Author: Bob Michelson, NE GAFC Event Coordinator
The 18th Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC) is now in full swing. There are GAFC events being held around the country. One of the largest and longest running is held in the Northeast US. Over 100 divers are expected to converge at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, MA, on July 25, for the 8th annual Northeast GAFC event. The celebration, hosted by The New England Aquarium Dive Club and REEF, will include survey dives, a picnic, free raffles and door prizes. GAFC dives are planned at seven shore locations around Cape Ann, along with dives at Nubble Light, York, ME. Every survey form submitted after each dive will count as an entry into the raffles for each diver.
Begun in 1975, the New England Aquarium Dive Club, Inc. is one of the world's oldest, largest and most active aquarium affiliated dive clubs. We share the fun of diving, a love of the sea, a concern for diving safety, and a desire to learn more about the aquatic realm and to share that knowledge with others. The REEF Fish Survey Project allows volunteer SCUBA divers and snorkelers to collect and report information on marine fish populations. The data are collected using a fun and easy standardized method, and are housed in a publicly-accessible database on REEF's Website. These data are used by a variety of resource agencies and researchers. In 2001, the acclaimed REEF Fish Survey Project and the Great Annual Fish Count was introduced to New England's SCUBA-diving community.
During our 7th Annual GAFC event held on July 18, 2008, 98 divers conducted 123 fish surveys at 7 locations around Cape Ann and southern Maine, making this the largest single day GAFC event held in the United States for an unprecedented seventh year in a row! Join us as our celebration continues with the New England Aquarium Dive Club, REEF and the Great Annual Fish Count.
For more information, please contact: Bob Michelson, event coordinator for the New England Aquarium Dive Club at (781) 848-8870, or by e-mail, pbm.inc@verizon.net.
Author: Lad Akins, REEF Director of Special Projects
The first Bahamas Lionfish Derby, held on June 6 at the Green Turtle Club in Abaco, was a great success on many fronts. This test case for the Bahamas government was the first to allow (by special permit) the use of compressed air and spearing to remove lionfish in a derby type event. Organized by Abaco and Palm Beach resident Bobbie Lindsay and REEF, the one-day event drew 26 registered teams and brought in 1, 408 lionfish. Over $5,000 in prize money was awarded including $2,000 for the most fish by any team – 289 by team White Roach from Abaco. The largest fish award went to Team Panga with a 349mm fish and the smallest fish was brought in by Big T with a 57mm juvenile. Pre-event talks, including a school wide talk to the Amy Roberts elementary school, were well attended and generated significant awareness of the lionfish issue. Over 200 participants, residents and visitors attended the scoring and awards banquet and were treated to a lionfish tasting as well.
This is the first large scale event aimed at controlling lionfish populations in the Caribbean. More events are currently being organized in other areas and dates are being set for next year’s 2nd annual Abaco Derby. Special thanks goes out to the Green Turtle Club, Brendal’s Dive Shop and all of the great teams and volunteers who participated in the event. A great time was had by all and the lionfish population around Abaco was dramatically reduced.
Derby results –
Most Lionfish – White Roach (289), Little Big Fish (234), Sweet Thing (173)
Largest Lionfish – Team Panga (349mm), White Roach (344mm), Team Pineapple (341)
Smallest Lionfish – Big T (57mm), Bolo Boys (81mm), Sweet Thing (82mm)
Special Dreamy Timber award for most frozen lionfish – Team Panga
Author: REEF Staff
Make a dive trip that counts - in Bermuda, October 3- 10, on the Fish Behavior Tour! World-renowned marine naturalists, Ned and Anna DeLoach, authors of Reef Fish Identification and Reef Fish Behavior, will join local expert REEF instructor, Judie Clee, and Chris Flook, Collector of Specimens for the Bermuda Aquarium, as your trip leaders. Ned and Anna will schedule slide and video fish presentations about the wonderful world of marine life behavior and fish identification. This is an excellent destination for your non-diving friends and family as well.
This is going to be an awesome week for everyone. Bermuda is a wonderful destination and the Grotto Bay Hotel offers fine accommodation and dining. Their on site dive operation – Triangle Diving – is exceptional and their dive staff's knowledge and experience means they will be able to chose the very best dive sites each day. Ned and Anna's engaging and informative lectures will cover everything from fish identification to interesting behaviors, including reproduction and predation. In addition to many of the usual suspects, you will be able to see endemics like our Bermuda Bream and some species like the Blue Angelfish that are rarely seen elsewhere but common in Bermuda.
Bermuda is a also a wonderful place to come with your non-diving spouse/partner/friend/children. Anyone who just wants to snorkel will be able to do so comfortably at most of the dive sites or just along the shoreline and still see lots of fish and corals. On land there is so much to see and do, and local REEF volunteers will be on hand to give personal island sightseeing tours to anyone interested. Shopping is great with lots of local and British products. Don’t forget the pristine, beautiful beaches with the fine pink sand – there for anyone who just wants to chill out.
