Earth Day is just a few days away. You can celebrate our environment by helping us reduce our carbon footprint at REEF Headquarters through a one-time, tax-deductible donation to support renewable energy.
Your generous contribution of $500 or $1,000 will go directly toward the installation of solar panels on the roof of REEF's Interpretive Center, reducing our monthly energy costs by an average of 55%!* Donors will be honored on a commemorative plaque at REEF Headquarters.
Christian Science Monitor wrote a feature about the 7th Annual Winter Lionfish Derby, held on March 30, 2019, at Sharkey's Pub and Galley Restaurant in Key Largo.
On Saturday, March 30, ten teams of 34 divers removed 620 invasive lionfish during REEF’s 7th Annual Winter Lionfish Derby, held at Sharkey’s Pub and Galley Restaurant in Key Largo. Between sunrise and 6 p.m., competitors scoured Florida Keys reefs in an attempt to to bring in the smallest lionfish, largest lionfish, and most number of individual lionfish. Team Forever Young caught the most fish at 149 individual lionfish.
REEF members are the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. A diverse community of divers, snorkelers, and ocean enthusiasts support our mission to conserve marine environments worldwide.
REEF Fishinars are fun, live, interactive webinars, open to anyone who wants to learn about ocean life. Our upcoming schedule includes a four-part beginner's course for the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) survey region, which includes Florida, the Caribbean, and The Bahamas. This series will cover the 60 most common fish species in this region and feature plenty of reviews and quizzes. This series will be an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in getting started as a surveyor, as well as provide a great review for advanced TWA surveyors.
This month, REEF is proud to highlight one of our outstanding Conservation Partners: Key Dives in Islamorada, FL. REEF Conservation Partners are active organizations and dive shops dedicated to protecting marine environments. As valued REEF ambassadors, they teach fish ID classes, host survey dives, organize volunteer events and more. Read on to find out how you can get involved with these centers of conservation action!
NPR science podcast, Blue Dot, conducted an interview with Dr. Joe Gaydos and Diego Montecino, lead authors of a paper published in Science Advances about the decline of the Sunflower Sea Star in the Pacific northwest. The study's analysis included almost 11,000 REEF surveys collected by our citizen scientists from California to Alaska over the last decade. To date, REEF data have been used in three scientific papers to evaluate the impacts of sea star wasting disease.
St. Croix, part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, is known for amazing wall diving. Running along the northern side of the island, the wall begins in 25-40 feet of water and plunges to 13,000 feet below the surface. Divers will enjoy daily boat dives on the wall and surrounding reefs. St. Croix is also home to the the Fredericksted Pier, a shore diving site is known for unusual finds like frogfish, batfish and more. This quaint Caribbean island is rich with culture and history that divers and non-divers will enjoy.