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Divetalking » Adv. Open Water, Artificial Reefs, Events, Fish, Grouper, Lionfish, Open Water, Photography, Promotions, Reefs, Stories, Trip Invitations, Volunteer » Making It Count – May 2011

Making It Count – May 2011

Putting It to Work: Who’s Using REEF Data, May 2011

By Christy Pattengill-Semmens, Ph.D., Director of Science

Every month, scientists, government agencies, and other groups request raw data from REEF’s Fish Survey Project database. Here is a sampling of who has asked for REEF data recently and what they are using it for:

-Researchers used data on yelloweye rockfish frequency of occurrence in the San Juan Islands in Washington to evaluate population status for the San Juan County Community Development and Planning Department.

– The Tunicate Response Action Committee (TRAC) in Washington State evaluated data on three invasive tunicates that are included REEF’s Pacific Northwest program.

– A scientist from Florida Fish and Wildlife requested data on yellowtail snapper populations in the Southeastern US to conduct analyses for a stock assessment.

 

The Faces of REEF: Member Spotlight, Itziar Aretxaga

By 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 highlight Itziar Aretxaga (REEF member since 2003). Itziar has conducted 263 REEF surveys in three REEF regions, and she is a member of the Advanced Assessment Team in the Tropical Western Atlantic. Here’s what Itziar had to say about REEF:

When and how did you first volunteer with REEF?

Shortly after I got my C-card I started looking for a good reference book on fish. I was fortunate to find Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach´s reef guides, and there I read about the REEF program and how one could volunteer. I joined and started identifying species and reporting them to REEF on my own. A year later I met Lad Akins in a course he gave to volunteers in the Veracruz National Park, and he taught me a few tricks that improved my identification skills. He has been a great mentor in all my fish watching activities ever since.

 

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Outstanding in their Field: Featured REEF Field Station, San Diego Oceans Foundation

By Janna Nichols, REEF Outreach Coordinator

REEF is proud to partner with over 130 dive shops, dive clubs, individuals, and other organizations as REEF Field Stations

This month we feature San Diego Oceans Foundation (SDOF), an organization that promotes ocean stewardship by leading community-supported projects that enhance the ocean habitat and encourage sustainable use of the oceans resources. SDOF took on REEF as one of its core projects in 2003. SDOF offers REEF training classes and organizes survey dives; they also host a Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC) event each year. SDOF occasionally hosts other special opportunities for its REEF surveyors, including special tours at Sea World and of the collections department at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and’Aqua-Talk’ sessions, where REEFers can learn more about some aspect of the marine environment.

One of SDOF’s lead REEF supporters and teachers, Herb Gruenhagen, explains why REEF works so well as an SDOF program – “Our volunteers become ocean stewards and begin personalizing their commitment to the sea. Then the magic happens! We’ve hooked them (not literally) and that’s how we spread our message of ocean stewardship….

 

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REEF in the Classroom

By Karl Machado, High School Biology Teacher

We live in a small town called Nelson, in the mountains of British Columbia about 3 hours north of Spokane Washington. In the Fall I decided to take students to Belize to study reef systems and how they may be changing. The course is called “Coral Reef Studies in Belize ” and 15 grade 11 & 12 high school students from LV Rogers Secondary signed up for the trip with the help of Island Expeditions from Vancouver. When I was researching the course objectives I came across REEF and realized it would be perfect to help us study the fish species that reside on reefs and indirectly gauge reef health. I also wanted students to be involved with some sort of real biological studies and contribute to science. When I first asked my “academic” students how many reef fish they knew the combined class came up with 5, with 2 species coming from the movie Nemo…

We used REEF website to get us acquainted with common fish ID and used the book series by Paul Humann for more in-depth work. By being able to download from the REEF website the highest frequency fish from exactly the area we were going everyone was motivated to learn. One assignment was to create a Fish ID tablet of Lighthouse and Half Moon Caye. One student created such a professional one that we laminated it and donated it the Belize Audubon society on the atoll for other amateur divers to use….

 

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Watch an Online Screening of Alien Invaders Tomorrow Night – June 2nd

By Alecia Adamson, REEF Field Operations Coordinator

Changing Seas, an original production of Miami’s public television station WPBT2, will host a live online screening event of Alien Invaders, the series’ latest episode focusing on the lionfish invasion in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic. Alien Invaders will be screened live on the Changing Seas website (www.changingseas.tv/webcast) on Thursday, June 2nd at 7:30 p.m. EST. During the screening, dive enthusiasts will have the opportunity to join an online chat with producers and the experts featured in the program. REEF’s Lad Akins and researcher Stephanie Green will be be online to answer questions live during the event.

 

Take a Dive Trip That Counts

By REEF Staff

We are pleased to announce the 2012 REEF Field Survey trip schedule – check it out online at www.REEF.org/trips. We have an exciting lineup of destinations planned and we hope you will join us. These trips offer a great introduction to fish identification for novice fishwatchers, and are a fun way for experienced surveyors to build their life list while interacting with fellow fishwatchers. REEF staff, board members, and other REEF instructors lead these trips, and each features daily classroom seminars and a full diving schedule. 2012 destinations include: Nevis, San Blas Islands in Panama, Dominica, Belize, San Salvador in the Bahamas, Sea of Cortez, Hornby Island in British Columbia, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and Cozumel.

© 2011, admin. All rights reserved.

Written by

Founder and Master Moderator of Divetalking.

Filed under: Adv. Open Water, Artificial Reefs, Events, Fish, Grouper, Lionfish, Open Water, Photography, Promotions, Reefs, Stories, Trip Invitations, Volunteer

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