Divetalking » Fish, Reefs, Report » Making It Count – October 2011
Making It Count – October 2011
Putting It To Work: REEF Advanced Assessment Team Member Co-Authors Publication on Barracuda
By Christy Pattengill-Semmens, Ph.D., Director of Science
| REEF Advanced Assessment Team Member, Dave Grenda, recently co-authored a paper documenting behavioral observations of young Great Barracuda occurring on live bottom sub-tropical reefs primarily at Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Georgia. For the past three years Dave assisted University of Connecticut researcher, Dr. Peter Auster, in studying behavioral interactions of piscivores and their prey. During REEF surveys on these cruises, Dave and the other researchers documented young-of-year (YOY) Great Barracuda (those individuals that had very recently settled to the reef, and were between 2-3 inches in length) hunting YOY Tomtate and Silverside that were taking refuge under ledges. Groups of YOY Barracuda would attack, capture, and consume the prey. Prey that escaped the Barracuda retreated to reef edges and were often consumed by bottom-dwelling adult piscivores such as Black Sea Bass, Bank Sea Bass, and Scamp Grouper.. |
A large school of young Barracuda. Photo by Peter Auster.
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The Faces of REEF: Member Spotlight, Dave Grenda
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 Dave Grenda. The spotlighted member this month is Dave Grenda (REEF member since 1998). After retiring from the military, he became a volunteer, divemaster, and an American Academy Of Underwater Sciences Scientific Diver at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. Dave has conducted over 1,800 REEF surveys and is a Level 5 Expert surveyor. In addition to his own diving activities, Dave has participated in numerous research projects, including numerous REEF Advanced Assessment Team trips, Nassau grouper tagging in the Caymans, mutton snapper spawning in the Dry Tortugas, piscivore cooperative hunting research off Georgia (see “Putting it to Work”), queen conch population surveys in St. Croix, Aquarius undersea laboratory support in Key Largo, Tampa Bay Civil War shipwreck archeology, Paleolithic Indian archeology in North Port Florida, coral spawning in the Flower Gardens and Key Largo, Gulf Red Tide recovery, reef health assessments with the Living Oceans Foundation in the Caribbean, point/transect fish surveys throughout the Keys, and collecting exhibit animals for aquaria educational displays. Here’s what Dave had to say about REEF: |
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Outstanding in their Field: Featured REEF Field Station, New England Aquarium
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.
Our outstanding Field Station this month is the New England Aquarium, and their affiliated dive club, based in Boston, Massachusetts. Begun in 1975, the New England Aquarium Dive Club (NEADC) is one of the world’s oldest, largest, and most active dive clubs. They host an annual event for Northeast divers in conjunction with REEF’s Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC). This past July, they hosted their 10th annual GAFC event, and over 90 divers submitted 100+ surveys. The event took place simultaneously at 8 dive sites in Massachuse… |
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Grouper Moon Project Works With Dr. Guy Harvey To Produce Documentary
By Christy Pattengill-Semmens, Ph.D., Director of Science
| Acclaimed marine artist and conservationist, Dr. Guy Harvey, joined the Grouper Moon Project team in 2011 to document the research being conducted on the Nassau grouper spawning aggregation on Little Cayman. Dr. Harvey and videographer, George Schellenger, spent 7 days in the field with scientists from REEF, the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment, and Oregon State University. The culmination of their work came together in a documentary called “The Mystery of the Grouper Moon”, which was premiered to a packed house at the Harquail Theatre on Grand Cayman in September. Since that time, Dr. Harvey has been busy showing the documentary to local schools and promoting grouper conservation to generations of future Caymanians. The film will soon be available online for REEF members to watch, stay tuned. Inpsired by his time underwater with the grouper, Dr. Harvey created a painting of the aggregation that is featured on the documentary promotional poster. The original artwork will soon be available for purchase, with all proceeds going to REEF to support the Grouper Moon Project. To read more about the documentary, check out this article in the Cayman Compass. We are excited to have Dr. Harvey as a collaborator on this important REEF program. |
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REEF Trips Planned For Many “Boo”tiful Destinations
By REEF Staff
| As part of our 2012 Field Survey trip lineup, REEF Director of Special Projects, Lad Akins, is leading Lionfish Research trips to Belize and Dominica. If you haven’t checked out our 2012 REEF Field Survey trip schedule – check it out online at www.REEF.org/trips. We have an exciting list of destinations planned. 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. Additional 2012 destinations include: Nevis, San Blas Islands in Panama, San Salvador in the Bahamas, Sea of Cortez, Hornby Island in British Columbia, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and Cozumel. We hope you will join us. |
Happy Halloween! Lionfish jack-o-lantern carved by Lad Akins.
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