Post-Class Report of ReefCheck California's First Training

[HBDiveGirl]

ReefCheckin-‘Chica gets Calibrated… and Validated!

Holy Mackerel, there’s a lot of stuff to count in the sea!!

I had the pleasure of being a student in the first LA California ReefCheck course, which completed the formal training this past weekend during a 3-day tour of Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands. 18 students were accompanied by 2 ReefCheck instructors and 3 marine biologists aboard the dive boat Explorer out of Ventura Harbor. Fellow Scubaboarders Veek-Vanessa, Rickster, LA Jim and Glycerin-Josh brought lots of fun aboard. The captain and crew took great care of us like the fledglings that we were, making sure we were safe, watched, and fed while we poured our hearts, bodies and souls into learning the needed skills. It was an unforgettable experience that will fuel all of us for years to come as we step up to this new game in diving: Joining the ReefCheck California Survey and Monitoring Team.

Full information about the program is available at the www.ReefCheck.org website.

I joined the rest of the excited-but-nervous volunteers on the Explorer Thursday night. Flash cards were being reviewed at the galley tables. Fish ID books changed hands as names and colors were memorized. Rockfish and abalone were impugned as having whaaaay too many design variations!! Pictures of algae were stared at quizzically.

Why so much interest?? The ReefCheck director had sent a reminder email about the TIMED organism ID test that would be administered during the trip, and closed with the soul-shaking words, “For those who don’t pass, it’s a long swim home…”.
Holy Macrocystis! Pass those flash cards!!

ReefCheck California Monitoring Protocol identifies indicator organisms that must be identified and counted during each survey: 29 species of invertebrates, 32 species of fish, and 11 species of Seaweed. (Then there’s rugosity, cover, substrate, and urchin-sizing… but that comes later.) The hands-on training would include multiple techniques and survey rules that had to be memorized and demonstrated, so that our data could be reliable, accurate, and acceptable for the database. And there were those timed organism ID tests….

Nervous ship of tool-using newbies?? Oh yeah!!

DAY #1
Anacapa Island

Dive 1, Goldfish Bowl) Descend in buddy teams onto a 30-meter transect line laid by the instructors. Swim one way in 10 minutes, identifying and counting individual plants (from our list of 11 species) that were growing on the 2-meter belt straddling the line. Then go to the next transect line and ID and count individuals from the list of 29 indicator invertebrates.
Uhmmmm… holy cra…. I mean “cow”… it’s a jungle down there!! That bushy green stuff doesn’t look like the flash card pictures! Giant kelp and sea palms? Easy. The rest?? You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me!! How am I gonna count what I can’t ID, at 9 feet per minute over jungle-covered boulders, with a frisky surge swinging me and rock-solid-buddy-Josh around like pendulums?? What’s the diff between a warty sea cuke and a California sea cuke?? I SUCK at this! What was I thinking? I’m a nurse, not a scientist. I dive for fun, not work. OMG… three days of being an idiot! Beam me up, I should not be here!
Back on deck, the instructors talked us all down off the ledge, showing us what part of our data was good, and what was…. not so good. I counted 30 crowned urchins in an area where they don’t exist. Uhm, oops? Who knew red urchins could be black? We obviously couldn’t ID essential species, so the teaching plan was changed, we were taught what we didn’t know, and given another opportunity to try.

Dive 2, Goldfish Bowl) WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! Oh… THAT’s Cystoceira, and THAT’s Sargassum. Duh!!! Laminaria?? Got it! 9 feet per minute? OH, that’s what it feels like. Those black urchins are Red Urchins? If you say so, OK! Josh and I laughed over this for days!! “OMG, I counted 30 crowned urchins where they’ve NEVER been...wow, that was special.”
Back on deck, our data sheets now converged on the instructors survey numbers. We CAN do this. Smiles all around! Learning accomplished. Proficiency test coming tomorrow. Onward to the next skill: Uniform Point Contact measurements.

Dive 3: Cathedral Cove) We were idiots all over again! Crustose coralline vs. Articulated coralline? Rugosity over a 1-meter X ½-meter area in front of each point? A cobble is a cobble until it’s bigger than 15 cm, then it’s a boulder. Bedrock? A boulder bigger than 1 meter. Omg, who let the idiots out to survey… again? But this was easier to do, and debriefing on deck showed us we learned this routine pretty well. Testing tomorrow. Then we laid our own transect lines for the first time, at 5 to 10 meters per minute, ID’ing and counting all fish in a 2 meter cube in front of us. Did I mention we had to simultaneously estimate fish size AND record it on our U/W data sheets? While maintaining neutral buoyancy and tracking the bottom contour and compass heading and ensuring the end of the line was with 10 feet of depth of the beginning of the line? Clown College, again. But we learned fast, while wondering how we could learn to ID fish fast enough. OY!!
Testing tomorrow.. (This refrain was becoming pretty familiar, but our confidence was growing as our instructors poured on the teaching and the encouragement.)

