Author: Paul Humann, REEF Co-Founder
I am excited to announce the launch of our Winter Fundraising Campaign. During this holiday season, please consider a contribution to protect and conserve our marine eco-systems. Donate today using our secure online form, call REEF HQ at 305-852-0030, or mail in your donation to REEF, PO Box 246, Key Largo, FL 33037. Members who donate $250 or more will receive a limited, signed, and numbered print of a beautiful Peppermint Basslet.
This year, we give thanks to all our supporters and donors who have made REEF's programs in 2011 successful. Your donation supports a database of over 154,000 fish and invertebrate surveys, marine conservation research, Nassau Grouper and Goliath Grouper protections, lionfish invasion control, educational outreach, and a whole lot more.
Please give thanks this month to our oceans! They cover 70 percent of this planet, are home to millions of magnificent species, and contain important resources that we all depend on. We appreciate your ongoing dedication to our marine conservation initiatives and wish you a happy holiday season.
Author: Sasha Medlen, REEF Membership Coordinator
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.
This month we feature Kenny Tidwell (REEF member since 1998). Kenny is a member of REEF's Advanced Assessment Team in the Tropical Western Atlantic and has conducted 291 surveys. Here's what Kenny had to say about REEF:
When and how did you first volunteer with REEF or become a REEF member?
I had been scuba diving for many years and after several hundred dives, I was honestly getting a little bored with what seemed to me as basically the same stuff on every dive. Little did I know I had been blindly swimming by some pretty amazing stuff that I didn’t even realize was there! I was lucky enough to take a dive trip to Bonaire in 1993 where I first met Jerry Ligon who is a naturalist in the area and inspired me to become a fish watcher! I immediately bought Paul Humann’s Caribbean fish ID book and made it my mission to learn something new on every dive. Around that same time, I started reading about REEF in dive magazines and liked what I saw about the organization's mission and activities. I had long wanted to go on one of their field survey trips and finally signed up along with my wife, Vickie, to go on my first REEF Discovery field survey trip to Puerto Rico led by Paul Humann. After that first trip, I was hooked and would rather dive with other REEF divers than do any other dive activity. I had finally figured out why I was getting a little bored with scuba. REEF really breathed new life into my diving!
If you have been on a REEF Field Survey, where and what was your trip highlight?
I have been on about one or two field survey trips each year since I started diving with REEF. In addition to my first Discovery trip to Puerto Rico, I have been to the Sea of Cortez, Lee Stocking Island, Bonaire, Little Cayman, a lionfish research trip to Bahamas, and several times to Cozumel. The highlight of each trip was the opportunity to meet and learn from other REEF divers who share a similar mission.
What inspires you to complete REEF surveys?
I strongly believe in the mission of the organization and sincerely want to contribute something from my diving efforts. It has been a real challenge to me to try and learn as much not only about fish ID, but also about fish behavior. I am just like a birder who wants to find that new species to add to their list. It is a real thrill to me to add something new to my list and to find something I have been looking at in the books, but haven’t yet seen in the ocean!
What is your favorite part about being a REEF member?
Going on field survey trips and interacting and learning from other divers. I have learned a lot and have met some wonderful REEF members who have really inspired me, including Paul Humann, Ned and Anna DeLoach, Sheryl Shea, Franklin and Cassandra Neal, Lad Akins, Brice and Christy Semmens, Judie Clee, and many many others! I actually enjoy the classroom time almost as much as the diving itself! I only wish I had hooked up with REEF sooner! I have also used the opportunity to invite other divers and snorkelers that I meet on trips outside of REEF to tell them about the organization and invite them to participate. Each time I am on a dive boat and have a survey slate in my hand, it always seems to invite an inquiry as to what I am doing? I use that window of opportunity to try and inspire new fish watchers. We have given away many of the waterproof underwater fish ID books to divers and snorkelers that we meet in order to get them more interested in learn the amazing variety of marine life around them that most seem to not even recognize that they are there, much less know what they are looking at.
Do you have a favorite local (or not) REEF field station or dive shop?
All of the REEF field stations that I have visited are great, but if I had to pick one, I would choose Aqua Safari. I first dove with them in 2005 about 5 wks after Hurricane Wilma struck Cozumel. That is when I had the opportunity to meet Sheryl Shea and the rest of the staff at Aqua Safari. I have been back for every field survey there since that time with the exception of last year when I was in a severe accident that curtailed my diving for quite a while. Sheryl is a GREAT teacher and a real inspiration to dive with as is all of the staff at Aqua Safari. Tracy Griffin is also a great teacher and will be leading the trip this year. There are places in the Caribbean that you can count on finding more species to log on your survey, but the field survey trip to Cozumel always is a lot of fun.
In your opinion, what is the most important aspect of REEF’s projects and programs?
Increasing the awareness of the fragility or our marine environment I think is critical to REEF’s mission. The contribution of an enormous amount of data to document declining fish populations is valuable, which changes how people view the fragile nature of the environment and ultimately affects public policy to protect those resources. The lionfish project is extremely important in addressing an issue that is rapidly decimating fish populations on reefs where they have established themselves and in finding solutions to this problem is critical to protecting the reefs.
Where is your favorite place to dive and why?
Usually the last place that I have visited, but if I had to pick one it would probably be Bonaire or Little Cayman. You can’t beat the number of species and abundance of fish life in Bonaire, but I really like the island of Little Cayman for its beauty and lack of development and it also has some of the best diving in the Caribbean along Bloody Bay Wall. I have been to each location several times and would go back to either in a heartbeat.
