Introducing our April Fish of the Month, the Chalk Bass (Serranus torturgarum)!
Survey Regions: The Chalk Bass is found in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) survey region. Click here to see the REEF database report for this species.
Size: They grow to about 3-4 inches.
Earlier this week, on March 3rd, 2009, the number of REEF surveys conducted by volunteers in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) region (incl. the US East Coast, Caribbean, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico) topped 100,000! The REEF Volunteer Survey Project database as a whole (including all regions) reached this benchmark in October 2006. The 100k surveys have been conducted by 8,582 volunteers at 6,203 sites in the TWA region.
Not just Cozumel - This session will cover more of the most commonly seen fish in the Tropical Western Atlantic region and will show you how to ID them. It is not necessary to have attended the first session of this series, "Cozumel's Dirty Dozen" - so come anyway and join in the fun!
Instructor: Jonathan Lavan, REEF Instructor and fish geek
Although the courses are free, you must register for each session you'd like to attend.
For more than 20 years, REEF has been conserving marine ecosystems through education, service, and research. It’s an exciting time for REEF as we work hard to extend the reach of our innovative marine conservation programs. One way REEF is doing this is by inviting diverse leaders to the Board of Trustees to help guide the foundation, including these three new members:
REEF Fishinars are fun, live, interactive webinars, open to anyone who wants to learn about ocean life. At the beginning of May, we presented a beginner's course covering 60 most commonly seen fish species in the Tropical Western Atlantic (the survey region including Florida, the Caribbean and the Bahamas). Each session of this four-part series was recorded, so if you missed them or want to watch them again, you can view them any time online.
Please join REEF for another fun FISHY HOUR with a game of Fishardy - a fish Jeopardy-style game. This version will be for fish found in our Tropical Western Atlantic region!
It's back to school time, and our August Fish of the Month is the Schoolmaster, Lutjanus apodus!
Survey Regions: Schoolmasters are common throughout REEF's Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) survey region, and can also be found as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Brazil. Click here to see a distribution report for this species in the TWA region.
We proudly announce our Volunteer of the Year for 2012, Jonathan Lavan. Jonathan joined REEF in 2004 and since then, he has logged 324 REEF fish surveys and become a member of REEF's Advanced Assessment Teams for both the Tropical Western Atlantic and Pacific Coast survey regions. He has submitted surveys in five of REEF's six regions. Jonathan's involvement with REEF has been instrumental in spreading the word about REEF and its programs.
Students from two universities recently spent their spring breaks engaging with REEF's marine conservation and citizen science projects. Each group of students spent one fun-filled week working alongside REEF staff and interns to learn about Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) fish identification and the REEF survey method. We were thrilled to welcome students from Georgia State University and their professor, Dr. Amy Reber, back to Key Largo for their annual field course. This weeklong education program has become a component of Georgia State's marine ecology course.
