REEF members are at the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. Over 43,000 divers, snorkelers, students, and armchair naturalists stand behind our mission.
This month we highlight Paul and Marta Bonatz. Marta joined REEF in 1998 and she drew Paul in 2005. They have become active surveyors, and each has conducted 240 surveys. Here's what they had to say about REEF:
What is your favorite part about being a REEF member?
As part of the NOAA-funded Coastal Partnership Initiative, REEF has joined forces with Florida SeaGrant to organize and conduct a series of lionfish collecting and handling workshops and hands on training dives in Southeast Florida. REEF Staff trained over 75 divers during recent workshops and dives in the Florida Keys, Miami, and Palm Beach. The project also includes organized removals by local volunteer teams throughout the year.
There is growing concern that lionfish will affect the structure and function of invaded marine ecosystems. Lead author, Stephanie Green, from Simon Fraser University (SFU), along with REEF Director of Special Projects, Lad Akins and other co-authors Aleks Maljković (SFU), and Isabelle Côté (SFU), documented a dramatic 65% decline in 42 species of reef fish eaten by lionfish over a two year period.
There is growing concern that lionfish will affect the structure and function of invaded marine ecosystems. REEF Director of Special Projects, Lad Akins, is a co-author on a recently published paper evaluating these effects. The study was published in the scientific journal, PLoS ONE. Lead author, Stephanie Green, from Simon Fraser University (SFU), along with Akins and other co-authors Aleks Maljković (SFU), and Isabelle Côté (SFU), documented a dramatic 65% decline in 42 species of reef fish eaten by lionfish over a two year period.
Come join us for a Fish ID Seminar, presented by REEF's interns Lucy and Brandon at our headquarters in Key Largo. We will talk about some of the most common fish and underwater creatures you may encounter in Florida waters and the Caribbean.
Join Divers Cove for the Earth Day 2012 Reef Clean-Up Dive. We will be aboard Scubatyme for two afternoon dives to find and clean up as much ocean debris as we can find. Thanks for your help in tackling this ocean issue!
Multiple dives for the fish survey, Deer Island, New Brunswick.
Fish ID classes will be through two local shops: The Dive Shack and COJO Diving.
Contact michaeljmurphy17@gmail.com for more details.
The authors of this study observed grouper and and their associated reef fish assemblage using scuba and underwater stationary videography during a 7-mo period. Fifty-seven sites around Cape Fear, NC, were visited with stationary video and diver point counts of groupers were taken at each site. Data collected as part of the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project, as well as several other datasets, were used to compare with the study results.
