一群60多岁和70多岁自称“神奇奶奶”的浮潜者在发现大量有毒海蛇和在相机上记录各种蛇方面发挥了重要作用。
在过去的两年里，该组织参与了一个公民科学项目，该项目与新喀里多尼亚大学的克莱尔·戈伊兰和澳大利亚麦格理大学的里克·肖恩合作，监测太平洋岛屿新喀里多尼亚的海蛇数量，法国海外领土。
他们研究的蛇的种类是液压专业—一种长度可达1.5米(或更长的)并且对人类有毒，研究人员说。它位于印度洋新几内亚和澳大利亚以及新喀里多尼亚海岸附近，是最常见的海蛇在这个地区。
神奇奶奶是由七名六七十岁的女性组成的小组，她们在过去两年里一直在拍摄有毒的海蛇。
2017年6月，组成神奇奶奶的专家浮潜者主动提出帮助戈伊兰和肖恩在一个受欢迎的旅游目的地——香橼湾(或称柠檬湾)的栖息地收集蛇的图像。
他们劳动的成果发表在杂志上生物圈 本周。
戈伊兰和灵儿说，他们现在知道海湾里至少有249条单独的蛇。神奇奶奶在25个月内识别出了140多条蛇。
相比之下，在过去的三年里，研究人员平均每年只记录了10条蛇。这大约增加了700%。
“结果令人震惊，”戈伊兰在声明。“祖母们一开始工作，我们就意识到我们大大低估了海湾中大型海蛇的数量。”
“20年来，我一直在香橼湾研究海蛇，并认为我非常了解它们——但神奇奶奶们向我展示了我是多么的错误，”她补充道。
该项目的结果不仅突出了生活在海湾中数量惊人的蛇，还揭示了它们繁殖行为的细节——滑水研究人员说，冬天的主要法院，怀孕到夏天，在秋天分娩。
事实上，这个地区有如此多的蛇，而且没有一条被海湾中记录的物种咬过，这突出了它们“仁慈的性情”，Shine说。
“他们在一个每天都被成群的当地居民和游轮乘客占据的小海湾里发现了大量致命的有毒海蛇，”谢恩说，“但在拜德斯香茅斯从未记录到这种蛇的叮咬，证明了它们的仁慈。”
水螅专业可以达到1.5米的长度，对人体有毒。
“总之，特定群体社区成员的自愿参与——有时间和专业知识反复详细调查当地地点的老年妇女——为了解迄今为止鲜为人知的大型海洋捕食者物种的生态提供了一个独特的窗口，”研究作者说。
SNORKELING GRANDMOTHERS FIND 'ASTONISHING' NUMBER OF VENOMOUS SEA SNAKES
Agroup of snorkelers in their 60s and 70s who call themselves the Fantastic Grandmothers have been instrumental in discovering a large number of venomous sea snakes and documenting various individual serpents on camera.
The group has spent the last two years involved in a citizen science project working with researchers Claire Goiran from the University of New Caledonia and Rick Shine from Australia's Macquarie University to monitor sea snake populations in the Pacific island of New Caledonia, a French overseas territory.
The species of snake they studied was the Hydrophis major—a sea-faring reptile that can reach lengths of 1.5 meters (or longer) and is venomous to humans, the researchers say. It is found in the Indian Ocean off the coasts of New Guinea and Australia as well as New Caledonia, and is one of the most commonly found sea snakes in the area.
The Fantastic Grandmothers are a group of seven women in their 60s and 70s who have spent the last two years taking photos of venomous sea snakes.
In June 2017, the expert snorkelers who make up the Fantastic Grandmothers offered to help Goiran and Shine collect images of the snakes in their habitats in a popular tourist destination, the Baie des Citrons (or Bay of Lemons).
The fruit of their labor was published in the journal Ecosphere this week.
Goiran and Shine said they now know there are at least 249 individual snakes in the bay. More than 140 of those snakes were identified by the Fantastic Grandmothers within a 25 month period.
In contrast, the researchers had only recorded an average of 10 snakes per year over the previous three years. That is an increase of around 700 percent.
"The results have been astonishing," Goiran said in a statement. "As soon as the grandmothers set to work, we realised that we had massively underestimated the abundance of greater sea snakes in the bay."
"I have been studying sea snakes in the Baie des Citrons for 20 years, and thought I understood them very well—but the Fantastic Grandmothers have shown me just how wrong I was," she added.
The results of the project not only highlight the surprisingly large number of snakes living in the bay but reveal details about their reproduction behavior—Hydrophis major court in winter, are pregnant through to summer and give birth in the autumn, the researchers said.
The fact that there are so many snakes in the area and not one bite from the species recorded in the bay highlights their "benevolent disposition," said Shine.
"They found a large number of lethally toxic sea snakes in a small bay that is occupied every day by hordes of local residents and cruise-ship passengers," said Shine, "yet no bites by the species have ever been recorded at Baie des Citrons, testifying to their benevolent disposition."
Hydrophis major can reach lengths of 1.5 meters and can be venomous to humans.
"In summary, the voluntary participation of a specific group of community members—older women with the time and expertise to survey a local site repeatedly and in detail—is providing a unique window into the ecology of a hitherto poorly known species of large marine predator," the study authors said.
