jenth
Contributor
Just wanted to do a quick write-up of my Reef Check certification class over the past two weekends! For those who aren't familiar with Reef Check, it's a non-profit organization based out of CA that is dedicated to conserving tropical coral reefs and California's rocky reefs. One of the main reasons I chose Reef Check over other similar groups is that the organization doesn't have a political agenda. It's really just about monitoring the reefs and providing data for other more informed organizations to come up with solutions.
So the way Reef Check is setup, they have a few certification classes throughout the year and once you pass the class (everyone in our class did) you're able to sign up for surveys up and down the coast. Every year after that, you have to do a quick recertification dive to "recalibrate" yourself as a "citizen scientist".
I signed up for the class with my buddy Nicole...and later found out that Quintin and Charles were also in the class. There were about a dozen students total. Our certification class was scheduled over two weekends. The first weekend included classroom sessions, visits to the Long Beach aquarium and a morning pool session. Most of the classroom portion was spent learning to identify fish, invertebrates, algae as well as the data-collecting methodology (laying a transect line, how to count the marine life, etc).
Second weekend was a two-day liveaboard on the Peace (I guess this was another reason I decided to do Reef Check!). In addition to our class, there were a handful of marine biologists on the boat who were Reef Check "instructors" and a few divers from Santa Barbara looking to get their recertification. In a quick nutshell, the dives were conducted in the following manner: the instructors tied down a transect line and did their own invert, algae and UPC count. The students then do their count on the same line and we all convene back on the boat to compare results. First day we did three dives at Cathedral Gardens. At night we stopped at Scorpion Anchorage for a fun night dive...which was followed up with dessert and an hour in the hot tub (gotta love the Peace!!). Next day we headed over to Landing Cove for 3 more dives before coming back to Ventura.
I have to say, it really was a fun experience...more fun than I thought it'd be. We had a great group of students and instructors. Conditions out on the islands were great that weekend. And I certainly did learn a lot about the local marine life and ecosystem. Most surprisingly, I had to become more of an independent diver. I'm GUE trained, so I'm used to team diving always knowing where my buddy is, always seeing their light and shining them mine. For me, this became an exercise in "semi-solo" diving. Don't get me wrong, Reef Check stresses safety above everything. But while you're trying to count fish and inverts, your buddy's doing the same thing a few feet ahead/behind you, and you get to be pretty task loaded.
This class also gave me a chance to see a different diving crowd. Most of the divers I hang around are DIR and do a bit of tech diving. It was nice to see divers who have a different diving motive. No one was an eco-advocate and I never heard any preaching, but you could definitely tell that for some this was their passion.
I HIGHLY recommend this class! It was a great bargain (learned a lot, got some cool surveying tools (reel, calipers, slate), NAUI cert card, and a two-day liveaboard)...and a great use of two weekends. For those interested in taking the class, I know they have a few more classes scheduled in SoCal in the coming weeks.
Thanks to Ken Liu and Claudette for recommending this class; thanks to Nicole for being the best buddy all weekend long...and thanks to Chris for taking care of the dog while I was gone and making sure the house was clean when I got back!!
So the way Reef Check is setup, they have a few certification classes throughout the year and once you pass the class (everyone in our class did) you're able to sign up for surveys up and down the coast. Every year after that, you have to do a quick recertification dive to "recalibrate" yourself as a "citizen scientist".
I signed up for the class with my buddy Nicole...and later found out that Quintin and Charles were also in the class. There were about a dozen students total. Our certification class was scheduled over two weekends. The first weekend included classroom sessions, visits to the Long Beach aquarium and a morning pool session. Most of the classroom portion was spent learning to identify fish, invertebrates, algae as well as the data-collecting methodology (laying a transect line, how to count the marine life, etc).
Second weekend was a two-day liveaboard on the Peace (I guess this was another reason I decided to do Reef Check!). In addition to our class, there were a handful of marine biologists on the boat who were Reef Check "instructors" and a few divers from Santa Barbara looking to get their recertification. In a quick nutshell, the dives were conducted in the following manner: the instructors tied down a transect line and did their own invert, algae and UPC count. The students then do their count on the same line and we all convene back on the boat to compare results. First day we did three dives at Cathedral Gardens. At night we stopped at Scorpion Anchorage for a fun night dive...which was followed up with dessert and an hour in the hot tub (gotta love the Peace!!). Next day we headed over to Landing Cove for 3 more dives before coming back to Ventura.
I have to say, it really was a fun experience...more fun than I thought it'd be. We had a great group of students and instructors. Conditions out on the islands were great that weekend. And I certainly did learn a lot about the local marine life and ecosystem. Most surprisingly, I had to become more of an independent diver. I'm GUE trained, so I'm used to team diving always knowing where my buddy is, always seeing their light and shining them mine. For me, this became an exercise in "semi-solo" diving. Don't get me wrong, Reef Check stresses safety above everything. But while you're trying to count fish and inverts, your buddy's doing the same thing a few feet ahead/behind you, and you get to be pretty task loaded.
This class also gave me a chance to see a different diving crowd. Most of the divers I hang around are DIR and do a bit of tech diving. It was nice to see divers who have a different diving motive. No one was an eco-advocate and I never heard any preaching, but you could definitely tell that for some this was their passion.
I HIGHLY recommend this class! It was a great bargain (learned a lot, got some cool surveying tools (reel, calipers, slate), NAUI cert card, and a two-day liveaboard)...and a great use of two weekends. For those interested in taking the class, I know they have a few more classes scheduled in SoCal in the coming weeks.
Thanks to Ken Liu and Claudette for recommending this class; thanks to Nicole for being the best buddy all weekend long...and thanks to Chris for taking care of the dog while I was gone and making sure the house was clean when I got back!!
