Locals join search for aquatic icon

PEOPLE from across the community have come together at two locations in the south of the Shire recently to help find and count an elusive but iconic native animal.

About 60 people set up at Fyansford and Inverleigh on 10 October to help count platypuses though a unique technique that involved gathering water samples from the across the Barwon River catchment.

The event was run by the Friends of the Barwon and backed by local councils and environmental groups.

Guest speakers talked about the importance of platypuses as a measure of overall river health, and the kind of creatures the monotremes eat.

Josh Griffiths from EnviroDNA, a company that specialises in detecting animals from trace DNA they leave behind, took samples gather by the community members.

They will now be analysed by the company for the presents of platypuses in the Barwon, Leigh and Moorabool rivers and their wider catchments.

“This survey will connect the dots and tell an overall story which will cover the largest continuous area recorded in the state,” Mr Griffiths said.

The findings of the survey will be collated and retuned to the community in a report and web presentation in the next few months.