The 18th Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC) is now in full swing. There are GAFC events being held around the country. One of the largest and longest running is held in the Northeast US. Over 100 divers are expected to converge at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, MA, on July 25, for the 8th annual Northeast GAFC event. The celebration, hosted by The New England Aquarium Dive Club and REEF, will include survey dives, a picnic, free raffles and door prizes. GAFC dives are planned at seven shore locations around Cape Ann, along with dives at Nubble Light, York, ME. Every survey form submitted after each dive will count as an entry into the raffles for each diver.
Begun in 1975, the New England Aquarium Dive Club, Inc. is one of the world's oldest, largest and most active aquarium affiliated dive clubs. We share the fun of diving, a love of the sea, a concern for diving safety, and a desire to learn more about the aquatic realm and to share that knowledge with others. The REEF Fish Survey Project allows volunteer SCUBA divers and snorkelers to collect and report information on marine fish populations. The data are collected using a fun and easy standardized method, and are housed in a publicly-accessible database on REEF's Website. These data are used by a variety of resource agencies and researchers. In 2001, the acclaimed REEF Fish Survey Project and the Great Annual Fish Count was introduced to New England's SCUBA-diving community.
During our 7th Annual GAFC event held on July 18, 2008, 98 divers conducted 123 fish surveys at 7 locations around Cape Ann and southern Maine, making this the largest single day GAFC event held in the United States for an unprecedented seventh year in a row! Join us as our celebration continues with the New England Aquarium Dive Club, REEF and the Great Annual Fish Count.
For more information, please contact: Bob Michelson, event coordinator for the New England Aquarium Dive Club at (781) 848-8870, or by e-mail, pbm.inc@verizon.net.