Dive 4, Cat Rock) A very elated group of tired divers saw the Explorer anchor at Cat Rock for the evening, and a handful of still-juiced divers head out for a recreational night dive. We were nearly insatiable, until spaghetti and wine finally let us down into our bunks for the deep sleep of the happily exhausted. A few dared the timed Identification test. No swimmers yet J.

Whew!! Day one Complete!

(to be continued...)

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Day 2

Dive #1, Fish Camp, Anacapa Island
ReefCheck officials are educated and persuasive teachers, but they can't make fish appear for the purposes of training! Darn!

But the student volunteers must be tested on the delicate skill of fish ID, counting, and sizing.

Technology to the rescue: Print the fish pictures on transparencies. Anchor them on the transect line, with weights to hold them in place and floats to lift them up into view. Brilliant!! So, Sheephead and rockfish, blacksmith and opal eye, senoritas and sargos all appeared obediantly before us so we could be tested and observed. Like a slo-mo shooting gallery, (without the armaments,) we cruised the transect line, ID'ing, estimating sizes and numbers, noting all on our survey data sheets, thumping our heads over the vagaries of black rockfish versus Blue rockfish, pile perch versus rubberlip seaperch, and senoritas versus female rock wrasses.
Back on deck: Data sheets were reviewed, distinctive features suddenly locked into my head like never before. Oh... Gopher's have 3 blotches, but Black&Yellows don't, and Coppers had a broad lateral-line band. Blues have 2 blue lines from the eyes, Black rockfish have blotches and a lateral band. Stuff I hadn't noticed until I was under the gun to get it right!! A little pain, and lots of gain. We were ready to move on.

Dive #2, Goldfish Bowl, Anacapa.
This lush habitat had driven us nearly crazy the day before, how could we not return? The thick and wild seaweed growth and abundant invertebrates were a tester's delight... and it was time for proficiency testing to start.
Instructors laid the line and counted accurately before sending buddy pairs off in staggered starts. "Count seaweeds on Line A, Invertebrates on Line B, record all accurately on the data sheets"... and remember it was a long swim home for the non-learners (hee-hee!)
Back on Deck: Each student was called to the bow individually to review their data sheets with the instructors. But they didn't rig out a plank, so our anxiety didn't blast past oh, maybe 9 on a scale of 10. Returnees from the bow didn't leap from the stern into the 27-foot abyssal depths, nor attempt to end it all with plastic cutlery, so those waiting on the dive deck relaxed a bit.
I found out I have a bit of a blind spot for wavy turban shells. And that when I stopped counting red urchins (having reached the max of 50 for the transect line,) I had stupidly stopped counting purple urchins, too. ("Seen one urchin, you've....") Remedial training was available and I was welcome to remain on the boat. Whew. The rest of my numbers were close enough to those of the instructors. Wow. Who am I? And what had they done with the idiot who was wearing my dive gear yesterday??? Just yesterday... Wow! (I might not need the emergency SpongeBobSquarePants water wings, after all... I could give them to Josh!)

Dive #3, Goldifish Bowl, Anacapa Island
Time for testing on the Uniform Point Contact survey. Instructors first, students second in staged buddy pairs. Then we were to find urchin barrens and practice counting and sizing urchins, both red and purple, using plastic calipers. LAJim hummed a catchy old Madonna tune, "Like an URCHIN, measured for the very first time..." (Josh and I giggled about measuring the legendary but elusive crowned urchins that were rumored to sometimes be found in this cove.:11doh: Who were those idiots yesterday?) Josh witnessed a shocking attack of killer Laminaria that threw a headlock on me and tried to cut my hoses. I bravely defended a FedEx nudibranch from the hyperactive measuring rampage of one-who-will-remain-unnamed.:14: The herd of underwater working puppies relaxed a little in the midst of the learning marathon.
Back on Deck, instructors reviewed our UPC data sheets and found them satisfactory. A few more dared the timed ID test. No swimmers yet :-}

Worsening surge and visibility gave the captain reason to pull the hook and point the Explorer towards Santa Cruz Island. But we slowed to a standstill to thrill at the sight of a two humpback whales about 50 meters from the boat. An adult and a smaller whale spouted several times, rolled their magnificent backs out of the water, and passed near our silent boat before showing flukes and diving out of sight.
We all agreed that specimen was definitely greater than 50 cm long, even though not on our official data sheets. You can't count "Beautiful".

