BIOSPHERE EXPEDITION
CITIZEN SCIENTISTS OF BIOSPHERE EXPEDITIONS HAVE MADE ONE - OR POSSIBLY TWO - EXCITING BIRD SPECIES DISCOVERIES IN THE DUBAI DESERT CONSERVATION RESERVE (DDCR), SHOWING ONCE AGAIN THE POWER OF THIS INCREASINGLY PROMINENT BRANCH OF SCIENCE
In January 2024 a team of citizen scientists, on the very last day of a Biosphere Expeditions research project to the DDCR, came across a long-eared owl (Asia otus). "I think it was Georgina who first spooked the owl and as soon as it was in the air, I realised that this was an unusual find," says expedition team member Matthias Herold, a birder from Germany.
Some of the expedition team then raced for their cameras and were able to take some allimportant pictures. Some weeks later this led to the official confirmation of the sighting by the EBRC (Emirates Bird Records Committee).
This makes this sighting the very first record of long-eared owl in the DDCR, and only the 20th record of the species in the UAE since 1971.
Expeditioner Georgina Pereira from Dubai adds, "During the expedition I checked a tree at base camp every morning, because we found fresh owl pellets nearby on our first day of owl surveys.
“To finally be greeted by the resident owl the very last time I checked the tree and then realise that it was a very special bird, meant we all finished the expedition on a high."
"This is exciting news and shows what we citizen scientists can do", adds citizen scientists Peter Goodman from the UK, adding, "As non-professionals, we're especially proud to have added this record to the DDCR."
Seebohm’s wheatear
On the second discovery, of Seebohm’s wheatear (Oenanthe seebohmi), the EBRC jury is still out, but a rarity report has been filed by expeditioner, citizen scientist, journalist and wildlife photographer Ralf Burglin from Germany.
He says, "If confirmed this would be a compelling first record of this species for the UAE."
Dr Matthias Hammer, founder and executive director of non-profit Biosphere Expeditions, says, “We are proud to have made yet another discovery, thereby contributing to wildlife research and conser vation.
This recent contribution is just the latest in a long line of achievements through citizen science since our foundation in 1999, such as the creation of protected areas on four continents, amongst many others. Thank you to all our citizen and professional scientist, as well as supporters the world over."
Biosphere Expeditions is a wildlife conservation nonprofit organisation driven by science and citizen scientists. A member of the IUCN, the
UN'S Environment Programme and the European Citizen Science Association, it works hand-in-hand with biologists and communities since 1999, to champion change and protect nature.
We are proud to have made yet another discovery, thereby contributing to wildlife research and conservation. This recent contribution is just the latest in a long line of achievements through citizen science since our foundation in 1999 DT MATTHIAS HAMMER
Abanqueting room has been excavated in Pompeii, revealing wall murals inspired by the Trojan War. The find is in block 10 of Regio IX of the Pompeii archaeological site, which was rediscovered in the 16th century and has been excavated since the 18th century.
The site was opened to the public as an open-air museum in the late 19th century, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Pompeii’s official website announced the discovery on April 11.
The walls of the large - 49 feet by 20 foot - dining room are painted black, decorated with characters and scenes from the Trojan War. Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, explained that the walls ‘were painted black to prevent the smoke from the oil lamps being seen on the walls.’
The Trojan War has long been the subject of debate, regarding whether or not the conflict truly happened, on what scale, and where. It was most famously explored in Homer’s Iliad, in which the conflict was said to have begun due to the King of Priam’s son, Paris, making a decision in a beauty contest between the three goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.
As reward for choosing Aphrodite as the fairest goddess, Paris was given the love of Helen, who was at that time already married to the King of Sparta. According to the myth, the Trojan War was the consequence of King Menelaus’s desire to retrieve his wife from Paris.
The murals are completed in the ‘Third Style’, a style which used flat planes of colour, popular during the early 1st century C.E. The park’s statement said that the ‘dominant theme’ of the murals seems to be that of heroism, given the pairs of heroes and deities in the designs.
Murals in banqueting rooms would have provided dinner guests with conversation starters as well as setting the tone for the festivities. The inconsistent lamplight would have had the effect of making the images appear to move, especially after a few glasses of good Campanian wine, said Zuchtriegel.
Figures in the dining room murals include Helen and Paris - the lovers at the heart of the conflict. The pair are identified by a Greek inscription between them, which uses Paris’ alternative name Alexandros. Also included is Cassandra, Paris’ sister who was cursed by the gods to be able to tell the future but never to be believed.
Zuchtriegel said, “The mythological couples provided ideas for conversations about the past and life, only seemingly of a merely romantic nature. In reality, they refer to the relationship between the individual and fate - Cassandra who can see the future but no one believes her, Apollo who sides with the Trojans against the Greek invaders, but being a god, cannot ensure victory, and Helen and Paris who, despite their politically incorrect love affair, are the cause of the war, or perhaps merely a pretext.