Wow! Went to the rollout Reef Check California training this weekend. World-renowned biologists updated us on reef health, administrative morasses, and probably the most ambitious plan I’ve ever heard for grassroots (OK, maybe eelgrass roots) environmentalism: a 1,000-strong army of California divers standing up to be counted. RC is rolling out teams of ordinary Joe Divers - me, you, your favorite buddy - to survey the reefs they love (and maybe some they've never seen) twice a year and upload the data about the fish, the inverts, and more. RC has a proven structure in place from its work in 80 other countries, and it’s networked to the local enviro-operations we already know and like. All this is to provide reliable information in a digestible format to the people who really make the decisions as to whether the resources we divers care about get protected – or not. Get the idea? You learn a little science, you dive the places we already go, but this time with a transect line and a slate. Even if you don't train to do the surveys, you absolutely can still support the efforts. Please take a look.

• 1,000 Diver Initiative

• Re: Reef Check California Jason Auclair 16:58:59 04/10/06 (0)