Welcome to the Citizen Science Corner, our quarterly feature to acknowledge those who recently reached a milestone in our Volunteer Fish Survey Project. We are celebrating those who moved up an Experience Level in October, November, or December 2021.
Experience Level Advancements
REEF Fest is an annual, four-day event to celebrate marine conservation in the Florida Keys. Events include educational seminars, social gatherings, diving and eco-adventures alongside some of the most prestigious names in diving and marine conservation. All REEF Fest events are open to the public. Click here for full REEF Fest details.
Questions? Please call REEF at (305) 852-0030 or email events@REEF.org.
This is our 9th annual Florida Keys "locals" derby; fishing allowed in Monroe County waters only.
Event Schedule
Managing invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) in the Western Atlantic Ocean is beyond the capacity of natural resource organizations alone. In response, organizations have mobilized members of the public and citizen scientists to help. The authors used a structured survey to assess the activities and perceptions of 71 organizations that engage the public and citizen scientists in lionfish research and management throughout the invaded range of the Western Atlantic.
The participants can attend any day from July 21 - July 25.
Resort Name: Dream Lagoon & Aqua Park Resort, as EcoPro has a special rate.
Location: 20km south of Marsa Alam, Red Sea, Egypt.
Resort Price: 100$/night (soft all-inclusive in a double room + class room rent + transportation from Port Ghalib/ resort and resort/ airport + BBQ on the beach).
Dive boat: 200$ (include: one-day boat trip + lunch + two dives for REEF Fish Survey + one dive for dugong and green turtles discovery in the key habitat + transportation resort/ dive site/ resort).
Boat Name: Emperor Echo (https://www.emperordivers.com/liveaboards-fleet-echo.php)
Route: South and St. Johns (https://www.emperordivers.com/liveaboards-routes-st.johns.php)
Date: July 14 - 21, 2022
Departure/ Arrive: Marsa Ghalib Port, Marsa Alam, Red Sea, Egypt.
Price: 1099 Euros (about $1158 USD). Contact Ahmed Shawky for details. Only 9 spaces left.
Together, we're building a brighter future for the oceans. Your support of REEF funds programs that use citizen science to protect marine life, conduct groundbreaking conservation science research, and engage and educate ocean stewards and communities. By working together, we can achieve meaningful solutions for conservation success. Our winter fundraising campaign is underway, and your year-end gift will help ensure that we can start off 2022 on a high note, ready to take action to advance ocean conservation worldwide.
Mark your calendars, fish enthusiasts! We're headed to the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent for a REEF Field Survey Trip on Feb. 5-12, 2022. There are just three spaces remaining on the trip, and those who love adding to their fish survey life list will not want to miss this one. Known as the muck diving capital of the Caribbean, St. Vincent is renowned in the dive community as a hotspot for rare, unique, and cryptic species.
As you make resolutions and plans for the year ahead, why not consider a goal that benefits not only you, but our planet as well? In early 2022, we're launching the Conservation Challenge, a new initiative to encourage REEF members to dive deeper into citizen science. The goals are to learn about marine life, gather scientific data, and connect with a community of ocean lovers as you complete various challenges that support REEF's marine conservation mission. Most of the challenges can be completed during any time of year, and we’ll choose one (or more!) challenges to highlight each month.
