This video is worth getting through just for the amazing timelapse clips of the fireflies lighting up the landscape.
For a few short weeks each year, Elkmont Ghost Town in Smoky Mountains National Park becomes the site of the most magnificent synchronized firefly (Photinus carolinus) gathering in the world. Resembling an odd forest rave party, male fireflies enter the mating season by flashing their lights brightly four to right times in unison for about ten seconds, followed by a eight to twelve second darkness in which females may respond with their lights.
Overwhelmed by the tourist onslaught in the recent years, National Park Service now restricts the number of people who visit Elkmont during the peak of firefly season. Fireflies require total darkness to mate and humans who use flashlights, as well as produce any any other form of light pollution, have led to decrease of fireflies across the world. National Park Service has responded through strict lighting regulations in Smoky Mountains National Park which prohibit use of lights which may disturb and drive out the fireflies from the park.
This video was filmed as part of SKYGLOW (skyglowproject.com), an ongoing crowdfunded quest to explore the effects and dangers of urban light pollution in contrast with some of the most incredible dark sky areas in North America. This project is being produced in collaboration with International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org), a non-profit fighting for the preservation of night skies around the globe.