Our island hosts have arranged an exciting agenda for the week to make this not just a typical dive vacation. These opportunities include a presentation by the Bermuda BREAM Project scientists, a visit to Nonsuch Island (a magical place to explore and a birdwatcher's delight), viewing the glowworms at Whalebone Bay, watching the invasive lionfish culling team and the lionfish culinary team in action – as in “catch and eat” – yummy!, all topped off with a cocktail reception and behind the scenes tour of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo.
Don't miss your chance to take a trip of a lifetime. The cost per person is $2,095, plus a $300 REEF Program Fee. The package Includes: 7 nights in Oceanfront Superior room, taxes and resort gratuities, round-trip airport transfers, 5 days of 2-tank boat dives with Triangle Divers, behind the scenes tour of the Bermuda Aquarium, classroom sessions and survey materials.
This is just one of several REEF Trips that remain in 2009. A few spaces remain on the Field Surveys to Curacao in October and Cozumel in December -- check out the full trip schedule online. And stay tuned for our 2010 Field Survey schedule, which will be announced soon! For more information and to reserve your space please contact our dedicated REEF Travel Consultant at 1-877-295-7333 (REEF), or you can e-mail REEF@caradonna.com.
Author: Christy Pattengill-Semmens, REEF Director of Science
The Volunteer Survey Project is at the center of REEF's citizen science programs. It provides thousands of divers and snorkelers the opportunity to contribute information on the status and biodiversity of ocean populations. The Survey Project also serves as a training opportunity in many formal and informal education programs. In this issue of REEF-in-Brief, we feature high school students on both sides of the US who are learning first hand how to conduct fish surveys and analyze their results.
The U-32 High School in Montpelier, Vermont, offers a Marine and Fresh Water Biology Class to Seniors each year. Their instructor, Brian Slopey, is also a REEF surveyor. The course focuses on the comparison between rivers, lakes and the ocean. Students examine the living components of these ecosystems as well as the influence of physical and chemical conditions. The students conduct extensive marine research during a trip to the Bermuda Institute of Oceanic Sciences, including conducting snorkel REEF fish surveys. During each field project, approximately 100 surveys are conducted. In preparation for the trip, students use the Reef Fish Identification Beginning ID Course DVD to learn groups of fish. They then generate Geographic Summary reports for Bermuda from the REEF database and use the Fish ID Interactive DVD software to more closely research species of fish they will likely observe. Once in Bermuda, the students keep an extensive journal that includes fish and invertebrate behavior observations, plankton tow observations, lecture notes and notes on readings.
On the other side of the country, in La Crescenta, California, students at Clark Magnet High School, have been working to collect and analyze marine life survey data from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS). With this project, which is currently funded by a Toyota Tapestry Grant, students use geographic information science (GIS) to document effects of marine protected areas on species abundance. Using species lists from the REEF database, students create field reference notebooks on the fish, invertebrates and algal species inhabiting the CINMS. In preparation for field surveys, students practice with the REEF online fish identification quiz. The students then work with dive teams from NOAA, Ventura County Sheriff’s divers and Sport Chalet to conduct REEF surveys for the class and to document the study areas and project procedures with underwater photography. Following the field work, students analyze the data and display the results of their projects as maps and graphs in scientifically formatted poster presentations. Each student poster incorporated an extended abstract that the students submit for publication in The New Journal of Student Research Abstracts.
Are you using REEF programs in a formal or informal education program? Email us at data@reef.org and let us know about it!
Author: REEF Staff
New educational DVD/Book sets added to the REEF store! - These beautiful materials can help start grooming future generations of REEF surveyors and create good stewards of the environment. Perfect gifts and ideal for use in the classroom. The Dive Into Your Imagination by Annie Crawley entertains and educates children about the amazing natural world in the oceans. The DVDs are all bilingual and you can choose English or Spanish narration or a special track featuring just the music. In the special features section you can view the entire scripts and read to your children or have your children read to you. There are 4 sets to choose from, including "Dive Into Diversity" and "What Makes a Fish a Fish". Check them out on the REEF Store here today.
Check out the latest news in the lionfish invasion. - There's so much going on with REEF's lionfish research and outreach programs, we can't possibly report it all here. Check out the Lionfish in the Media page to see how the media is covering our efforts.
Online data entry available in all regions. - As we reported in last month's REEF-in-Brief, REEF surveyors in ALL regions can now submit their data online. We greatly encourage everyone to enter their surveys online rather than use the paper scanforms, if possible. And remember -- if you conduct a survey at a site that is not yet in REEF's Zone Code database, send us an email (data@reef.org) with the site name and latitude/longitude of the site and we will create the code for you. The 8-digit zone code must be in the system before you can enter data from the site.
