behavior should compare multiple species in multiple locations and during multiple eclipses”.
The eclipse expected on April 8 should allow continued research into the behavior of animals observed during these events. As explains it the chief scientist of Quebec, certain enigmas persist. Biologists and doctors are questioning “the respective roles of light and the biological clock in a change in behavior”. If the biological clock were the dominant variable, “the animal would be disturbed by a drop in light occurring in the middle of the afternoon: the light would tell it that it is night, but its body would tell it that it is still broad daylight”. And on the other hand, if “light was the dominant variable, it would automatically adopt “nocturnal” behavior during the eclipse”.
TD
1711993836
#Solar #eclipse #rare #event #disturb #animals