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Here's an excerpt from a recent review from a fellow REEF member:
REEF teamed up with the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) during the second week of September to host the first-ever “Corals In & Lionfish Out,” a series of events to engage and educate the public while raising funds for coral restoration and invasive lionfish removal efforts in the Florida Keys. “Corals In & Lionfish Out” coincided with REEF’s Fifth Annual Key Largo Lionfish Derby, which was held at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park on Sept. 13.
If you haven't yet had a chance to check out REEF's 2015 Field Survey Trip Schedule, we encourage you to take a look. Visit www.REEF.org/trips to see the complete schedule, package details, trip leader bios, trip policies, and more. We hope you will join us!. Spaces are starting to fill up, and we want to make sure you don't miss this chance to take a "Dive Vacation that Counts".
A new scientific paper that features research from REEF's Grouper Moon Project, "Hot Moments in Spawning Aggregations", was recently published in the journal, Coral Reefs. The study looked at the impact of a Nassau Grouper spawning aggregation in creating biogeochemical "hot moments", which occur when a temporary increase in one or more limiting nutrients results in elevated rates of biogeochemical reactions.
We are excited to announce a new expansion of the Volunteer Fish Survey Project to the eastern Atlantic, beginning with a new program in the Azores. REEF's Director of Science, Christy Pattengill-Semmens, Ph.D., spent time in the islands earlier this summer developing new survey and training materials. This Portuguese archipelago is the northern extent of a bioregion known as Macaronesia, which also includes Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the Cape Verde Islands.
We are pleased to announce the 2015 REEF Field Survey Trip Schedule. We have an exciting lineup of destinations planned and we hope you will join us. These trips offer a great introduction to fish identification for novice fishwatchers, and are a fun way for experienced surveyors to build their life list while interacting with fellow fishwatchers. We are also offering two of the ever-popular Invasive Lionfish Research Expeditions. REEF staff, board members, and other REEF experts lead these trips, and each features daily classroom seminars and a full diving schedule.
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:
- Scientists from NOAA’s Office of Protected Resources are using REEF data to evaluate populations of seabass and grouper in the Caribbean.
- A scientist from the University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs is using REEF data on fishes and invertebrates to evaluate MPAs in the Puget Sound.
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 Janet Eyre. Janet has been a REEF member since 2002, and has conducted 1,125 surveys. She is on the Advanced Assessment Team as an Expert Surveyor in four of REEF’s regions! Janet happily describes herself as a true fish nerd, and she has taken a lead role in assisting with REEF’s expansions to the tropical western Pacific. Here's what Janet had to say about REEF:
There is one week left to DOUBLE YOUR DONATION, and we need $13,300 to reach our goal! Help REEF’s important marine conservation programs by donating to the largest matching campaign in our history. Please donate online today.
REEF’s recent Field Survey Trip to Belize was wonderful in many ways, but two events were of particular scientific interest. First, everybody’s favorite, the Sharpnose Pufferfish were spawning so there were literally hundreds seen on every single dive. More importantly, trip leader Jonathan Lavan got a photo of the rarely seen Glover’s Reef Toadfish (Vladichthys gloverensis) down in a sponge. It was thought to only live on Glover’s Reef, Belize, but this animal was photographed on an adjacent reef in Turneffe Atoll so perhaps a common name change is in order.
