We are gearing up for an amazing year of conservation and celebrations, we hope you can join us at a REEF event this year. Save the date and check out details below!
REEF by the Sea - February 28 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL: REEF Sustainers receive an invitation to this annual event, held each spring in either California or Florida. For more information about donor recognition levels, visit this page.
We are so excited for the 16th annual Florida Keys Lionfish Derby & Arts Festival! Starting this year, we are combining the Florida Keys Lionfish Derby with the annual Arts & Science Festival to form a conservation and arts festival! It will all take place at the REEF Campus and will feature vendors including artisans and local non-profits, along with lionfish scoring, fun conservation science and art activities, music, educational and cooking demos, food trucks and drinks, free lionfish tastings, raffle, and derby awards ceremony!
Welcome to the new year - an excellent time to plan your next dive or snorkel trip! Spaces are filling up for our 2025 trips, but there is still some availability, including our Field Survey Trip to Nevis, a charming Caribbean island known for its quiet villages, lush green mountains, and tranquil beaches. Nevis is separated from its sister island, St. Kitts, by a two-mile stretch of water known as the Narrows. The picturesque topside scenery of this quaint Caribbean Island makes this the ideal destination for both divers and non-divers to enjoy.
REEF members are the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. A diverse community of divers, snorkelers, and ocean enthusiasts support our mission to conserve marine environments worldwide.
This month we highlight Donna Goodale, a REEF member who lives in Hawaii. She joined REEF in 2023 and has conducted 87 surveys. She is an Expert surveyor in the Hawaii (HAW) region and has also surveyed in the Central Indo-Pacific (CIP) region. We're so glad to have a dedicated member like Donna!
We're kicking off a new year with our January Fish of the Month, the Bluestripe Butterflyfish, Chaetodon fremblii!
Survey Regions: Bluestripe Butterflyfish are endemic to Hawaii, which means this is the only place in the world that they are found. Click here to see a distribution for this species in the REEF database.
Size: They grow to about 6 inches.
We are pleased to introduce Tamsen "Tamie" DeWitt, the newest member of the REEF Board of Trustees. Tamie has been a REEF member since 2018 and joined the Board of Trustees in late 2024. She has always been inspired by the ocean, which may be because her parents are both from Rhode Island, the ocean state. Tamie was raised as an army brat and was fortunate to go to junior high and high school in the Canal Zone in Panama, Central America. After moving back to the states and getting her masters degree in International Education, she taught ESOL for adults in Maryland.
We're excited to announce our speaker lineup for 2025 REEF Fish & Friends! Each month features an engaging ocean-themed presentation from a guest speaker. Presentations are free to attend, and are hosted at the REEF Campus in Key Largo. Seminars are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube so you can also join in virtually. This year's Fish & Friends presentations include:
Our online programs are free and open to all! Check out what's coming up, and view the entire schedule of Fishinars and other online programs here.
The holidays are here, and if you need to find a gift for the ocean lover in your life, check out the new merchandise we recently added to the REEF online store, including lightweight zip-up hoodies and hats with our new logo. Be sure to check out www.REEF.org/store to see these items as well as plenty of other swag. We also have educational materials, books, and survey gear, all of which make great gifts for divers, snorkelers, and marine life enthusiasts. We suggest placing your order early to allow time for shipping during the holidays.
This winter, REEF has an opportunity for you to involved in ocean conservation from the comfort of your home! We are seeking remote, dedicated volunteers to help create artificial intelligence (AI) training datasets for two collaborative, technology-based citizen science projects, the SMILE project and Grouper Spotter. You can read more about both of these projects below. Volunteers are needed to help build training datasets that are essential for finalizing the AI workflow for these projects, including automated laser detection, fish boxing and outlining, and fish identification.
