The 21st annual Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC) is rapidly approaching! Will you be participating? We encourage local shops, dive clubs, and other groups to organize an activity anytime during the month of July (and often training events in June). You can view events already scheduled, and add your own, by visiting www.fishcount.org.
If you haven't had a chance to attend one of our Fishinars yet, you should! New sessions are always being added, so check out the Webinar Training page (www.REEF.org/resources/webinars) to see the current schedule and to register for one or more sessions. These popular online training sessions (webinars) provide fishie fun in the comfort of your own home. Fishinars are free, and open to all REEF members. You need to register for each session you want to attend. No special software is required, just a web browser.
Changing Seas, an Emmy award-winning original production of Miami’s public television station WPBT2, will host a live online screening event of their newest episode, "Grouper Moon", which focuses on the collaborative efforts of REEF and the Cayman Department of the Environment to study and conserve one of the last great populations of the Nassau Grouper. A WPBT team joined REEF in the field during the Grouper Moon Project last winter, chronicling our efforts to help save this imperiled reef fish.
We are about to get our 50,000th member! Spread the word and get your friends to sign up. The lucky 50,000 member will receive one of our new Rogest-designed REEF logo T-shirts (and a very notable and easy to remember member number). Forward this e-news to a friend who isn't yet a member and encourage them to sign up today. It's easy to do online, and it's free!
We are excited to announce our 2013 Field Survey Schedule. There is 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. REEF staff, board members, and other REEF experts lead these trips, and each features daily classroom seminars and a full diving schedule.
REEF proudly names Heather George as our 2011 Volunteer of the Year. Since becoming a member nearly a decade ago, Heather has conducted 192 REEF surveys throughout the world and is a member of the Advanced Assessment Team in the Tropical Western Atlantic and Hawaii. In 2010, Heather joined the volunteer research team for the Grouper Moon Project. Through the years, she has conducted fish identification trainings for dive shops and aquaria and has led several REEF Field Survey Trips.
Nine REEF members joined REEF Director of Science, Dr. Christy Pattengill-Semmens, for a Field Survey week in Nevis last week, kicking off the 2012 REEF Trip season with a bang. The group stayed at Oualie Beach Resort on Nevis and dove with the on-site dive operator, Scuba Safaris. Over 120 surveys were conducted, which is a great addition to the REEF database for this region (prior to this trip, there were only 7 surveys from Nevis). Each afternoon, the group would gather for a few hours to discuss the day's sightings, review images and video, and enter survey data.
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 researcher from Florida International University is using REEF data from the Florida Keys to study changes in trophic interactions as a result of changes in top level predator communities in no-take reserves.
- A great last minute opportunity to join renowned photographer and REEF co-founder, Paul Humann, for a week of fish watching and learning. Two spaces (one cabana) just opened up on each week of his upcoming trip to the San Blas Islands in the Caribbean Sea off Panama, June 9-16 and June 16-23, 2012. You will stay in one of these beautiful over-water bungalows. Grab a space before it's too late. Email or call our friends at Caradonna today. 1-877-295-7333 (REEF), REEF@caradonna.com.
REEF is proud to announce the next generation of our website - www.REEF.org. The redesigned page was launched earlier this month. The website still features the wealth of information, tools, and resources you expect from REEF.org, but now they are highlighted with a new design and user friendly navigation. Aside from the new look, you may notice that the site is much faster due to an upgrade in our server equipment.