Searching for the Platypus

How Odonata organised the largest citizen science project to find Victoria’s platypuses

On January 10th of 2021, the Victorian Government officially listed the platypus as a threatened species. 

In their press release, the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio was quoted as saying, “The platypus is one of our most loved species, known the world over as a symbol of Australia’s unique wildlife – that’s why we need to act quickly to address increasing pressure on its habitat and ensure the best outcome for this wonderful creature.”

Enter Odonata, a not-for-profit organisation with a focus on conservation and biodiversity impact solutions. They were struck by the news of the platypus’ new conservation status and decided to take action. 

Photo by Trevor McKinnon on Unsplash

I sat down with Odonata’s communication manager, Hilary Van Leeuwen, to talk about how the not-for-profit organised the Great Australian Platypus Search, the largest citizen scientist project in Australia.

Partnering with EnviroDNA, Odonata launched the GAPS project in August of 2021. They put the call out for any and all amateur scientists to sign up to volunteer for their project. In the end, over 500 citizen scientists joined the search. 

Each volunteer was sent a sampling kit and instructions on how to collect eDNA from their allocated site. Odonata describes eDNA as the “traces of DNA that wildlife shed into their environment.” 

While the aim of the project was to track the whereabouts of platypuses, Hilary explained the wider benefits of the collection of eDNA in Victorian environments.

“What happens now is the lab runs two different assays with the samples. The first one will check for the presence of platypuses and the second one does a profile of all aquatic vertebrates at the site.”

Odonata hopes that with the collection of data surrounding all aquatic wildlife, they will be able to build an unprecedented database of the distribution of species in Victoria.

“I think the thing we’re most eager for is the way this unique, comprehensive dataset can be used to inform government policy surrounding conservation solutions.”

Due to the collection of almost 2000 samples, Odonata haven’t published any preliminary results as of yet.

“We’re hoping to have results we can share with everyone soon, but I think there have been some unexpected successes already, in terms of the response from the community.”

Hilary mentioned that along with individual volunteers, they also saw school groups and community groups getting involved. She also made reference to the GAPS Facebook page that has allowed the citizen scientists to stay updated and connected.

“We thought that there would only be a handful of citizen scientists in the group, but we’ve got people from all over the country. We’ve got something like over 600 people in that group, and we had 500 volunteers in the project, which means there’s a lot of eyes in there, which is exciting.”

Image credit: Planet Warrior Education

I reached out to the Facebook group, The Great Australian Platypus Search, to see how the members found their experience with the project.

Christine, from North East Victoria, commented, “We became involved with the project as an opportunity for an adventure for me and my grandson. It was great fun and very worthwhile.”

Judy, from Gorae, Victoria, replied, “I am retired, and getting involved in citizen science projects is one of the ways I keep my mind active… I hope our platypus, and their waterways, get better protection in an ongoing way.”

Gary, from Gisbon, Victoria, responded, "We love the outdoors and are very conscious of our environment and human influences. We await a report from Odonata GAPS on the results and recommendations for future planning."

Emma and Abbie, from Lancefield, Victoria, said, "We both love platypus and being outside and it sounded like a great way to check out our local waterways...I think adding lots of sites on the database is a great way to get more data on platypus (and maybe other species that rely on waterways)"

When asked what Odonata’s plans were for the future, Hilary referenced again to the comprehensive dataset they had compiled during the project.

“We’re really keen to roll this initiative out nationally so we can develop a national wildlife database to give us a good idea of species distribution across the whole of Australia.”

She went on to say that, while the platypus would be a main focus on the east coast of Australia, the goal for the rest of the country would be to continue collecting wildlife data.

“That’s obviously a huge undertaking since the Victorian project was a lot of work as well. Australia’s not small, so a lot of planning is needed.”

In terms of Odonata’s work following on from this project, Hilary cited the eDNA technology as what excited the not-for-profit.

“We have around 6 species that we focus really closely on… I’m sure as the research evolves, we can focus on more specific species but I think having that broad data is exciting because the technology hasn’t been used to this scale before.”

The next steps of the GAPS project will involve analysing the data provided by the citizen scientists and releasing the information in a way that is accessible to the public. As the project only wrapped up in November last year, no tangible results have been published yet. In the meantime, the citizen scientists are encouraged to keep a lookout for the elusive species.

“If they see platypuses, they can log these sightings through platypusSPOT, a website run by one of our ecologists who worked really close with the project, Josh Griffiths.”

Hilary also wanted to encourage anyone interested in updates on the GAPS project to join their Facebook group.

The platypus is an iconic and unique Australian animal, and the efforts provided by Odonata, enviroDNA, their partners, and most importantly, the citizen scientists of Victoria, will hopefully provide an insight on the true circumstances of the shy water creatures.

WORDS: SHERIDAN VAN GELDEREN
PHOTOGRAPHY: MEG JERRARD, TREVOR MCKINNON, ON UNSPLASH