REEF Director of Science, Christy Pattengill-Semmens, and REEF Outreach Coordinator, Janna Nichols, attended a rockfish conference in Seattle earlier this week. The workshop, Rockfish Recovery in the Salish Sea: Research and Management Priorities, was organized by NOAA, WDFW, and the SeaDoc Society, and served as a venue for scientists, managers, and policy makers from throughout the region to share their work and help chart a course for future work. Christy presented an overview of REEF data collected throughout the Salish Sea, and showed distribution maps for 12 species of rockfish.
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.
The 20th 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. You can view events already scheduled, and add your own, by visiting www.fishcount.org.
REEF is proud to partner with over 130 dive shops, dive clubs, individuals, and other organizations as REEF Field Stations.
We are happy to share with you a short (3-minute) Public Service Announcement (PSA) from the REEF Grouper Moon Project, featuring spectacular underwater footage and the hopeful story of the Nassau grouper in the Cayman Islands. The video discusses the importance of protections for spawning aggregations and the work that REEF and our collaborators at the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment (CIDOE) and Oregon State University have done on this important conservation issue.
On Wednesday July 27th Horizon Divers in Key Largo, Fl will host a Great Annual Fish Count Fish ID workshop and afternoon survey dives. A morning fish ID seminar will teach participants the most common local fish and the REEF survey method. After a lunch break, divers will reunite to complete an afternoon of survey dives (2 tanks) putting their new fish ID knowledge to work!
Contact Horizon Divers or Alecia Adamson 305-852-0030 with questions!
On Saturday July 16th Horizon Divers in Key Largo, Fl will host a Great Annual Fish Count Fish ID workshop and afternoon survey dives. A morning fish ID seminar will teach participants the most common local fish and the REEF survey method. After a lunch break, divers will reunite to complete an afternoon of survey dives (2 tanks) putting their new fish ID knowledge to work!
Contact Horizon Divers or Alecia Adamson 305-852-0030 with questions!
REEF will kick off this year’s GAFC events with their annual Vandenberg monitoring surveys in Key West. REEF staff and members of the Advanced Assessment Survey Team will spend the week of June 27th-July 1st monitoring fish species and abundances on the ex-military tracking ship and other area artificial and natural reef ecosystems. Divers who are not yet experts in fish identification are welcome to join in on these surveys and practice their fish ID and survey skills.
”Great Annual Fish Count” Snorkel Trip - Tuesday, July 19th @ 11am
Don’t just blow bubbles - make your dives count.
Join the Barrier Island Center & Cocoa Beach Scuba Odyssey for the Great Annual Fish Count.
The event will include a free fish identification & survey methodology seminar.
The guided snorkel trip to the Sebastian Inlet has a fee.
Meet @ the BIC and come prepared with water, sunscreen, snacks, equipment, etc.
The fee to participate in dive is $22 and includes guide and survey materials.
The Fish Identification Network will hold the 11th Great Annual Fish Count on July 23, 2011 at the Kahekili Beach Park, West Maui, Hawaii.
- This is a SCUBA and/or snorkel survey rated beginner and intermediate.
- Fish identification and survey protocol will taught on the beach at 9 am.
- Loaner slates will be available.
- Novice quiz (level 2) will be held at 11 am and is free of charge.
Email to: maui.fin@gmail.com, or join FIN on Facebook: