Caring for chimpanzees during an eclipse was something new for us. We’ve been discussing thoughts and plans with our fellow sanctuary colleagues and veterinarians for awhile and understandably, there isn’t a lot of precedence for chimpanzee care (or other animal care) during such events. Though we did come across this interesting report from 1986 in the American Journal of Primatology.
We suspected the chimps probably wouldn’t look directly at the sun, but we decided to err on the side of caution and threw an exciting breakfast forage in the playroom to keep the chimps happy and active during the peak of the eclipse.
While the chimps were enjoying their tropical fruit brunch forage, we humans donned our eclipse shades and headed outside to watch with Ellie. It was a partial eclipse in our area, but incredible to experience nonetheless. Our local wild-ish elk friend, Ellie, couldn’t figure out what we were doing, but seemed happy to join the herd.
The “other” sun, Elizabeth:
J.B. has been waiting his whole life for this moment:
Ellie gave zero indication that anything was occurring other than the humans being odd. The chimps were aware that their routine was slightly different and the humans were running around trying to get things done faster than usual, but outside of that they didn’t appear to notice much. However, Jody and Foxie spent some time looking out the front rooms doors at the increasing shadows and the human shenanigans.
Foxie:
Jamie, as usual, had important matters to attend to:
We hope you all had an opportunity to enjoy this amazing event!
Nicole Moore says
There is so much I love about this post! 1) The “other” sun Elizabeth took me a minute but once I got it, laughed out loud at work!!! Which may not have been appreciated, but oh well. 2) Hanging with Elie, because hanging with an Elk is normal. 3) The colander, which in the video I saw, was used to view the eclipse, not protect the head from it, and 4) Jamie just chillin and reading her magazines while crazy humans do their thing. Thank you so much for being who you all are and sharing that with the rest of us! I for one really appreciate it.
Katelyn says
Glad you enjoyed it, Nicole, laughing out loud and all! We’re so grateful to spend such a special event with such special beings and loved being able to share it with you. 🙂
Pamela Linton says
I just love everyone and everything about your primate work and the dedication to your jobs. J.B. I loved the colander on your head, I too giggled. Y’all are the best informative site on Facebook. Love and Peace, pam
Katelyn says
Thanks so much, Pam, we really appreciate you following the chimps’ lives!
Kathleen says
I have been very curious about how the chimps would react to the eclipse and how you would protect them from looking up towards the sun. Thank you for the link to the study in 1986. Very interesting!
I live in a rural area, and we too had a partial eclipse, but the cows began to moo during the eclipse. I also volunteer at a shelter, but didn’t notice anything unusual with the dogs. Some people say dogs begin barking, but maybe only with total darkness.
As far as this post goes, I couldn’t say it better than Nicole! And the colander on the head killed me. I have this ongoing joke with my sister, her husband and some friends, it’s about colanders on your head for protection from gamma rays (don’t ask!). SO when I saw the colander trick for the eclipse I was very excited to share it them — it’s a multi purpose tool! Seeing J.B. with the calendar on his head made me laugh out loud, and yes, I’ll be sharing that photo! Good to know a well educated and experience primatologist knows what to do in any occasion!
(I love that photo of Foxie. And Jamie is sporting some of that heart stopping bed head discussed in yesterdays blog!)
Katelyn says
Interesting about the cows! I am sure we will all be hearing about so many experiences in the coming days. We really didn’t notice any other changes with our neighborhood animals, but as you mentioned, it’s perhaps different with a total eclipse. J.B. and Elizabeth are definitely good sports for letting me post those photos! So funny!
Mary Jo Stearns says
What a beautiful portrait of Foxie! You should have it printed and sell it! Beautiful and I love Foxie so much.
Carla René says
I have been extremely busy these last two weeks. But I’ll bet I got to enjoy it in a way NO ONE ELSE did! 😉 (Apologies for the length, but as you can see, I’m having trouble processing everything that’s happened over the last two weeks when I first began working on this. But then again, I hope it’s an enjoyable read for everyone.)
First, for those unaware, I’m pursuing double doctorates in Astrophysics and Applied Mathematics. So this has been a busy time. Our University was an official NASA viewing station; we were one of 68 telescopes participating in the CitizenCATE project, so we were collecting data to send back to NASA. Several NASA reps were there, including a heliophysicist from Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville, AL (sister to the organiser for our event and nuclear physicist professor), and Cmdr. Barry Wilmore, Navy pilot and Commander of the Space Shuttle and ISS missions, spending a total of 187 days in space. He is also an alumnus of our University. There were only three of us who had completed the NASA Subject Matter Expert training–I finished mine 3 weeks ago in preparation to field questions from the stands.
