Reef Check first conducted a global survey of coral reef health in 1997. The data confirmed that coral reefs were in crisis due to overfishing, pollution and other humanimpacts.[5] The published results in 1999 unsettled the coral biologist community, as the extent of impacts were not realized.
"The Global Coral Reef Crisis: Trends and Solutions (1997-2001)", a five-year report on coral reefs, was released in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.[6] The report used data collected by thousands of volunteers worldwide, and was the first scientific document detailing the decline in coral reef health over a five-year period.
In 2005, Reef Check launched its first temperate reef program in California.[7]
In 2008, in a presentation made at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Reef Check Executive Director Gregor Hodgson announced that coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region have largely recovered from the devastating bleaching event that killed up to 90% of corals on some reefs in 1998. He reported that 10 years later, recovery has occurred more quickly and more completely than expected. Caribbean reefs, however, are losing about 3% living coral every four years due to a combination of human impacts.
Divers performing a substrate survey on the Great Barrier Reef in 2008. Notice the transect tape.
Reef Check volunteer divers are trained to study a designated site annually or sometimes quarterly. Underwater surveyors focus chiefly on sessileinvertebrates (benthos), along a 100-meter (330 ft) transect line.[10][11][12]
Four spatial replicates (spanning 20 m (66 ft)) are studied with three 5 m (16 ft) gaps between. The survey is sub-divided to allow paired divers to separately observe substrate, photographmacroinvertebrates and impacts, record video, and count fishes. A site-specific description is also documented.
Reef Check carries out its work through three major programs:[9]
EcoAction Program – an education and certification program for kids and adults who want to learn more about the ocean and take part in protecting reef ecosystems.
Coral Reef Management Program – a coral reef monitoring and management system that focuses on establishing Marine Protected Areas to conserve coral reefs while encouraging sustainable use of surrounding reefs by local residents.
Reef Check California – a volunteer monitoring program for California rocky reefs designed to provide data for managers and to build a conservation constituency among California divers.[7]
Joyce, K.E., Phinn, SR, Roelfsema, CM, Neil, DT and WC Dennison. 2004. Combining Landsat ETM plus and Reef Check classifications for mapping coral reefs: A critical assessment from the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Journal of Coral Reefs. Vol 23, Issue 1. pp 21–25. Springer Publ, New York, NY.
