Reef Rescue Recreational Divers Guide for the Collection of Reef Monitoring Data, Rev 1.3, 2013

8/13/2019 Reef Rescue Recreational Divers Guide for the Collection of Reef Monitoring Data, Rev 1.3, 2013

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Palm Beach County Reef Rescue, Rev 1.3, 2013


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Recreational divers have a wealth of useful information that

can be used to help protect our reefs. The problem is, most of

what we witness goes undocumented and unreported.

Why document your dives?

Contrary to popular belief, little reef monitoring is performed by environmental

regulatory agencies. Most surveys are performed by consultants working for contractorsseeking permits; such as for beach renourishment projects.

Are football fields really white?

Data collection for permit applications is often skewed. Investigations can be designed toshow what consultants want to show. n e!ample often used is the football field analogy" by placing monitoring transects only on the white lines, data can be e!trapolated toshow football fields are entirely white.

Nobody knows the reefs better than local divers.

perfect e!ample is the attempt to bury the largest stand of staghorn coral in #orth

merica with the $t. %auderdale, &egment II beach renourishment project. 'he(nvironmental Impact &tatement prepared by the consultants said there were nosignificant resources in the area. %ocal divers knew better. Dan and &tephanie Clark fromCry"of"the")ater filed a legal action showing there were e!tensive fields of staghorncoral in the project footprint. 'hey were successful in stopping the project and protectingthe staghorn coral. )ithout local knowledge and documentation the coral would havebeen buried.

Oh no, they are killing the reef! What can I do?

)ithout documentation; nothing. If it*s not documented it didn*t happen and it nevere!isted. n e!ample is the March +-- illsboro beach renourishment project. Divers

posted video of silt burial of the second reef line impacted by the project. 'he $D(/response was, 0prove the silt was from the project and not from winter storms.1 Insummary2 if you don*t have the before, after is too late.

What tyes of imacts to monitor?What should I document?(verything and nothing. #othing is just as important as something, because you neverknow when you will need to go back and look at what was there before that somethinghappened. 3 ft. diameter brain coral on orseshoe 4eef was first documented in +5by recreational divers. )hen a cold water upwelling engulfed the area in +- diverswere able to go to the e!act location and photograph the brain coral and show that it had

bleached from thermal stress. In +-- divers returned to the coral head to find it re"pigmented and had survived 6$igure-7.

his sounds like work.

It can be as simple as attaching a floating 8/& unit to your dive flag. )hen you returnfrom the dive, download the 8/& data to your computer. 'here it can sit until needed. Ifyou take video or stills you*ll be able to see e!actly where the pictures were taken bycomparing 8/& data with the date9time in the photo file. (!ample2 dive :3, , 39-59+--, same dive path



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covered .3 nautical miles, observed -+ lionfish. #ot much work and now you arecollecting lionfish population statistics.

"eef names not good enough.

'riple Double %edges, 8rouper ole, &hark 4eef, do you really know where you are? Doyou think anyone else will? (ven if someone can figure out on what reef yourobservations were made, a reef name is not an e!act location. @reaker*s 4eef is -. mileslong, where did you see that staghorn coral? )ithout e!act coordinates you are unlikelyto find the colony again and certainly no one will be able to credit you with discoveringthe northernmost staghorn coral colony on the A& east coast.

#ow to document location

$est%tow your own 8/&.

Ne&t best% work out a system with your dive operator for marking specific

locations, so when you deploy a sausage float to the surface the captain will know

to get the 8/& coordinates for that location. hird best6but not really all that good7 get the start and stop coordinates of your

dive from your dive boat. Bou need to know where you started and where the diveended and this is only good if you went in a straight line.

'loating ()*, what do I need?

@attery powered 8/& capable of storing and downloading tracks.

/elican dry bo! or euivalent.

Dive flag.

8/& download cable.

8/& download software. 6)e use 8/& Atility software from2 www.gpsu.co.uk7

4eef maps.

Garmin GPS 72 in Pelican 1120 floating ry !o" attache to ive flag.



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#ow a ()* dive tracker works

&et the 8/& to record track data points in + second intervals, this is sufficient for mostpurposes. @efore the dive turn on the unit, after satellites are acuired seal the 8/& in thehousing and attach the housing tether line to your dive flag above the float. llow the8/& to remain operating during the dive, surface intervals and subseuent dives madeduring the day. 'he 8armin 5+ unit has sufficient battery and data storage capacity toremain operational for at least to < hrs. and costs under E+.

If a particular point of interest is found during the dive make sure the dive flag is directlyoverhead to get an accurate reading. lso, make a note of the time on a dive slate tofacilitate locating the coordinates once the unit is downloaded. #ote2 your dive watchshould be synchroniFed with the 8/& time. )hen taking photos or videos the cameratime settings should also be in agreement with the 8/& unit.

fter the dive trip the 8/& track file is downloaded to a computer using an interfacecable. Asing 8/& Atility software 6www.gpsu.co.uk7 the spread sheet depicted on $igure+ is created. 'he spread sheet presents all you need to establish your coordinates at a

specific time and date. 'hese data can also be superimposed on reef maps to represent agraphic depiction of your dive path 6$igure =7.

