1) When and where did you do your first REEF survey? What got you started?
My first survey, according to my REEF log, was on 08/18/11 on a night dive at La Jolla Shores (PAC 42060306). I saw (or perhaps recognized) only 12 species! I belonged at that time to a scuba meetup group which listed Herb Gruenhagen's monthly REEF Fish and Invert ID classes. I thought it would be fun to learn more about the local marine life, so I went, had a blast and actually passed the quiz!
2) When and where did you do your 1,000th Survey? Tell us anything memorable about your 1,000th survey?
I think it was what the local boat has named "Divers' Disneyland", a marvelous rocky-reef area with lots of structure, crevices, little swim-throughs for fish and larger ones for divers, and some giant kelp, on July 3, 2026.
Memorable finds: 2 Porter's chromodorids, 1 Hopkins' rose nudi and my best photos ever of a juvenile CA sheephead, which look nothing like the adults.
3) In which regions have you done surveys? What experience levels are you in those other regions? Do you have any favorite dive spots in those places?
I've done most of my surveys right here in San Diego. My favorite spots here are La Jolla Shores, just about any rocky-reef area off Point Loma, and Mission Point, a very easy shore dive or snorkel along riprap, with a max depth of about 20 feet. We love to night-snorkel there. You never know who's going to show up at Mission Point; I've seen a Red Bigeye and more recently a sabertooth blenny (!!).
I'm a novice in TWA and TEP. I haven't tested anywhere else. I really enjoyed a 2019 REEF trip to the Midriff Islands in the Sea of Cortez. So much fun to survey with other REEFers. I've also dived the Poor Knight Islands in New Zealand, where diving feels surprisingly familiar: chilly waters, kelp beds and rocky reefs, and an abundance of beautiful nudis. In very late 2021, when we were between COVID variants, I did a weeklong liveaboard trip to Turks and Caicos (won at a REEF-By-The-Sea raffle!) . They offered 3-4 dives a day plus a night dive, and I surveyed on all of them. I was the sole diver signed up for the week's last night dive and offered to cancel, but the divemaster really wanted to dive too; there was a small green shrimp he'd been seeking for 3 months. I found a new (to me) triplefin and we actually found his green shrimp, so I was very happy for both of us!
4) What are some of your favorite fishes or invertebrates? What makes them your favorite?
Hmm, favorites...that's sooo tough. To paraphrase Crosby Stills Nash and Young, I kinda love the one I'm with! I love horn sharks (placid and easy to photograph), octopuses of any kind (intelligent and curious), and nudibranchs (Felimare californiensis is a huge fave) because of their variety of colors and shapes. These days, I'm excited to see a nice big healthy giant spined star - they seem to be making a good recovery here from that wasting disease. I would love to see sunflower stars here again, but that may not be in my lifetime, sigh.. .
5) What is your favorite thing/memory about REEF and the Volunteer Survey Project?
I like contributing to citizen science, especially now when our planet is under such severe threat from climate change. And surveying makes every dive and snorkel like a nature hike underwater.
One of my favorite REEF memories is of the 2019 Sea of Cortez trip. It was pretty special to be with other surveyors, learning new fish and visiting some very wonderful sites. I remember the divemasters were happy that we REEF folks were just as thrilled to see the small species, like gobies and triplefins, as we were to see the larger and more showy species.
6) What are your goals with REEF for the future?
Keep surveying until I'm at least ninety! I would like to see more REEF surveying activity in San Diego. I almost never run into anyone with a yellow slate while diving locally!
7) Feel free to share anything else about yourself and your diving adventures!
I'm very lucky to have a partner who doesn't dive (but is a great snorkel buddy). He's very supportive about my diving, and he likes to go on dive trips if snorkeling or kayaking are available.
I've dived in a number of warm-water, far-away places, but I still love our diving right here in San Diego. We have a huge amount of biodiversity on our local rocky reefs! And we get to survey for invertebrates as well as fish.
I enjoy posting photos on iNaturalist, where I've placed quite a few observations of both land and undersea species. When I first started posting underwater photos a few years ago, their AI hadn't seen many sea urchin photos, because it kept trying to ID all my sea urchins as hedgehogs!