ReefWatchers Program Hawaii Island * Your Ocean Time Well Spent!

Would you like to really get to know a reef area or tidepool as well as you know your name?  Learn to identify and observe and document the inhabitants of your chosen area regularly?  Volunteer ReefWatchers adopt an area (transect or tidepool) and contribute observation data over time.  Some visit their areas almost weekly, others monthly or as often as they can depending upon the sea state and their own schedules. Some ReefWatchers do not adopt an area but they contribute to the coral spawning data, and others simply report unusual sightings and/or events.  All of this information can be useful to researchers and resource managers.   
 

In 2002, the “ReefWatchers” volunteer monitoring program was developed to gather data of interest to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources (DLNR-DAR).  The protocol was developed by the UH Sea Grant College Program with state agency researchers, resource managers, and the volunteers themselves.  The monitoring protocols include fish surveys on point-to-point transects, random swim surveys, tidepool and coral spawning surveys.

With funding from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, ReefWatchers Big Island has trained over 440 individuals. Not all folks commit to the responsibility of a monitoring site, however the training raises one’s level of understanding Hawai`i’s marine ecosystems.  Over the years 31 volunteers have monitored 15 fish count transects and 19 volunteers have monitored 10 tidepools for periods of time from 2 years to as many as 10 years. Twenty-eight volunteers have provided coral spawning observation data since 2002.   Data has been managed by UH Sea Grant’s Kona office using a program developed by DAR.  Data is made available for use to DAR and the University of Hawai`i. 

For more information contact data manager Chantal Chung, UH Sea Grant. 

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Welcome to our Site!

Thank you for visiting our collaborative community blog! This site was created to provide a platform for education and outreach, an opportunity to connect and document local efforts, and to create a forum for the exchange of ideas.

 

Some possible uses:
• volunteers with various local groups can write up and post their experiences and observations here...community lectures, field work, outreach, etc.
• documentation of local science efforts, outcomes, and applications to conservation.
• upcoming opportunities - what's happening, and how to get involved.
• discussion of issues of local interest.