I was asked to operate the Meade Coronado Solarmax 60-mm H-alpha telescope. It has a filter built into it that filters out every other wavelength EXCEPT Hydrogen, and because the Sun is composed of Hydrogen and Helium gases, this means we’re able to see lots of specific information not visible to other scopes. I took still images (available on my IG and Twitter accounts) and video.
But the best honour came when I was chosen to be the Science Analyst for Stonecom Radio Broadcasting company! People from all over the world could hear my commentary with a simple internet connection, since they livestream the broadcasts. Before, during and after totality (our area in TN got 2′ 38″) I had the priviledge of talking about the safe ways to view the eclipse if you didn’t have glasses, the cool and creepy phenomena to watch for, the steps that occur and when to expect them, and the science behind all of it.
As the day wore on, I realised that 136° football fields and Systemic Lupus do NOT mix! I nearly had a real heatstroke. Our dept. chair has ordered me to remain home for the next few days and take it easy, which I don’t do well. This evening has been very difficult for me, as I’m still not feeling optimal.
Anyway, they handed me the mic as totality hit, and for the next 2′ 38″, I was expected to describe what I was seeing. The problem was, I was crying so hard by the time they gave me the mic, that I could barely speak! Even now, hours later, it still chokes me up; to be with 11,500 other screaming viewers and hear them all cheer as totality approached; to watch the light turn a strange shade of green and then see a full 360° sunset in the middle of the day; to watch planets appear and constellations that we don’t usually see until six months from now, because they’re normally hidden behind the sun; to witness the sun’s full corona–a region of its upper atmosphere that contains so much UV and IR light not much of it is visible with the naked eye, and for it to be an event I’ve waited a lifetime to see, was just TOO much to articulate! Every other scientist with me said they felt exactly the same way–as scientists, we couldn’t slow down to prepare emotionally for what was about to happen, but as soon as it started, we put the scientist in us on hold and just stood back and enjoyed it. They all also agreed that it would take days to process everything.
Now, with that backstory, on to the pieces that are on-topic for this posting.
I’m a contributor to the Q&A site Quora in Astrophysics, Astronomy, Chemistry, mathematics and physics, and have hundreds of followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook that are extremely interested in science. I was taking questions all day yesterday and today on all aspects of the eclipse, and I kept getting a strange one about animals. And it was different incarnations of the same question: how safe will my pets’ eyes be? They also kept asking if it would be safe to look at the partial eclipse. Um, wha…??
With the pets, professionals agree with me, in that eclipses are generally no different for any animal; they just don’t sit and stare at the sun on a normal day. They have inherent instincts that tell them if they look directly at the sun’s photosphere, it will burn their eyes and they will feel very real pain, just like humans. With the chimps, the article said they looked toward the eclipse only after totality, and I think that’s because they’re intelligent enough to know from where light comes, and the source of darkness. If someone would have asked me about Chimps and how they would behave, I’m positive that out of all the breeds and species of animals on this Earth, Chimpanzees are the *only* ones I would have had to stop and think twice about, because they *are* so intelligent; hells, they’re ten chess moves ahead of humans in every circumstance, so it wouldn’t be surprising.
I know we have at least one person who reads this blog who works at a zoo, so I’m hoping she’ll weigh in and tell us how her great apes behaved today.
I’m glad someone posted about the eclipse and how you dealt with the chimps. In all the angles I was trying to cover in my mind to anticipate preparation for today, I didn’t have time to wonder, but was very glad upon reading the title.
Thanks.
Carla René says
One other thought occurred to me: with as sensitive to their surroundings as Chimpanzees are, they most undoubtedly can anticipate solar eclipses due to the atmospheric temperature changes that occur. Today, when the Moon’s transit was still less than half to go, the temperature had dropped by nearly 10°.
Afterward while everyone was tearing down and I could barely function from being overheated, I *barely* remember our department chair’s wife telling me that one of the graduate students from another University was there with a special app, monitoring ambient temperature changes for NASA. Before the transit’s first contact: temperature in the stadium was 136°. After second contact and during totality: temperature had dropped to 85°!
So while it’s still a theory, I’d say if they notice anything happening, it’s probably temp changes, or even having eyesight so keen they can actually detect the velocity of the Moon’s shadow as it races across the ground in some places at a whopping 1,800 mph. Depending upon terrain, some of those velocities can reach 5,000 mph.
Francoise Vulpe says
Well J.B., if you are an eclipse chaser it will be time for a road trip 7 years from now, when an eclipse tracks from the southern US up to eastern Canada http://www.space.com/37877-total-solar-eclipse-returns-to-us-in-2024.html. Although I don’t imagine you will have the time . :o( We Canucks however looking forward to it! We had a bit of the eclipse yesterday, 70% or so, but I know it wasn’t the thrill you all had. Bring the chimps! :o)!