Scuba Lessons Inc. Co-Op Dive Club formally invites you to attend the Neptune's Memorial Reef 2 tank dive with RJ Dive Charters. This dive will be a Reef.org Fish Survey Dive Event. Neptune's Memorial Reef is designed as the largest artificial reef in the entire world, when finished it will be over 16 acres. Currently the site is more like 450 square feet but what is there is AMAZING! It is a mock up of the lost city of atlantis, complete with statues, gates, hallways and cooridors and thousands of fish to count!
Join us for a Fish ID Seminar to learn the 50 most common fish in the waters of the Florida Keys. This seminar includes an interactive presentation, free membership to REEF, and an opportunity to participate in a guided field survey dive. Pre-registration is recommended.
Join us from 6:30pm-8:30pm at Divers Direct in Dania Beach on June 5th for a lionfish collecting and handling workshop. Topics will include background of the invasion, biology/ecology of lionfish, impacts of lionfish and current research findings as well as collecting and handling tools and techniques. Participants will also have the opportunity to obtain their permit for collecting lionfish within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary no-take zones (SPAs). Please note, there is no dive associated with this workshop.
REEF is proud to partner with over 130 dive shops, dive clubs, individuals, and other organizations as REEF Field Stations. This month we feature the Dive Club of Silicon Valley. The dive club started organizing Great Annual Fish Count Events (GAFC) over 10 years ago. Club member and leader of their REEF programs, Kari Larson, says "The club has always been interested in ways to help the environment and help divers understand their role as underwater ambassadors. As a club we promote fun and safe diving.
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.