Have you checked out REEF’s 2017 Field Survey Trip schedule? This year, we are traveling to so many exciting destinations all over the world, from tropical reefs in the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific, to the colder waters of the Canadian Pacific coast. This month we are highlighting two of our fish survey trips happening this May: the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Galapagos Islands! We have limited spaces remaining on both of these trips, and are looking for enthusiastic divers and surveyors to join us.
Did you know? While the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project was started in South Florida in 1993, today it has been expanded worldwide! REEF surveys are conducted as part of a diver's regular diving activities; anytime they are in the water, in any of these regions. And more regions are coming soon.
REEF's Survey Project areas:
We are very excited to welcome two new members of the REEF Staff team - Jonathan Lavan and Heather George. Both have been involved as volunteers in the organization for many years and collectively bring a wealth of experience and passion for REEF's mission.
REEF members are at the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. Over 43,000 divers, snorkelers, students, and armchair naturalists stand behind our mission.
This month we highlight Franklin Neal (REEF member since 2000). Franklin and his wife Cassandra (also an active REEF member) spend much of their time in Bonaire these days, but they originally called New York home. Franklin has conducted 1,179 REEF surveys! and he is a member of the Advanced Assessment Team in the Tropical Western Atlantic. Here's what Franklin had to say about REEF:
REEF members are at the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. Over 60,000 divers, snorkelers, students, and armchair naturalists stand behind our mission.
This month we highlight Mindy Gould, member since 1997 (20 years!). Mindy has conducted 121 surveys, in both the western tropical Pacific and the Tropical Western Atlantic. Here's what Mindy had to say about REEF:
REEF Director of Science, Dr. Christy Pattengill-Semmens, and Grouper Moon Scientists, Dr. Brice Semmens (NOAA) and Dr. Scott Heppell (Oregon State University), participated in the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) meeting last month in Guadeloupe. This annual meeting brings together scientists, fishermen, resource agency managers, and marine conservation organizations to present and discuss current topics and emerging findings on coral reef resources of the tropical western Atlantic waters.
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.
Active REEF surveyor and Advanced Assessment Team member, Patti Chandler and her husband Scott, recently found a new fish species for Bonaire! Scott and Patti, of ReefNet, were in Bonaire as presenters for the Second Annual Fish ID Challenge. Nearing the end of a lengthy night dive on Bari Reef over sand, in 10 feet of water, something very strange was illuminated by their video lights catching Scott and Patti's eyes. It was a clear fish,1 inch in length, with a rounded tail, and large pectoral fins that practically encircled it, giving it an appearance of wearing a tutu with yellow dots.
We are excited to share the newest scientific publication that includes data from the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project. The study, published in the Journal of Biogeography, used the power of the people in the form of citizen science to produce a new map of marine fish biodiversity across the Caribbean and tropical western Atlantic.