Each year, REEF volunteer citizen scientists embark on dive trips all over the world to conduct fish surveys as part of the Volunteer Fish Survey Project. Two places we are particularly excited about visiting this year are Little Corn Island, Nicaragua, and Uepi Island in the Solomon Islands. Despite being on opposite sides of the world, these two locations are both tropical paradises known for excellent diving. Both areas are very remote, but the incredible marine life is worth the travel! It's not too late to join us on one (or both!) of these fantastic trips.
On April 23, we welcomed nearly 200 guests to REEF Headquarters for our first Susainability Fair, held in honor of Earth Day. Many local nonprofits and environmentally-minded businesses set up booths along our Native Plants Trail, and engaged attendees with a variety of fun activities. Guests learned about ways to be more sustainable in their everyday lives, and what they can do to make a positive difference for the environment.
Since 2010, more than 45,000 invasive lionfish have been removed through REEF Lionfish Derbies. We are excited to announce that the following dates and locations have been set for REEF’s 2019 Summer Lionfish Derby Series:
• June 28 – 30: 8th Annual Fort Lauderdale Lionfish Derby at 15th Street Fisheries
• July 12 – 14: 6th Annual Sarasota Lionfish Derby at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium
• Sept.13 – 15: 10th Annual Upper Keys Lionfish Derby and Festival at Postcard Inn Resort and Marina
Last summer, we launched a brand-new version of the REEF website! There are many improved features on this new interface that we'd like to share with you. This month, we'll show you how to sort your REEF Survey Log.
Step 1: After logging into your REEF account, go to My REEF > My Survey Log
Step 2: Notice that you can click on any of the headers to sort in ascending or descending order.
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.
Did you know you can contribute to REEF's conservation and education efforts while shopping for everyday items, through our newly launched Shop to Support program? We are pleased to announce that Divers Alert Network (DAN) is our newest Shop to Support partner! DAN will donate a percentage of the proceeds back to REEF for each travel insurance policy you purchase using our affiliate link. Click here to purchase your DAN travel insurance and support REEF’s conservation efforts worldwide.
REEF Fishinars are fun, live, interactive webinars, open to anyone who wants to learn about ocean life. At the beginning of May, we presented a beginner's course covering 60 most commonly seen fish species in the Tropical Western Atlantic (the survey region including Florida, the Caribbean and the Bahamas). Each session of this four-part series was recorded, so if you missed them or want to watch them again, you can view them any time online.
We are very proud to share that Dr. Christy Pattengill-Semmens, REEF Director of Science, and Dr. Brice Semmens, Director of California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations and associate professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, have been named Scuba Diving magazine’s April 2019 Sea Heroes! Sponsored by the watch brand Seiko, this award honors the extraordinary work done by scuba divers making a difference for our world’s oceans, reefs and marine life.
We are excited to announce that our 2020 REEF Field Survey Trips schedule is now available!