Dive #4, Pelican Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island
As the sun set behind the tree-covered grassy hills of Santa Cruz, Captain Tony anchored in the cliff-framed waters of Pelican Bay. "Gates are open", said our wonderful DMs Don and Connie, and 6 of us geared up like our lives depended on it. (Oh, yeah... if ya wanna go diving, it does.) After splashing into 15 and 20 foot viz for 2 days, I had dialed my expectations down. We dive-planned on the black surface, and descended to the stunning sight of... CLEAR WATER! Josh and Rick appeared to be suspended in clear air as I floated down to the cracked and fissured rocks of the wall structure. WOW! 40 foot viz, at least.... light as far as the 10W HID would throw. Life and fish everywhere! Adult treefish finned all around. Octopus wandered about in the open as our paparazzi lights revealed all their shifting colors and surface textures. FedEx nudibranchs were everywhere, with pink egg-masses nearby. Large sheepcrab moseyed by, unperturbable. Another octopus. More fish. A nudi unknown to me slid along a wall (gotta look it up soon..) I enjoyed the best 45 minutes of recreational diving of the whole trip, while realizing that I knew the common names of every fish I saw, and I was estimating their sizes in 15cm increments. Not a single crowned urchin anywhere. I saw a LARGE garibaldi next to a red-algae-nest that Josh was showing me, while completely missing the even LARGER male Sheephead that he was really trying to show me!! ( "Spot" is very good as spotting small stuff, but the big stuff could bite me long before I notice it. Sheesh!)
DM Don welcomed us back on deck 45 minutes later, gratefully doffing his wetsuit after a looong day mother-henning all of us wacked-out-but-nicely-skilled divers, and we all tucked into a delicious dinner prepared by Christina. Thank you! We, who might still have to swim home, might need the extra calories . Another night of sound sleep brought on by complete happy exhaustion.

Day #2 complete. All still on the boat. Final tests tomorrow.... and a surprise!

(to be continued...)

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Big plans for the last day of the field training: (Real)Fish count proficiency testing.
The instructors tell us to be ready to splash by 9. There is much huddling of the scientists and the instructors... papers are scribbled on... lists are made and conferences held on the bow. We're all chowin' down breakfast, wondering why it takes so much planning to do the final testing of the weekend. Fish counts? What's so tough? Two students lay a transect line while identifying, counting, and recording sizes of fish observed. An instructor hovers in the DFA position (Death From Above), also counting the fish and observing the students' technique and timing. Marine biology? Yes. Rocket science or brain surgery requiring whispered planning on the bow? Don't think so... hmmmmm.... (How long is that swim home?)

Splash time approaches, and the BIG SURPRISE is revealed.

WE are about to do the first all-volunteer California ReefCheck site survey.

US. WE. Not the scientists. Not the ReefCheck Head Honchos. Us.
The calibrated, the validated... the nervous and eager.

Showtime.

Day #3
Dive #1, Pelican Bay, Santa Cruz Island
The first class of Certified ReefCheck Divers in the State of California, and we've got work to do.

Yes, we do the fish test first. If the instructor gives us the OK sign at the end, we move on to our assigned tasks within the survey. If we don't get an "OK", we return to the boat for counselling, retesting, or speedos and swim goggles for the swim home :14: .

Kathryn and I sail through the fish test with some suggestions from the instructor, and then we're off to lay real transect lines and count fish... for REAL. Kathryn, (hovering in perfect and elegant form,) runs a line as we count, recording start and ending depth and times, compass heading, and visibility. I lay the next line, and we do it all again. We're on schedule and on task and having a blast! This is soooo Cool!!

Other students as laying more of the 18 required transect lines, counting fish, invertebrates, algae, and Uniform Contact Points.

Back on deck, Candy and Connie fill tanks and share in the excitement with endless smiles and encouragement. We rewarm and talk and smile and talk some more. The Instructors and scientists look like proud Papas as all us brand-new ReefCheckers turn in our data sheets, get our next assignments, and roll back off the deck to get back to work. Many hands make light work, and the survey goes quickly with all of us in quiet action.

