REEF Field Survey Trips are eco-vacations led by marine life experts. Each trip features daily dives and fish ID classes for both beginners and experienced surveyors. Divers, snorkelers, and families are all welcome. If you're looking for a trip to start the new year, there is still space on our upcoming trip to Grenada this winter, on January 27 – February 3, 2024. With its large variety of dive sites, Grenada is known as the dive capital of the Eastern Caribbean. Colorful reefs and spectacular shipwrecks filled with fish life will thrill all types of divers.
REEF online programs are free and open to everyone! Here's what's coming up this month:
Meet our August Fish of the Month, the Redspotted Hawkfish, Amblycirrhitus pinos!
Survey Regions: The Redspotted Hawkfish is found in the Tropical Western Atlantic region. Click here to view the REEF database sightings report for this species.
Size: They grow to about 4 inches.
A new paper published earier this month in the journal Marine Policy discusses the recent controversial opening of a limited fishery for Goliath Grouper in the United States, and its implications for population recovery of this iconic species. Laws protecting Goliath Grouper from fishing in US federal and state waters were implemented in 1990, after the species was identified as being severely overfished. REEF volunteers have been conducting fish surveys as part of the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project (VFSP) throughout the Goliath Grouper's range.
Laws protecting the Atlantic Goliath Grouper Epinephelus itajara from fishing in federal and state waters of the United States occurred in 1990 after the species was identified as being severely overfished. Population increases that occurred during the first 20 years of the closure were followed by a decline in the 10 years thereafter.
We are excited to welcome Dr. Jen Loch to the REEF Team! As a Research Associate, Jen works directly with the REEF Conservation Science program, and oversees the field implementation of the SMILE project, an initiative to incorporate fish size estimates into the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project using camera technologies. Jen comes to us with an extensive background in fish ecology. She holds a B.S. in biology from Florida State University and an M.S.
The Islamorada Lionfish Collecting & Handling Workshop is FULL!
Thursday, September 7 - Key Dives, 79851 Overseas Hwy, Islamorada, FL 33036
Join Friends of Saltwater State Park Saturday, July 29, for a REEF survey dive and fish ID class in Des Moines, Washington!
REEF Survey Dive: Meet near the Snack Shack
The Fish ID Class will be held in the Classroom
For more information and to sign up visit, https://www.friendssaltwater.org/event-details/great-annual-fish-count.
Reef Environmental Education Foundation is excited to announce an opportunity to partner with classroom teachers for the 2023-2024 school year. Thanks to the Coastal Partnership Initiative (CPI) grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, we can offer your class FREE REEF Virtual Field Trips, Colorful Fish Identification Cards for your students, and marine life curriculum for you to use as a classroom resource.
Be sure to join us for the Florida Keys Lionfish Derby & Festival on Sept. 7-10, 2023! The event includes two days to collect as many invasive lionfish as possible, followed by a family-friendly lionfish festival hosted at the picturesque Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina in Islamorada. The festival is open to the public and features lionfish tastings, drink specials, educational demonstrations, games, interactive booths from environmental vendors, live music, and more. Visit www.REEF.org/derby for all the details.