COLUMBIA, S.C. — Fireflies are a pretty common sight, twinkling in the warm months here in the Midlands. At Congaree National Park, they come together to show a unique sight that draws large crowds. Synchronous Fireflies unlike normal fireflies blink all at the same time creating a mesmerizing performance at night.
“We had almost 1000 people come in last weekend, it was a really great time, we heard a lot of people that were having a fun experience here to experience the magic of the fireflies.”
The park is gearing up for visitors this weekend says Jon Manchester the acting Chief of Interpretation for the park… one of only a few places that these types of fireflies exist.
“Here in the United States there is only 3 (places) it one of the only places that is publicly accessible where you can go see them.”
In recent years, the park switched to a ticketing system done through a lottery to help control park crowds to reduce stress on the fireflies. The species as a whole has been running into issues from light pollution which impacts their ability to communicate.
“The more our cities and towns begin to expand, if we keep brightening things, we are going to start seeing fireflies moving out of those areas… and fireflies are something we really look forward to in the summer!”
Manchester says that even though this year’s viewing is almost over, they look forward to future years of being able to show off the Congaree fireflies to visitors.