On July 17th, Maui celebrated its tenth year as part of the the Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC) with a great event at the Honolua Bay Marine Life Conservation District. As part of the event, several community groups combined to hold a REEF fish count, reef and shoreline clean-up, coral disease survey, and water quality testing. Long-time REEF partners, Donna Brown and Liz Foote, conducted a fish identification class at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary the week before, and the Sanctuary furnished a van and organized a car pool to travel to the remote location. Trilogy Excursions donated a 64 foot sailing catamaran and crew to carry volunteers into the bay, and later invited the shore-based fish counters aboard for a free lunch. REEF surveyors saw and photographed over 70 fish species, including sea horses, oriental helmet gurnard, spotted eagle ray, and a cute baby frogfish. The GAFC is one of the monthly events hosted by the Maui-based Fish Identification Network (FIN). Visitors and new comers are welcome to attend monthly fish counts by contacting: Maui.FIN@gmail.com