Dive #2, Pelican Bay, Santa Cruz Island
Kathryn and I complete two more fish count transects, and then count and measure urchins in a confined area. In our free dive-time, we marvel at schools of senoritas feeding within the branching arms of red gorgonia, while black perch scuttle between boulders. A meter-long ling cod remains in its parking place against a wall, shaded by more gorgonia, unbothered by the small quiet army of divers with slates and data sheets.
Soon, we're all back on deck, the data sheets are being reviewed by the instructors and scientists, and a few students splash back in for one last quick fun dive. ReefCheck leaders, Craig Shuman and Chris Knight can't stop grinning. Scientists Derek, John and Avrey are smiling just as big. Craig completes the final site description form, and our graduation celebration is complete.

WE are California ReefCheckers now, baby!!!

As the final divers return, photos are taken, hands are shaken, the smiles get bigger. This has been a great trip of learning for both the students and the instructors, who are dedicated to turning enthusiastic volunteers into accurate data-gathering divers with scientific knowledge and rigor. We are only the first of many.

Of course, there is still that timed ID test....

But water-wings have become silly party favors, as Josh, Rickster and I pass the dreaded timed test on the trip home, deep in the appreciation of how little we knew when we stepped aboard, and how far we've moved along the path.

The next two months will involve site selection, team organization, survey planning, and survery implementation support from ReefCheck, as the first year of California rocky reef monitoring gathers power and rolls out.

More classes are scheduled in LA and Santa Barbara. The excellent teaching tools are being further refined based on the experiences of these first classes. The Explorer is scheduled for additional field training trips. Divers are applying for the classes, or joining ReefCheck in support of the 1,000 Diver Campaign.

I'm still smiling because of this great experience. My diving has been changed again. And I get another way to give back.

Thank you Craig and Chris and ReefCheck for MAKING this happen. Thanks to Derek, John and Avrey for more support and coaching (..and for talking us down off the ledge after that first dive ). Thanks to Captain Tony and Candy, Chef Christina, and DMs Don and Connie for all the care and hospitality on the Explorer.

And a HUGE thanks to my fellow volunteers, divers, and friends. We did it, and you made it fun and wonderful.

Did someone say, "ReefCheck SURVEY?" I'm soooo there!!

~~~~~~
Claudette

 

[Frank O]

Very interesting -- sounds like a lot of wor-, uh, I mean, a really cool experience!

Will the accumulated data from this monitoring be publicly accessible? If so, how? It'd be intriguing to look at how the different species wax and wane at a given location over time.

 

[Glycerin]

Great summary HBReefCheckChica

 

[OCdiving Deb]

HBreefcheckchica,

That was an awesome report! I feel like I was right there with ya.

I met Craig Shuman last week and was very impressed with him. I wish the Reef Check program and all you new Reef Check divers well!

 

[TSandM]

Sounds like a WONDERFUL class, and your entertaining writeup makes me mourn, yet again, the missing Fundies report . . .

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Sounds like a WONDERFUL class, and your entertaining writeup makes me mourn, yet again, the missing Fundies report . . .

omg... the Borg Queen in mourning! Now, THAT's scary!

Dear Lynne, nothing I could have written about Fundies would have approached the delightfully wry humor and insights of your reports. I thought and drafted and sketched and sat and thunk.... I had nuffin'. Your wordcraft is exceptional. Your reports stand tall, and continue to crack me up everytime I read them. But thanks for the kind words.

BTW, ReefChecking is best done while hovering horizontally, less than half a meter from the bottom, stirring up no silt, using both hands to hold the slate and record data, and tracking your buddy while task-loaded and performing all the scientific tasks.

Can you think of a better training program than Fundies to make this happen??
It was an great tool kit to have while learning all the scientific skills.

I thought many works of thanks to my DIR/F teachers, training, and buddies while learning the ReefCheck protocols.

~~~~~~
Claudette

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Very interesting -- sounds like a lot of wor-, uh, I mean, a really cool experience!

Will the accumulated data from this monitoring be publicly accessible? If so, how? It'd be intriguing to look at how the different species wax and wane at a given location over time.

ReefCheck is putting the finishing touches on the web-accessible database wherein all this information will be deposited.

Craig estimates it should be ready within a few weeks. I'll post info on ScubaBoard as soon as the site is ready for visitors. THAT's going to be part of the fun: Learning more about "familiar" dive sites and their changes over the seasons and years.

Yeah, it is lots of work... and sooo much fun at the same time. Sweet!
~~~~~~
Claudette

 

[wetrat]

Thanks for the thorough and interesting report Claudette! Sounds like you guys worked your fandannys off, had a blast, and are enjoying the feeling of giving back to the sea for all she has given you!! Bravo to you, Veek, Rickster, LA Jim and Glycerin! Well done!

John