August was an exciting month for members of the Pacific Northwest REEF Advanced Assessment Team (AAT), led by REEF's Citizen Science Program Manager Janna Nichols. This group of expert level surveyors (Levels 4 and 5) helped cover two ongoing REEF monitoring projects in Washington State - the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS) and the San Juan Islands.
This was the 15th consecutive year that REEF formally surveyed the OCNMS. Ten divers accumulated over 80 REEF surveys in the area. Ever since the sea stars died off a few years ago, urchin populations have grown substantially and are taking a toll on the bull kelp forests found in this area. Because REEF divers monitor both fish and invertebrates in the Pacific Northwest, these important changes are being documented.
Eighteen divers helped with another annual project, done in partnership with UC Davis' SeaDoc Society on Orcas Island in Washington's San Juan Islands. Ten REEF divers survey aelect sites throughout the San Juan Islands during the week-long project, accumulating 100+ surveys. This is the 5th year of the project.
Both of these long-term monitoring projects help ensure data are available to document shifts and changes in populations and community structure as well as cataloging biological diversity. REEF data from the Pacific Northwest region been used in nine scientific publications and have been incorporated in several policy decisions on species from rockfish to octopus.
We extend a huge thanks to the following REEF surveyors who made these projects possible: Bob Friel, Carol Cline, Chuck Curry, David Todd, Don Gordon, Don McCoy, Doug Biffard, Doug Miller, Gordon Bell, Greg Sawyer, Gregg Cline, Joe Gaydos, Joe Mangiafico, Karin Fletcher, Kat Fenner, Laura Tesler, Lorne Curran, Rhoda Green, Tabitha Mangiafico, Taylor Frierson, and Todd Cliff. And thanks also to Bandito Charters and Divers Dream Charters, as well as Friday Harbor Labs and Winters Summer Inn for field support.