We are happy to share with you a short (3-minute) Public Service Announcement (PSA) from the REEF Grouper Moon Project, featuring spectacular underwater footage and the hopeful story of the Nassau grouper in the Cayman Islands. The video discusses the importance of protections for spawning aggregations and the work that REEF and our collaborators at the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment (CIDOE) and Oregon State University have done on this important conservation issue. The PSA is on REEF's We Speak Fish YouTube channel -- http://www.youtube.com/user/WeSpeakFish

Cayman Island spawning aggregations have been seasonally protected from fishing for the last 8 years at all current and historic aggregation sites. This protection expires at the end of 2011. The status of future protections for the aggregations is still uncertain. Based on the research and findings of the Grouper Moon Project, the CIDOE has recommended a permanent seasonal closure during the spawning season (Nov-Mar) for Nassau grouper.

As we celebrate REEF Member #50,000, it is exciting to also look back to the beginning. This month we feature two of our charter members, Douglas and Jane Rorex (REEF Members #25 and #26). Nineteen years ago this month they were diving in the Florida Keys and happened upon information about what was to be the first REEF Survey Project class in July 1993. They couldn't attend that one, but they did attend a class a few months later. Since then, Douglas and Jane have conducted over 400 surveys combined. Here's what they had to say about REEF:

When and how did you first volunteer with REEF or become a REEF member? How did you first hear about REEF?

We still have the letter from Laddie Akins confirming our being a part of this second class, that took place starting 17 October 1993. The week-long project included 12 dives and surveys along with the daily lessons. It was a blast. It was the best course we had ever had in Scuba in that it enabled us to enjoy our diving ever so much more as we came to recognize what we were actually seeing. Ned DeLoach, Paul Humann, Gloria Teague, and Laddie Akins were all wonderful. Laddie was our primary teacher and has been a mentor, friend, and teacher ever since. Over the years, REEF has continued to provide educational materials, and those combined with books by Ned and Paul have expanded our enjoyment from not only identifying fish, but also watching their behavior. We really enjoyed diving with Ned and Anna DeLoach this past year, where we kept an eye on a pair of courting Frogfish.

Do you dive close to where you live, and if so, what is the best part about diving there?

Most of our Midwest diving involves quarries, lakes, cowponds, caves (springs), and/or rivers. I (Doug) have done all of the former, but presently do most of my local diving in Missouri caves. There is a sense of adventure and exploration and accomplishment in cave diving that is somewhat missing from most cowponds, plus you don't have to run the cattle out of the cave before you dive. The fish life is not as abundant, but there is plenty to see. Cannonball Cave in Missouri is the cave I have explored most thoroughly. I have explored back more than a 1/4 mile and to a depth of 365 feet. The cave is stunning and has beautiful clay formations that are breath-taking.

What is your favorite fish or marine invertebrate?

The juvenile Yellowtail Damsel. We called it by the name "Jewel" fish when we first started diving. Our signal to each other identifying the fish is to hold out one hand and peck on it with the forefinger of the other hand indicating the bright, jewel like dots that adorn the juvenile. We usually spend time at the end of each dive in the shallows among the fire coral on Bonaire looking at interesting fish and creatures, but the tiny Yellowtail Damsels is our favorite. I suppose its our favorite because of its stunning beauty and its also nice getting to see your favorite fish every dive.

What is your most memorable fish find? Is there a fish (or Marine invertebrate) you haven't seen yet diving, but would like to?

Diving Bonaire in the middle 1990's we kept seeing this tiny goby. I drew it and sent the drawing along with a description to Laddie Akins. Laddie had previously identified dozens of fish for us in this manner, (for example, the Cave Bass and the Black Brotula), and, that he could do it was amazing. This fish he eventually identified as an "Island Goby." It was eventually recognized as the same fish by a previous name: "the Semi-scale Goby." I have drawings of it in log pages from those early days and still think of it as an Island Goby, though, on survey sheets I list it otherwise.

We have not seen either a Whale Shark or a Shortnose Batfish. But we're keeping the dream alive...and they are out there awaiting us.

In late June, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO) hosted the first ever Citizen Science Toolkit Conference in Ithaca, New York. Widely known for projects like FeederWatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count, the CLO is a pioneer in bringing people closer to nature through cooperative research, cutting edge technology and innovative science programs across many natural science fields. Leda Cunningham and Dr. Christy Semmens represented REEF at the 3-day meeting, where fifty leaders of citizen science organizations around the world – from worm watchers to bird counters to star gazers – came together to build a toolkit for citizen science practitioners and others seeking to engage volunteers in meaningful science activities.

There is some debate about what citizen science is, not to mention what it does. Many participants noted that “volunteer monitoring” more accurately captures the nature of their programs (much like the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project) while others thought that volunteers fill more of a role than just data collectors and should be involved in all parts of the scientific process, beginning with posing the research question. The group periodically split into five focus groups and reconvened at the end to present a model based on each group’s focus area: Education, Evaluation and Impact, Community Building, Technology and Cyberinfrastructure, and Research and Monitoring. The resulting Toolkit will include resources, recommendations, and case studies from each of these areas, as well as a key to existing citizen science programs. Christy participated in a panel on the impacts of citizen science and presented examples of how REEF data are used by resource agencies and scientists. She presented details of how REEF volunteers helped identify a hotspot of non-native fishes along the south Florida coast and the resulting management actions of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the important role that REEF data can play as a fisheries-independent source of data for the development of stock assessments and fisheries management plans, the discovery of new species by several REEF members, and the value of using our most experienced divers (the Advanced Assessment Team) to conduct annual monitoring of selected sites inside and around no-take marine reserves.

REEF was proud to contribute its fourteen years of experience building the Volunteer Fish Survey Project to the group discussion. Many citizen science organizations deal with the same issues of volunteer recruitment, recognition and retention, engaging the “real” science community, standardizing data collection methods and measuring success. REEF has addressed many of these issues with innovative strategies that may be adopted by other citizen science initiatives: engaging the private retail sector (dive shops) to recruit volunteers within a target audience (scuba divers and snorkelers), developing strong partnerships with science and resource management agencies (such as university-based researchers and the National Marine Sanctuary Program), 5-level expertise testing (in fish identification) to assist with quality control, a published standardized data collection method and the Advanced Assessment Team as an incentive for volunteers to become more proficient surveyors and a measuring stick for training programs.

For more information on the conference or Citizen Science Central, the CLO’s initiative to provide information for practitioners and volunteers, click here. Look for the Citizen Science Toolkit, a robust and practical framework for citizen science program development, implementation, and evaluation, in the fall 2007.

Four spots recently opened on our Turks and Caicos Field Survey aboard the Aggressor II, April 19-26, 2008.  This is a wonderful opportunity for new and experienced REEF surveyors to spend a week diving in one of the jewels of the Caribbean. You can take advantage of our live-aboard accomodations and make up to 5 dives per day at all the best sites these islands have to offer. 

There are quite a few expert surveyors on this trip, so if you're a beginning surveyor, you'll have plenty of mentorship and you could even work toward becoming an expert by the end of the week.  For our experts, there are many cryptic species to challenge us on our surveys. We will have a number of REEF Fish ID classes and time to catch participants up on the many exciting upcoming REEF projects worldwide for 2008.

To reserve your spot - please call Joe Cavanaugh at 305-852-0030, ext. 3 or Tami Gardner at Travel for You, 1-888-363-3345,  For more information about the trip, please visit our Field Survey page atField Survey page   Hope you can join us!