Working in small boats and wading through creeks during the night, researchers have been out searching for signs of platypuses in northern New South Wales.
Their aim is to gather crucial, and missing, data on the iconic yet elusive Australian species.
Platypus numbers across Australia are in decline, and extreme weather events in recent years, including drought, bushfires and floods, have placed more pressure on the monotreme.
The relatively limited data on its rate of decline is hindering a push to have the platypus listed as a threatened species Australia-wide.
Currently, the platypus is listed as vulnerable in Victoria and endangered in South Australia.
Scientists from the University of NSW, and conservationists, including the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), have put in a nomination to the national Threatened Species Scientific Committee to have the platypus listed as a nationally threatened species, which would trigger more legal protections and studies.
The ACF's Jess Abrahams said they needed to know how fast the platypus was disappearing.
"The committee said the case was compelling, but there's not quite enough data to meet the threshold of decline," Mr Abrahams said.
"The Threatened Species Scientific Committee has advised that population decline must be 30 per cent over a three-generation period for the platypus to be listed as a threatened species.
"Although it is clear that the species is in decline, there is a lack of comprehensive data on exactly what the rate of decline is."
Looking for platypus signs
In a bid to fill in some of the gaps, field research supported by the ACF has just been underway in the Manning and Hastings River catchments on the NSW Mid North Coast.
It included creeks around Bobin, west of Taree, an area that was impacted by bushfires in late 2019.
University of New South Wales researcher Gilad Bino said firm data was needed for future comparisons.
"We are trying to understand how platypuses are faring in eastern Australia and how they are coping with sequences of extreme events … starting with extreme drought in 2019, then extreme fires, then two very wet years with some places recording the worst flooding in recorded history," Dr Bino said.
"We know platypuses are highly dependent on freshwater systems for food, habitat and breeding, so we know extreme droughts are very detrimental, but we don't have a good understanding about how fires impact platypuses."
Dr Bino said platypus field research was difficult but rewarding.
"It's hard work. It's these kinds of sites we can come back to and track changes over time. We hope to come back to this area next year," he said.
"When we catch a platypus, we tag it, so when we come the year after and continuously survey areas, we can keep track of these individuals.
"We can see the emergence of juveniles over time, so we can really get a good understanding of the population and any changes that have been happening."
Call for citizen scientists
The ACF will also be running a citizen science campaign during September called the platy-project.
Mr Abrahams said individuals and community groups would be asked to survey for platypuses in local creeks and waterways.
"We need to get the help of Australians along the east coast … you don't have to be a scientist. You just have to be a nature lover," he said.
"So, get down to your local creek, spend some time in nature and try and spot a platypus, register and record your sighting on our platy-project map, and let us know.
"Dusk is a good time to sit quietly and watch for movement in the water."
Mr Abrahams said it was also crucial people reported a lack of platypus.
"If you don't see a platypus, that information is also important, if not more important because we are trying to establish how fast platypus are disappearing," he said.
"We are seeing once common species like koalas go from common to vulnerable to endangered in just a decade, and we have similar concerns for the platypus.
"The destruction of their habitat and the effects of climate change are really having a toll on this species."