Author: Alecia Adamson, REEF Field Operations Coordinator
REEF is proud to partner with over 130 dive shops, dive clubs, individuals, and other organizations as REEF Field Stations.
Our outstanding Field Station this month is Aqua Safari in Cozumel. Aqua Safari has supported REEF since 2001. At that time, long-time REEF member and Cozumel local, Sheryl Shea, took the lead in promoting the Fish Survey program through teaching fish ID to both Aqua Safari staff and customers. That year, Aqua Safari hosted the first Cozumel Field Survey trip, with REEF surveyors and marine park staff submitting over 200 surveys in just a week! Today, REEF's database holds data for over 400 species and over 6,000 surveys from Cozumel. Aqua Safari currently offers several fish ID courses to the general public: A "dry" introduction to Fish ID for snorkelers and divers; the REEF Level 2 course; and Advanced Fishes. There are plans to add a course geared to the interests of underwater photographers and an in-water snorkeling course with surveying. The Level 3 and advanced-level surveyor exams are offered annually during REEF Week. The shop stocks REEF books -- including a reference set for its customers' use after diving -- and survey materials. And they continue to host an annual REEF Field Survey trip each December (see www.REEF.org/trips). Aqua Safari warmly welcomes REEF members whom, the staff says, are generally excellent and aware divers who never fail to educate others on their boats. Aqua Safari has been in operation since 1966, pioneering sport diving in Cozumel and serving the island as an advocate for conservation of its marine environment. During the 1990's, owner Bill Horn worked toward the establishment of Cozumel's marine park and has maintained his vigilance regarding park policies and use. Thank you, Aqua Safari!
Author: Lad Akins, REEF Director of Special Projects
Divers and snorkelers removed 1,518 invasive lionfish from Florida Keys waters during three Lionfish Derby events in 2011. Organized by REEF in partnership with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the Florida Keys Lionfish Derby series began in 2010 to engage local communities in addressing the invasive lionfish issue. Goals of the lionfish derby series include raising awareness, educating collectors in safe collecting and handling procedures, providing samples for research, conducting lionfish cooking demonstrations and tastings for the general public, and encouraging ongoing removal efforts throughout the region. Teams of registered divers competed for cash and prizes in the categories of most, largest, and smallest lionfish. Dive teams traveled from as far as Chicago, IL.; Austin, TX; and Sunapee, NH to compete in the derbies. Participants and attendees observed filleting demonstrations and enjoyed tastings of lionfish caught during the event. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Salisbury University, University of Florida, Loyola University, international researchers from the UK, the State of Florida, and NOAA all utilized samples and data from the derbies to aid in their lionfish research. Growing populations of lionfish off the southeast U.S., Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico are impacting native marine life commercially, recreationally, and ecologically important species. Derbies are just one of several strategies being employed to help control the lionfish invasion. Thanks to derby sponsors, including Ocean Reef Conservation Association, City of Layton, Divers Direct, Dive Key West, Spree Expeditions, Markey Marine Services, and The Weekly Newspapers. Visit www.REEF.org/lionfish/derbies for derby results and updates on future derbies. Visit the REEF Lionfish webpage to find out more about REEF's Lionfish program.
Author: REEF Staff
Are you ready to take a dive trip that counts? If you are looking to spend a week in a wonderful destination, learning and exploring with a group of fun and like-minded divers and snorkelers, then don't miss out on a REEF Trip. Now is the time to book your 2012 Field Survey with one of REEF's expert guides. We have an exciting lineup planned. Trips are starting to fill up (some are already sold out), so don't delay. Get in touch with our travel experts at Caradonna to find out more and to book your space - 1-877-295-7333 (REEF), or via e-mail REEF@caradonna.com. Details are given below and more information can be found online at http://www.REEF.org/trips
April 21-28 - Nevis - Oualie Beach Resort. Led by Christy Semmens, REEF Director of Science.
May 26-June 2 (SOLD OUT) - Sun Dancer II, Belize - Lionfish Control Study, led by Lad Akins, REEF Director of Special Projects and Peter Hughes.
June 9-16 (1 SPACE LEFT) and June 16-23 (book one or both weeks) - San Blas Islands, Panama - Coral Lodge, led by Paul Humann, REEF Co-Founder and Renowned Underwater Photographer and Author.
July 14-21 - Lionfish workshop in Dominica - Dive Dominica and Anchorage Hotel, led by Lad Akins, REEF Director of Special Projects.
July 28 - August 4 - San Salvador, Bahamas - Riding Rock Inn and Marina, led by Paul Humann, REEF Co-Founder and Renowned Underwater Photographer and Author.
September 22-29 - Sea of Cortez, Baja Mexico - Rocio del Mar liveaboard, led by Drs. Brice and Christy Semmens, REEF Scientific Advisors and researchers.
September 26-30 - Hornby Island, British Columbia - Hornby Island Diving, led by Janna Nichols, REEF Outreach Coordinator.
October 6-13 - Bermuda - Triangle Diving and Grotto Bay Hotel, led by Ned and Anna DeLoach, REEF Board Members and World-Famous Marine Life Authors and Photographer/Videographers.
November 10-17, British Virgin Islands - Cuan Law liveaboard, led by Heather George, REEF Expert Instructor.
December 1-8, Cozumel - Aqua Safari, led by Tracey Griffin, REEF Expert Instructor.
