September 29 – October 2 in Key Largo, FL
We are excited to announce REEF Fest 2016, a celebration of marine conservation in the Florida Keys! Events include ocean-themed seminars, scuba diving, and social gatherings alongside marine conservation and dive industry leaders.
The Blue Heron Bridge in Florida is known for quirky, uncommon fish sightings found in the mucky habitat. Guest presenters Carlos and Allison Estape will highlight many of these bizarre fish in a two-part online REEF Fishinar to celebrate World Oceans Day. The first session, held last night, is now archived online. Later in June we'll highlight fishes of the Grouper family in the TWA region.
During the entire month of July we encourage you to try your hand at conducting your first survey if you're new to our Volunteer Fish Survey Project, or to do a few more if it's been a while.
The GAFC began in 1992 when a small group of recreational divers and marine biologists conducted a visual fish count in California's Channel Islands National Park. The effort was modeled after the Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count and has now grown into an international event.
The ideas behind the GAFC are to:
We hope to see you in Key Largo this Fall for REEF Fest 2016! Mark your calendar -- September 29 – October 2, 2016. Our annual celebration of marine conservation includes diving, educational seminars, and social gatherings! Check out www.REEF.org/REEFFest for more information.
REEF members are at the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. Over 50,000 divers, snorkelers, students, and armchair naturalists stand behind our mission.
This month we highlight Mary Korte. Mary, and her husband Don, have been REEF members since 2001. Both are active surveyors, and Mary is a Level 3 surveyor in the TWA who has completed 284 surveys (all on snorkel!). Here’s what Mary had to say about REEF:
What is your favorite part about being a REEF member?
We are excited to share our 2017 REEF Trips Schedule, with a fantastic lineup of destinations planned. These Field Survey Trips offer a great introduction to fish identification for novice surveyors, and are a fun way for experienced surveyors to build their life list while interacting with fellow marine life enthusiasts. We also offer several Lionfish Research Trips each year. REEF staff, board members, and other REEF experts lead these trips, and each trip features daily educational seminars and a full diving schedule.
Check out the great Fishinars we have planned for May! We invite everyone to join in the fun of learning in the convenience of your home, with these energetic and informative online webinars. Our Fishinars are free to REEF members, interactive (so you don't fall asleep), and chock full of tips and tricks to help you learn fish ID in many areas of the world.
Between 2013 and 2015, the US Pacific Northwest and western Canada experienced a mass mortality of sea stars. The Sunflower Star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), a previously abundant predator, began to show signs of a wasting syndrome in early September 2013, and dense aggregations disappeared from many sites in a matter of weeks. REEF surveyors certainly noticed, and the decline was reflected in the REEF database. The authors of a new publication just out in the journal PeerJ used the REEF database to document the decline at a regional scale.
The US Pacific Northwest and western Canada experienced a mass mortality of sea stars between 2013 and 2015. The sunflower star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), a previously abundant predator, began to show signs of a wasting syndrome in early September 2013, and dense aggregations disappeared from many sites in a matter of weeks. REEF surveyors certainly noticed, and the decline was reflected in the REEF database.
