Chasing Ghosts - Wildpath

Deep in the flooded forests of the Everglades, two photographers set out on a three-year quest to use camera traps to capture the first conclusive evidence of what pollinates the elusive ghost orchids. What they discovered was a surprise to science.

Grizzly Creek Films2021

About the Film

Chasing Ghosts is a photography and film project seeking to illuminate the mysterious and rare ghost orchids that grow only in the swamps of southwest Florida and in far western Cuba. With just 2,000 plants remaining in Florida, approximately one in ten plants bloom each summer, and only one-tenth of blooms are thought to be pollinated. Ghost orchids were long believed to be pollinated by a single insect: the giant sphinx moth.

Photographers Carlton Ward Jr. and Mac Stone collaborated with tropical ecologist Peter Houlihan and biologists from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon Florida, and partner universities to discover new details about the ghost orchid’s ecology. Over three years, the team used remote camera trap systems for 6,800 camera-trap hours to study these rare

Release Date: 2021
Directed By: Eric Bendick
In Partnership With: Grizzly Creek Films
Location: Florida, USA

Awards

2021 Winner ‘Living Forests’ World Wildlife Day Film Showcase
2021 Official Selection of the DC Environmental Film Festival
2020 Winner of Judges Special Prize at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival
2020 Official Selection of the International Wildlife Film Festival
2021 Official Selection of the American Conservation Film Festival
2020 Official Selection of the Earthx Film Festival
2020 Winner of Best Ecosystem Short Film and Best Science In Nature Short Film at the Jackson Wild Film Festival
2020 Official Selection of the Mountainfilm Festival
2020 Official Selection of the New York Wild Film Festival
2020 Winner Best Conservation Film at the Lookout Wild Film Festival
2021 Vimeo Staff Pick Best of the Month

Project Goal

In addition to hoping to uncover new details about what species pollinate the ghost orchid, this project aimed to inspire appreciation of South Florida’s swamps and the importance of protecting aquatic habitats found nowhere else.

Project Outcome

Wildpath and colleagues captured the first photographic evidence of a ghost orchid being pollinated. The team found that in fact, several moth species other than the giant sphinx visit and potentially carry the ghost orchid’s pollen — and the giant sphinx plays a completely different role than previously thought.

These scientific discoveries were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals Florida Entomologist and Scientific Reports. They also led to stories in National Geographic and Biographic, and a documentary film produced with Grizzly Creek Films for National Geographic.