REEF Reef Environmental Education Foundation

10/08/2026

REEF made the news. 📺

Watch the full segment on REEF to Resilience day on Tuesday, part of Florida Climate Week with Volo Foundation.

It was a full day at the Ocean Exploration Center: a free fish identification class in the morning, divers and snorkelers in the water with a REEF survey expert in the afternoon, and an evening panel on what reef resilience actually means and how we measure it.

That last part is the bit worth repeating. Resilience is a word that gets used loosely. On a reef it means something specific, and three decades of volunteer surveys are how we track whether it is holding.

Thank you to VoLo Foundation and Florida Climate Week. , ,

Watch the full segment:

Más de 130 actividades se desarrollan durante la Florida Climate We...

10/08/2026

Oct. 8 is DAF Day. 🌊

If you have a donor-advised fund, the money is already set aside for charity. The only decisions left are when to give it and to whom.

Here is what a DAF grant to REEF does: it supports the volunteer divers behind a database of over 325,000 fish surveys, it keeps the Ocean Exploration Center free for more than 18,000 visitors a year, and it puts 2,500 students a year in front of real marine science.

To recommend a grant, log in to your fund provider and search for:

Reef Environmental Education Foundation
Tax ID: 65-0270064

More information: www.REEF.org/donate
Questions: [email protected]

REEF cannot provide tax or legal advice, so please speak with your own advisor about your situation.

10/07/2026

A REEF survey slate went missing in a current off North Sulawesi. It came back. 🐠

Bill was surveying at Muka Kampung on our Passport to Paradise Field Survey Trip when the current ripped his slate clean off its retractor. He rewrote the survey from memory on the boat and assumed that was that.

Days later it washed up at Mangatasik Beach, where Joane found it, photographed both sides, and emailed REEF asking if we could track down the owner. We could. She then drove it to Murex Kalasey, who passed it on to Murex Lembeh, where Bill was finishing the trip.

A slate covered in fish names, travelling by current and then by kindness.

What's the best thing you've ever found underwater? Tell us below.

Thank you Joane, and thank you to the Murex teams at Kalasey and Lembeh.

10/06/2026

Good food, good people, good cause. 🍴

Meet the partners keeping REEF Fest fed and watered this weekend.

Key Largo Conch House is catering For the Love of the Sea on Saturday night. Passed hors d'oeuvres including Lionfish Bites, then Cuban, vegan curry and churrasco stations, with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options throughout.

Florida Keys Brewing Company is donating b**r for our social events. A brewery that calls these waters home.

Athletic Brewing is donating non-alcoholic craft b**rs, so everyone can join the toast.

And the Cupacabana coffee truck will be on site before the seminars, because science is better caffeinated.

REEF Fest runs Oct. 15 to 18 in Key Largo. Seminars and socials are free. For the Love of the Sea is ticketed, and tickets are limited.

Register and grab your ticket: www.REEF.org/reeffest/registration

10/05/2026

Welcome aboard, Yaman. 🐠

"I took my first survey after attending a local fish identification course offered by Herb Gruenhagen at my local dive shop. I love scuba diving here in San Diego and would like to become more familiar with the local wildlife and efforts to protect it."

That's how most of our surveyors start. One fish ID class, then a first survey, then you can't dive without counting.

Want to join him? www.REEF.org/vfsp

10/02/2026

Ocean After Hours returns for October 🎃

Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. at the Ocean Exploration Center in Key Largo.

Oct. 6: From REEF to Resilience Panel, part of Florida Climate Week
Oct. 15 to 18: REEF Fest 2026
Oct. 20: Waterlust Trivia
Oct. 27: Spooky Fish Bingo and Costume Contest

Ocean Exploration Center, 98380 Overseas Highway, Key Largo, Florida 33037

Full details for every event: https://www.reef.org/public-events-reef-campus-key-largo

10/01/2026

Educators: we will send you to Roatan. 🤿

Applications for the 2027 REEF Educator in the Field Fellowship are open.

The Fellow joins our Field Survey Trip to CoCo View in Roatan, Honduras, June 26 to July 3, 2027, learning fish identification and conducting real surveys alongside other citizen scientists. REEF covers the full cost of the trip, plus up to $1,200 towards meals and airfare.

Open to elementary and secondary teachers, and to educators working at aquariums, science centers and environmental nonprofits. You will need a passport and REEF membership, which is free. Fellows may also be eligible for up to 2.5 units of graduate credit from UC San Diego.

Apply by 5 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 1, 2027: https://www.reef.org/educatorinfield

Funded by CEDAM International, who have supported an educator on a REEF trip every year since 1997.

09/30/2026

Our improved outdoor oasis is ready for visitors! The REEF campus in Key Largo now has an improved seating and serving area, outdoor fans to keep things cool under the shade sails, a new water fountain, and a community art installation of fish sculptures hanging in the trees.

Next time you stop by the Ocean Exploration Center, grab a drink, take a seat, and see how many fish you can spot overhead.

This project was made possible with the financial support of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. Thank you for helping us create a more welcoming space for everyone who visits.

Plan your visit: www.REEF.org

09/30/2026

Last day to vote. ⏰

Voting in the Discover the Sea Photo Contest 2026 closes today. Five categories, and first, second and third in each are decided entirely by votes.

Vote in all five here: https://www.reef.org/2026-discover-sea-photography-contest-voting

If the page plays up, try it on your phone.

09/30/2026

Breaking news from the reef, brought to you by Gary Grouper. 📺🐠

REEF to Resilience Day, Tuesday Oct. 6 at the Ocean Exploration Center. Our part of Florida Climate Week, presented with Volo Foundation.

🐠 9:15 a.m. Free fish ID class. Space limited.
🤿 1 p.m. Dive or snorkel with a REEF survey expert. Space limited.
🎤 6 p.m. From REEF to Resilience Ocean After Hours panel. No registration, just show up.

Register here: https://www.reef.org/events/florida-climate-week-reef-resilience