Seventeen dedicated REEF surveyors recently visited the beautiful Caribbean island of Grenada for a week of diving and fish surveying. The results from the trip were recently processed into REEF's database, adding to the survey count for the largest marine life sightings database in the world. Altogether, the group conducted 181 surveys at 15 sites and recorded 208 different species. Several of the reports were new records for the area, including the Greenbanded Goby, Bridled Burrfish, Striped Grunt, Red Banner Blenny, Goldline Blenny, Molly Miller, Bantam Bass, and Bluelip Hamlet!
We are thrilled to be celebrating a quarter-century of citizen science success by recognizing the 25th anniversary of our cornerstone program, the Volunteer Fish Survey Project. In the summer of 1993, a small group of pioneering conservationists took a slate on a dive in the Florida Keys, and initiated what would eventually become the world's largest marine life sightings database.
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REEF Fest is less than two months away! Please join us for a four-day celebration of marine conservation that includes snorkel and dive charters, ocean-themed seminars, and social gatherings with friends. Diving and snorkeling trips are offered on the mornings of Friday, Sept 21 and Saturday, Sept. 22. Space is limited, so please register as soon as possible. There is no need to call a dive shop to participate in REEF Fest diving or snorkel trips. Instead, visit the REEF Fest Diving webpage to register online.
REEF’s 2018 Lionfish Derby Series presented by Whole Foods Market® is in full swing, and we are excited to share that so far, derby participants have already removed more than 1,770 lionfish from Florida's coastal waters this year! Thank you to everyone who has participated in this effort to combat invasive species. With the Palm Beach Derby happening this weekend at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, we will add even more lionfish to the current total.
To commemorate 25 years of REEF’s Volunteer Fish Survey Project, a group of volunteer citizen scientist divers joined REEF staff and interns, along with co-founder Paul Humann, for a special 25th anniversary Field Survey Trip in Key Largo, Florida, last month. Key Largo is home to REEF Headquarters and was also the location for the very first REEF Field Survey Trip, held in July 1993. The attendees on the 2018 trip surveyed the same sites visited by participants on the 1993 Field Survey, to observe how fish populations have changed over past 25 years.
REEF's Volunteer Fish Survey Project dataset was one of 73 fish and invertebrate monitoring programs that were systematically cataloged and evaluated as part of a mulit-year study funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) RESTORE Act Science Program. The effort was led by Arnaud Gruss from the University of Miami, and involved dozens of collaborators, including REEF's Director of Science, Christy Pattengill-Semmens.
REEF members are at the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. More than 70,000 divers, snorkelers, students, and armchair naturalists stand behind our mission.
Last month, REEF kicked off our 2018 Lionfish Derby series at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami. Four teams competed on June 9 and 10 to bring in a total of 309 fish. The largest lionfish caught was 411mm (just over 16 inches) and the smallest was 112mm (about 4.5 inches.) We have two more derbies coming up this month - in Sarasota at Mote Marine Lab and Aquarium on July 6 - 8, and in Ft. Lauderdale at 15th St. Fisheries on July 13 - 14, and a few more later this summer and fall.
