Seventeen dedicated REEF surveyors recently visited the beautiful Caribbean island of Grenada for a week of diving and fish surveying. The results from the trip were recently processed into REEF's database, adding to the survey count for the largest marine life sightings database in the world. Altogether, the group conducted 181 surveys at 15 sites and recorded 208 different species. Several of the reports were new records for the area, including the Greenbanded Goby, Bridled Burrfish, Striped Grunt, Red Banner Blenny, Goldline Blenny, Molly Miller, Bantam Bass, and Bluelip Hamlet!
A particularly thrilling fish find for the group was the Red Banner Blenny (Emblemariopsis ramirezi). The nuptial (mating) male of this species has a distinctive marking on its dorsal fin - a wide, bright red edge with a narrow white stripe below. This fish is on many surveyors’ bucket lists and is a relatively unique sighting because its range is restricted to a small geographic area that includes the southeastern Caribbean and coastal Venezuela.
You can view the full species report for the Grenada Field Survey by clicking here. Did you know that REEF creates "batch reports" for all of our trips as well as some other special projects? You can search for and view reports for past Field Survey Trips and other projects by clicking here.
Each evening, the group met for fish identification classes and shared their sightings from that day's dives. Even though diving and surveying was the focus of the trip, many were also excited to be on the island during the same week as the Grenada Chocolate Festival. Throughout the week the group sampled delicious, locally grown and produced chocolate and chocolate-infused food, and even got to try some traditional Grenadian street food.
Want to join in a fun, educational dive trip and make a difference while doing it? We still have openings on a few REEF Trips this year, including a fish survey and invasive lionfish combo trip to St. Lucia, and a liveaboard trip to the Eastern Caribbean. We will be releasing our 2019 Field Survey Trip schedule very soon as well. Check out http://www.REEF.org/trips for upcoming REEF Field Survey Trips. We hope you can join us soon on an upcoming trip!