The first time Adam Hartstone-Rose studied animal behavior during a total solar eclipse, he had zero expectations.
Given how little historical research there was on the subject, Hartstone-Rose wasn’t sure he or his North Carolina State University students would see any major differences in the species they observed at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina.
“And then it was amazing,” Hartstone-Rose said of the 2017 eclipse. “We saw fantastic behavior in so many of the animals, and so I wanted to find another place that I thought would give a good opportunity to see some of the same animals, to see if we can confirm some of that behavior.”
Seven years later, Hartstone-Rose and his team are in the final days of preparation for a new research venue: The Fort Worth Zoo. The biological sciences professor will bring his doctoral students and a crew of Canadian high schoolers to observe zoo animals before and during the total eclipse crossing North America on April 8.
What makes the total solar eclipse special?
Tarrant County residents saw a partial annular solar eclipse, also known as the “ring of fire” eclipse, in October. Because the moon appears smaller, it doesn’t block the entire sun during its orbit.
In contrast, a total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and earth to completely block the face of the sun. The sky darkens, and viewers may see the sun’s corona or outer atmosphere that is usually obscured by the sun’s brightness.
The last total solar eclipse to pass over Fort Worth took place in 1878. Another total eclipse won’t cross the continental U.S. until 2044.
Hartstone-Rose was drawn to Fort Worth because of the zoo’s nationally recognized reputation and its geographic location within the eclipse’s path, which has a “reasonably good chance of clear weather,” he said. Fort Worth will experience about 2.5 minutes of totality, or the point of the eclipse where the moon fully covers the sun, starting at 1:40 p.m.
Each researcher will seek an understanding of what each individual animal is like in relatively normal circumstances. The team will visit the zoo on Sunday, April 7, to observe how much time the animal spends resting, walking around, vocalizing, eating or interacting with other animals, among other behaviors, Hartstone-Rose said.
Then, they will look for any changes during the eclipse. In 2017, some of the 17 species observed by Hartstone-Rose’s group started their nighttime routines, became protective of their young, began breeding or showed indifference to the eclipse, among other reactions.
“We have space for people to fill in other behaviors that we didn’t list specifically, so did your animals start mating? Did it start throwing rocks at another animal?” he said. “You never know what an animal is going to do, but we’re giving them space to record that.”
After receiving Hartstone-Rose’s research proposal last year, the zoo’s internal review committee determined the project was in alignment with its mission, said John Griffioen, the zoo’s assistant director of animal programs and conservation.
Zoo guests will receive a pair of eclipse glasses as they arrive and have a chance to document their own animal observations on worksheets. Some of that data could be used in Hartstone-Rose’s study, Griffioen said.
“This is particularly great because it also gets to involve the public,” Griffioen said. “It’s observational, so we’re connecting people who are experiencing this event, coming to the zoo and having this great entertainment family experience, and connecting to some of the science that we do here at the zoo.”
With their expertise on animal behavior, zookeepers and animal managers will be involved with collecting data, Griffioen said. He’s excited to see how animal communication could change during the eclipse, including the possibility of the flamingo flock communicating with each other as they anticipate switching into their evening routines.
Residents don’t have to be at the zoo to contribute to animal behavior studies. Hartstone-Rose is a principal investigator for SciStarter’s Solar Eclipse Safari, which provides training materials to volunteer observers to record data about how their pets, backyard birds, livestock or city pigeons behave during the eclipse. People of all ages are encouraged to view online training materials before collecting and submitting data on April 8.
The QR code to Solar Eclipse Safari will be included on materials handed out to zoo visitors, Hartstone-Rose said.
“If they want to do more than this easy one sentence during and after and actually do a very formal observation protocol where they take observations at specific intervals and the time leading up to, during and after the eclipse, then they can join us and contribute their data to what will be multiple, professional scientific papers that can result from this,” he said.
Hartstone-Rose’s project has already generated widespread media attention, with news outlets across the U.S., Canada and even Japan seeking interviews about animal behavior during the eclipse. Crews from CNN and Reuters are expected to travel to Fort Worth to interview Hartstone-Rose from the zoo’s grounds.
Navigating the media frenzy has become a job unto itself, Hartstone-Rose said. He always tells his students that his role is to handle the “politics” so researchers can do their jobs.
“It’s going to be a total circus,” he said. “This is really going to be led by all of these amazing people that are being trained on this, and I’m just trying to orchestrate the circus and keep it from screwing with them.”
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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