We are excited to welcome Hilary Penner to the REEF Team. As the new Education and Conservation Programs Manager, Hilary will develop community partnerships, create new youth learning opportunities, and engage REEF members to support our ocean conservation mission. While she's new to the staff, she not new to the organization; Hilary comes from a family of multi-generational REEF members and she herself has been involved with REEF for over two decades as a volunteer. Her first experience with REEF was on a Field Survey Trip to Bimini in 1996.
We are very excited to introduce the newest member of the REEF Team, Dr. Dan Greenberg. Dan will be working with REEF as a Research Associate for the next several months. He started work earlier this year to leverage REEF’s extensive Volunteer Fish Survey Project dataset, to estimate population trajectories and trends in abundance over space and time for various fish and invertebrate species. Prior to joining the REEF team, Dan was doing similar work as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
The impacts of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) on native coral reef populations in the Western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea can be enormous. However, how much lionfish differ from native predators and whether their effects outweigh the abundant mesopredators that occupy many reefs invite continued examination. The authors of this paper present empirical evidence from Caribbean Panama and beyond, suggesting that lionfish are less abundant than native mesopredators (e.g. small seabass).
Our cornerstone citizen science program is called the Volunteer Fish Survey Project, but did you know that REEF surveyors also record sea turtle sightings in all oceans? As part of this global citizen science marine life monitoring program, REEF volunteers have reported sea turtle sightings since 2001. This dataset was recently used as one of several sources of information to study sea turtles in an unexpected location, southern California.
We are excited to share a new scientific paper that was published in the journal Global Change Biology last month. Researchers used REEF’s Volunteer Fish Survey Project database to answer crucial questions about the impacts of invasive lionfish as their range expands into new areas, such as Brazil. It is well known that predation by lionfish affects native fish populations, and this impact is likely exacerbated in certain vulnerable species.
Predation by the invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish impacts native fish populations within the Caribbean region and threatens to expand further into Brazil and the Mediterranean. Identifying the range-restricted native fish species with high predation vulnerability in these areas ahead of the invasion front combined with the knowledge of the time a lionfish population typically takes to reach dangerously high densities could help conservation planners attain positive outcomes and reduce biodiversity loss.
This paper evaluates population trends in Giant Pacific Octopus (GPO) in the Pacific Northwest using REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project data and other data sources. The authors found large changes in GPO abundance linked to average water temperatures. GPO sighting frequencies ranged from a high of 39% to a low of 11%. For every additional degree increase of 4-year average temperatures, the Puget Sound GPO sighting frequency dropped about 19 points. That’s a loss of roughly 75% of typical diver sightings for every degree C.
Growing up to eight feet long and weighing more than 800 pounds, the Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara) is one of the largest grouper species in the world. Goliath Grouper are considered Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and have been protected from harvest in US waters since 1990, after decades of heavy fishing caused a near extinction of the species.
East Pacific Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) have undergone substantial population recovery over the last two decades because of comprehensive protection at nesting beaches and foraging areas. Starting in 2014 in southern California (United States), at the northern end of their range, Green Sea Turtles have been seen in more areas and in greater numbers. A resident population of Green Sea Turtles has established near La Jolla Shores (off San Diego Country), a protected site with daily marine tourism (e.g., kayakers, snorkelers, divers).
If you are itching to don your mask and snorkel and get back in the water, consider joining a REEF Field Survey Trip later this year! You can view the full schedule at www.REEF.org/trips. REEF Trips are led by marine life experts, and include diving, seminars about fish identification, and plenty of fun with friends. Not a scuba diver? No problem. Snorkelers are welcome on REEF Trips and any of the destinations below would be great for non-diving companions. To book your space, send an email to trips@REEF.org.