REEF's fifth Field Survey to Fiji is sure to be a fantastic 10 days of diving, fish surveying, and plenty of fun with friends! Central Fiji is known as a hotspot for diving, due to a combination of unique characteristics, including nutrient-rich runoff, deep-ocean upwelling, tidal and wind-driven currents and protection from numerous barrier islands. The South Pacific is an extremely diverse region with massive schools of pelagics such as Bigeye Trevally, Scad, and Barracuda, Gray Reef and Whitetip Reef Sharks, and unusual creatures like the Leaf Scorpionfish and Hairy Ghost Pipefish.
Fishinars are REEF's brand of fun, live, interactive webinars and anyone who wants to know more about ocean life is welcome to join in. Tune in this month for a four-part course on Pacific Northwest Invertebrates and Algae, co-taught by REEF staff members Janna Nichols and Ellie Place. This comprehensive course will teach you how to identify the 60+ invertebrates and algae that are monitored in the REEF Pacific Northwest Survey Region (Alaska, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia). It will be a great resource for beginners and an opportunity for advanced surveyors to review.
Escape the hectic holidays with a fun dive vacation to the Turks and Caicos Islands. This is one of the few locations in the Caribbean that is known to have a healthy Nassau Grouper population, and because this trip falls right after the full moon, you may even see grouper migrating to spawning sites, or get to view them in their breeding colors! The Turks and Caicos Islands are also known to have resident Reef Sharks, frequently sighted on numerous dive locations. In addition, many other fish finds await discovery on the walls and reefs throughout the islands.
I wanted to share with you the excitement I felt attending the Reef Futures 2018: A Global Coral Restoration and Interventions Science Symposium in December. Excitement was evident throughout the talks, and the visions were grand for this global conference. We heard about the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority’s audacious effort to address coral bleaching due to climate change, including consideration of such possibilities as coral shading, a 5um biodegradable film over the corals that could reduce sunlight by 30%, cloud seeding, and pumping colder water from the deep.
Caroly's Notes
Escape the winter cold by planning a dive trip to the tropics! When you travel with REEF, you take a dive vacation that counts, and we still have a few spaces left on our upcoming Field Survey Trip to the beautiful Caribbean island of Nevis, on March 9-16, 2019. Led by Janna Nichols, this trip will include daily fish identification classes to help you boost your Caribbean fish id knowledge. Nevis is separated from its sister island, St. Kitts, by a two-mile stretch of water known as the Narrows, home to lots of interesting marine life.
REEF scientists and volunteers are gearing up another season of the Grouper Moon Project, a collaborative research effort with the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment (CIDOE). This important project focuses on one of the largest (and one of just a few) known spawning aggregations of Nassau Grouper in the Caribbean. Over 6,000 grouper amass in one location for 7-10 days following winter full moons.
The 2019 REEF calendar is now available! REEF surveyors and ocean enthusiasts alike will appreciate this collection of stunning full-color marine life photographs, all taken by our members. The calendar is a special tribute our citizen science volunteers. Each month highlights an individual who has made a significant impact on marine conservation through the Volunteer Fish Survey Project. The calendar is also a great way to keep up with REEF events throughout the year, such as Field Survey Trips, Fishinars, and REEF Fest.
Over nearly three decades, REEF has welcomed more than 100 individuals to REEF Headquarters to spend a semester immersed in the marine conservation field. This month, we highlight past intern Jessica Levy. Read on to hear about Jessica's time at REEF, and how her internship helped her get where she is now.
When were you an intern?
Summer 2012 (May to August)
REEF volunteers are the heart of our organization. We are so appreciative of everyone who dedicates time, support, and resources to help us fulfill our marine conservation mission. We are very proud to announce Laurie Brooks as our 2018 Volunteer of the Year!