Extraordinary Darkness: A Participatory Approach to Assessing Animal Behavior During Eclipses

Building on earlier work demonstrating that animals exhibit behavioral responses to solar eclipses, we present an expansive participatory science approach to examine the impact of eclipses on animal behavior. Formal studies done by research collaborations in the past worked in closed environments and showed that solar eclipses influence specific species’ behaviors (with various reactions related to day/night or apparent anxiety-related behavior). This study has the potential to document behavior of diverse species in more diverse settings and can additionally provide data from different extents of eclipse maximum. This kind of effort will potentially provide data that are both more extensive than more focused prior studies. We are collecting this data through two partnered, ambitious projects: Eclipse Soundscapes and Solar Eclipse Safari. As already demonstrated by preliminary data gathered during the October 2023 annular eclipse, collecting animal behavior observations promises to yield new nuanced insights into the intricate connections between celestial events and animal behaviors. Preliminary work indicates our potential for data collection is realistic. Additional work will be done to link human experiences during these rare celestial events.