8oogle (arth maps allow for 8/& downloads to create a dive path overlay. owever,detailed reef resolution is not represented on most 8oogle (arth products. 'he 8/&Atility software program can create overlay tracks onto any image file. Detailed reefimagery suitable for use with the 8/& Atility software can be obtained from thefollowing sources2

/alm @each, @roward, Miami"Dade County reefs2 www.floridanearshore.com

/alm @each County reefs2

http299www.pbcgov.com9erm9coastal9shoreline9beach9docs9++%D&G&4.Fip

@roward County reefs2 http299coastal.er.usgs.gov9flash9broward9brGlads.php

+ocumenting and reorting boats anchored in coral

'heFlorida Coral Reef Protection Actwent into effect in +>. It provides penalties foranchoring on the coral reefs of Martin, /alm @each, @roward, Miami"Dade, and Monroecounties. 'he recreational diving community has been very effective in bringing violatorsto justice by supplying $D(/ with documentation of illegal anchoring activity.nchoring in coral has been significantly reduced in /alm @each County by a 4eef4escue education program and through the efforts of dive boat operators and diverscollecting the documentation needed for enforcement actions.



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'o report a boat anchored in coral you need2

'o be positive it is anchored on the reef.

Hessel registration numbers and vessel description.

Date, time, water depth and 8/& coordinates of the anchored boat.

photo of the vessel, preferably with the shoreline in the background.

Bou can also provide, though not absolutely necessary, a photo of the boat*s

anchor embedded in the reef.(mail these items with your contact information to2 ena.&ansgaardJdep.state.fl.us, cc2

ason.ndreottaJdep.state.fl.us

"eorting arine +ebris

Marine Debris is a widespread problem on southeast $lorida coral reefs. Discardedfishing line, nets, anchors, plastic water bottles and bags, household items and hurricanedebris are becoming increasingly common on our reefs. Debris can cause damage tosponges and corals, entangle fish and other reef creatures, and cause injury or death toreef organisms. Divers should make every dive a cleanup dive. @ut, divers should neverrisk their safety by attempting to remove large or dangerous objects. )hat to do aboutthese large pieces of debris? Document themK

'he $D(/, $)C and 4eef 4escue have established a coordinated marine debrisreporting and removal program for southeast $lorida coral reefs. 'he program encourageslocal divers and dive shops to report marine debris.

'o report debris visit2 ###.e$.state.fl.us%coastal%$rograms%coral%e!ris1.htm'here is an online form where location and debris specifics can be entered.

#ever remove debris that has become part of the reef and is interlaced with coral orbenthic organisms.



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"eorting staghorn and elkhorn coral locations

s a result of a >5L loss of staghorn and elkhorn corals in $lorida since the ->


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&orseshoe Reef Brain Coral

'igure 1



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(o#nloae GPS ata

Point Coordinates Date/time Duration Knots

1)0001 *2+3+.10+- /0001.3+0 %1%2010 10-

1)0002 *2+3+.10 /0001.37 %1%2010 10- 0001 0.

1)0003 *2+3+.1100 /0001.33 %1%2010 10+ 000+ 0.2

1)000 *2+3+.113 /0001.3+1 %1%2010 10+ 00110 0.+

1)000- *2+3+.117 /0001.371 %1%2010 10+ 0013 0.+

1)000+ *2+3+.1207 /0001.371 %1%2010 107 001-7 0.1)0007 *2+3+.12 /0001.37 %1%2010 107 00222 0.-

1)000 *2+3+.12+3 /0001.31 %1%2010 107 0021 0.-

1)000 *2+3+.12+- /0001.37 %1%2010 10 00302 0.1

1)0010 *2+3+.12- /0001.3 %1%2010 10 003 0.0

1)0011 *2+3+.12- /0001.37 %1%2010 10 003+ 0.0

1)0012 *2+3+.12-7 /0001.3 %1%2010 10-0 00-2- 0.0

1)0013 *2+3+.12-7 /0001.3 %1%2010 10-1 00-- 0.0

1)001 *2+3+.12-7 /0001.3 %1%2010 10-1 00+2+ 0.0

1)001- *2+3+.127- /0001.3 %1%2010 10-2 00700 0.2

1)001+ *2+3+.1302 /0001.32 %1%2010 10-2 0072 0.7

1)0017 *2+3+.132 /0001.317 %1%2010 10-3 007 0.+

1)001 *2+3+.13-- /0001.321 %1%2010 10-3 001- 0.

1)001 *2+3+.1371 /0001.32+ %1%2010 10-3 0037 0.3

1)0020 *2+3+.137 /0001.327 %1%2010 10- 0000 0.3

'igure 2

GPS DIVE TRACKGPS DIVE TRACK

'igure 3



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Reef Rescue Recreational Divers Guide for the Collection of Reef Monitoring Data, Rev 1.3, 2013

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