Join us in Key Largo this fall for REEF Fest 2015, September 24 - 27. Celebrate the success and impact of REEF's marine conservation programs and education initiatives with diving, learning, and parties. Festivities begin Thursday with afternoon seminars and then a welcome party at the Caribbean Club. Friday and Saturday are full days, with diving in the mornings, seminars in the afternoons, and social events in the evenings (Friday Open House at REEFHQ and Saturday Celebration Dinner Party). The fun wraps up on Sunday with more organized dives. All REEF Fest events are open to the public.
Every month, scientists, government agencies, and other groups request raw data from REEF’s Fish Survey Project database. Here is a sampling of who has asked for REEF data recently and what they are using it for:
- A research group at Palm Beach State College is using REEF data on South Florida fish assemblages to evaluate beach renourishment projects.
- Researchers from NOAA's Biogeography office are including REEF data in the development of a management plan for the marine portion of the NE Ecological Corridor Reserves in NE Puerto Rico and Culebra Island.
We are proud to release REEF's 2014 Annual Report, reviewing accomplishments from our ocean conservation and education programs. Click here to view the Annual Report. In the report, we highlight many achievements and successes in 2014, such as:
REEF’s Summer Donation Matching Campaign is going on now. Please consider making your donation today - click here to donate online! Our supporters have pledged $60,000 to match your donations this summer dollar for dollar. We are about a third of the way to our goal, and we know we can count on the support of our members. Your support helps ensure that we can continue the critical work to protect our world oceans through education and research. Please consider donating today to help us reach our fundraising goal.
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.
This month we highlight Phil Green, a REEF member since 2005. An active surveyor who lives on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Phil has conducted almost 400 surveys to date and is a member of REEF's Advanced Assessment Team for the Pacific region. Here's what he had to say about REEF:
How did you become involved with REEF?
We are encouraging all REEF surveyors in the Tropical Western Atlantic region to be on the lookout for a new non-native fish! Researchers from the University of Veracruz have documented a new non-native species in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico with the potential to spread throughout the region. Sightings of the Regal Demoiselle (Neopomacentrus cyanamos) have recently come from the nearshore reef systems south of Veracruz, Mexico. The species is native to a broad region of the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea.
We are excited to announce REEF Fest 2015, a celebration to be held this fall in Key Largo (September 24 - 27, 2015). We hope you will join us for diving, seminars, and parties! Come celebrate the success and impact of REEF's marine conservation programs and education initiatives.
REEF’s first Month of Membership Madness was a huge success! In April, lucky Michelle Rogers joined as our 60,000th member, and we far exceeded our goal, with 603 new members signing up. If you are a new member, WELCOME to REEF! The winner of the wetsuit giveaway will be announced April 15 on our Facebook page. If you haven’t yet seen the video that our brilliant intern Jack Fishman produced about joining REEF, we highly recommend it (visit www.REEF.org/membershipmadness)!
Funded by a grant through the US Fish and Wildlife Service, REEF’s Lionfish Program Coordinator, Elizabeth Underwood, will travel to cities throughout the Southeast United States to conduct a series of lionfish collecting and handling workshops. These workshops are meant to educate and engage stakeholders (recreational divers, professional divers, environmental groups, students, general public, etc.).
We are very excited to introduce REEF’s Ocean Explorers Camp: a summer day camp designed for the ocean-minded and adventurous! REEF Ocean Explorers Camp immerses campers in an ocean of learning and fun! Based at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida, REEF will introduce campers to the underwater world and all the amazing things found beneath the sea. Each camp session includes: