REEF recently completed a Field Survey trip to Roatan, Honduras, led by REEF co-founder, Paul Humann. Over six days, the group completed 17 survey dives including one night dive. Both novice and highly experienced REEF surveyors enjoyed the near perfect weather and dive conditions. Shortfin pipehorses, wrasse blennies, linesnout gobies, peppermint basslets, orangesided gobies, dash gobies, and blue dartfish are a sample of the cryptic fishes that were observed. Spotted Eagle Rays and Southern Stingrays graced us with their presence on a number of dives.
As the lionfish invasion progresses throughout the Western Atlantic region, marine resource managers are struggling with lionfish control in protected areas. In the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Sanctuary managers have come up with a special permit process to allow removal of lionfish within the Sanctuary Preservation Areas (no-take zones). A critical part of the permit process is participation in a training and handling workshop conducted by REEF. To date, over 15 workshops have been held in the Keys and over 230 on the water professionals have been trained and permitted.
Greetings REEF Friends!
This month marks the Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC), REEF's annual event that celebrates our fish survey program. In this issue of REEF-in-Brief we highlight a few of the many GAFC events that were held by our partners throughout the month of July. New REEF staff, Alecia Adamson just returned from the Field Survey to Roatan and her report is below. We are also proud to announce that REEF has facilitated the donation of lionfish collection kits to 27 dive operators in the Florida Keys.
In April 2009, REEF started a monthly seminar series to give back to the community that has housed and supported REEF since our inception. REEF Fish & Friends gathers snorkelers, divers, and armchair naturalists at REEF HQ in Key Largo to learn more about fish and have some fun. The July seminar for REEF, Fish & Friends was all about the Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC).
Thirty miles offshore, in 100 feet of water, the Spike isn’t the most accessible dive site off North Florida’s coast but July 17th marked the first anniversary of the former Coast Guard tender’s deployment as an artificial reef so we were eager to see what had changed over the past year. The Spike had only been down 10 days when we surveyed it during last year’s Great Annual Fish Count.
Date & Time:
Friday, July 16, 2010 - 9:00am - 4:30pm
Location:
Friday Harbor, WA
Please join us for the REEF Great American Fish Count presented by Naknek Charters and The SeaDoc Society. The day will begin with a FREE fish and invertebrate identification class presented by SeaDoc Society's Chief Scientist, Joe Gaydos.
Join REEF for a Free Fish ID and GAFC Survey Class presented by Lad Akins. This event will be held at REEF HQ on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 6:30pm. (no scheduled dive)
Join Reef Watch Waikiki to learn about the REEF survey method and how to identify fish! The class will begin at 3 pm and will last until 5pm. The class includes instruction on how to complete the REEF survey method followed by basic coral reef ecology, fish biology, identification tips, and specific information about different fish families. This will take place on the 7th floor conference room in the Waikiki Trade Center, 2255 Kuhio Avenue
Snorkelers and divers are welcome to come out for a local Great Annual Fish Count community event. This is a beach dive at Commercial Pier and starts at 12:00 noon. Bring a buddy, your gear, tanks and slates. Take these weeks ahead to study your fish and get ready for the big day at the end of the month. A quick Fish ID class will be given for those interested.
Horizon Divers at 100 Ocean Drive in Key Largo, FL will host a Fish ID Class from 10:00am to noon on Saturday, July 11th, followed by an afternoon dive and fish survey. Fish ID and survey materials will be provided for the afternoon dives. The cost for the afternoon dive is $80.00 per person, which includes tank and weights.