Calling all college students or recent graduates who are divers! This summer, spend a week learning marine life survey techniques with REEF experts in Key Largo, Florida. Build your skills and resume for marine field research and discover career opportunities in the marine and conservation field. The course covers commonly used tools and techniques utilized in visual assessments of reef fishes.
Through the analysis of acoustic recordings of captive Pterois spp., this study has confirmed anecdotal evidence that Pterois spp. are soniferous. This report of sound production in Pterois spp. provides the foundation for future research into their specific acoustic capabilities including sound production mechanisms, the role of social behaviour and applied techniques for controlling and monitoring invasive Pterois spp. in the tropical and temperate western Atlantic Ocean. REEF staff, Lad Akins, was a co-author.
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 earlier this month in the Dominican Republic. 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 43,000 divers, snorkelers, students, and armchair naturalists stand behind our mission.
We are excited to honor Dennis Bensen as 2021 REEF Volunteer of the Year. Dennis joined REEF in 2001, and quickly became an avid REEF surveyor as part of the Volunteer Fish Survey Project (VFSP). Through the years, he has earned Expert level surveyor status in both Hawaii (HAW) and the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) survey regions, and he is one of the few surveyors who has conducted REEF surveys in most (7) of REEF’s 10 survey regions worldwide. After living in New York for decades, Dennis moved to the Big Island of Hawaii when he retired in 2015.
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 Doug Harder (REEF member since 1996). Doug lives in Monument, Colorado, and has conducted 759 REEF surveys. Doug is a member of the Advanced Assessment Team in both the Tropical Western Atlantic and Hawaii. Here's what Doug had to say about REEF:
What inspires you to do REEF Surveys?
We are excited to share the latest publication stemming from REEF's Invasive Lionfish Research Program - "Mobilizing volunteers to sustain local suppression of a global marine invasion," recently published in the scientific journal Conservation Letters.
We are proud to announce our 2013 Volunteers of the Year, Carlos and Allison Estapé. Carlos and Allison joined REEF in 2008, and collectively, they have conducted 108 surveys. They call the Florida Keys home. As Tropical Western Atlantic REEF Advanced Assessment Team members, skilled lionfish hunters, expert underwater photographers, and PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors, this diving duo is instrumental to REEF’s fieldwork conducted in the Upper Florida Keys and they are avid REEF ambassadors.
In response to requests from the scientific community, we are adding a new species to monitor on REEF surveys in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) - Diadema antillarum, the Long-Spined Sea Urchin. In the early 1980s, a large die-off of Diadema occurred throughout the TWA. This has had a significant and long-lasting impact on coral reefs in the region because Diadema is (was) one of the primary grazers on Caribbean coral reefs (keeping rocks clear for baby corals to establish and keeping algae from overgrowing established corals).
We are thrilled to share that Chuck and Kara Curry are our 2022 REEF Volunteers of the Year. Chuck joined REEF in 2013, and Kara joined a few years later in 2016, after meeting Chuck during a dive trip to Cuba. Since then, they have both joined the ranks as some of the top surveyors for the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project. Collectively, they have submitted over 2,500 surveys in the VFSP database. In 2022 alone, they conducted 448 surveys. Unsurprisingly, Chuck and Kara have both achieved the coveted Golden Hamlet award for submitting over 1,000 surveys.