http://www.marine.usf.edu/oilspill/

Bob Weisberg, Yonggang Liu, and Lianyuan Zheng in collaboration with Chuanmin Hu are providing oil spill trajectory forecasts both at the surface and subsurface using a variety of models and observations. Visit the Ocean Circulation Group webpage at the link above to view the trajectory forecasts.  Plus lots of access to research and information.  Great site! 

www.protectfloridabeaches.org

Great site on offshore oil in Florida

http://na.oceana.org/en/stopthedrill?key=31485793

Sign their petition to stop offshore oil drilling

NoRigs.org

How Many Days since the BP Blow-Out?  Click below to find out.

http://www.norigs.org/

A marine conservation organization based out of Tallahassee, FL.  

http://www.sosfla.org/

Earth Platform

a great environmental search platform

http://www.earthplatform.com/

Everything you ever wanted to know about Caribbean sponges

http://www.spongeguide.org/aboutus.php 

An incredible resource on coral reefs

http://www.solcomhouse.com/coralreef.htm

The report provides strategies to motivate changes in thinking and behavior on global warming communications.

https://sites.google.com/a/thesocialcapitalproject.org/scp/The-Social-Capital-Project/publications/climate-communications-and-behavior-change

a great site all about the ocean

http://www.ocean.com

Coral Bones

Will tropical coral reefs be the first ecosystem to be eliminated by climate change?

a great blog on coral reef issues

http://coralstory.blogspot.com/

Coral Reef

WWW Sites

a listing of the leading coral reef conservation organizations

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/tcmweb/tcm/crlinks.htm

Great resource on oceanic marinelife.

http://oceanlink.island.net/index.html

http://www.foeme.org/projects.php?ind=62

Interesting site; one section documents the impacts of war on the environment

Global Warming Resources–including some great books and a list of orgs from the Step it Up Action

http://www.billmckibben.com/fightglobalwarmingnow/global-warming-resources.html

     Ocean World by the Jason Project                                                              

Wonderful site on all things oceanic…

http://www.oceanworld.tamu.edu

a great site for children to learn about coral reefs and marinelife

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/coralreef/coralreef.shtml

World Ocean Observatory:

http://www.thew2o.net/

great site featuring a blog by Richard Charter, our hero in the fight against offshore oil…

http://www.defendersblog.org/ and http://www.gulfoilspillrecovery.org/

A  great site for monitoring weather.

http://www.wunderground.com/

………………

SUE DUDA’S BATIK BOUTIQUE and OCEAN DUDES by DUDA

ocean and coral reef-inspired artwork and gifts 

http://www.cafepress.com/suedudabatiks

   Key West Vacation Information Center

http://www.keywestvacation.com

a great Key West site featuring watersports & things to do

Paul Johnson is a current steering committee member of the Florida Ocean and Coastal Coalition that has mobilized statewide environmental organizations in a cohesive effort to increase protection for fragile marine waters of the Sunshine State. The Coalition’s Report Card annually ranks state efforts in key areas based on a Blueprint for Action document that set environmental goals for the state three years ago.

This good work is but a small part of his extensive experience in government, education and record of achievements that has led to broad respect for this statewide leader in conservation. Thanks Paul–for all your good work on behalf of Reef Relief.

It was a pleasure to work with you. Craig and I are glad you are still hanging in there!  Paul is an independent consultant who lives in Crawfordville, Florida, near Tallahassee.  To reach him, email paulj488@comcast.net. 

http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2002/vol6n35/ConserConster-en.html

Maryann Lucking is the founder and current Director of CORALations , a nonprofit membership coral reef conservation organization based in Puerto Rico.   Since 1995, the tall blond powerhouse has worked tirelessly to fulfill the mission of CORALations to CONSERVE, NURTURE, and EDUCATE  by working with Caribbean communities to protect and restore their coral reefs.   She leads CORALations to implement aggressive conservation initiatives with public education and community participation. These initiatives focus on “real time” solutions to coral reef  conservation and address the modification of two human behaviors impacting Caribbean coral reefs: pollution of coastal waters, and direct physical damage. 

Under her leadership, CORALations works to establish “no-take” marine fishery reserve areas.  It provides assistance to local scientists collecting data to support marine reserve areas and educate the public about the importance of the coral reef ecosystem and threats to this ecosystem.

Maryann is justifiably proud of the Conservation Youth Corps, where local teens learn ocean conservation issues by participating hands-on in marine biological field research and are then encouraged to take part in educational outreach presentations to share their knowledge and experiences with peers and adults in a public forum.  CORALations also distributes bilingual educational materials on the coral reef ecosystem to schools and to the general public.

But Maryann’s most valuable work is as a watchdog for coral reefs.  She presses for and supports legislation to protect coral reef and marine fisheries and reviews and comments on the sustainability of environmentally questionable construction projects in Puerto Rico.  She is committed to improving the quality of Puerto Rico’s coastal waters through zero-discharge advanced wastewater treatment technologies.

 Maryann is one of the worlds foremost grassroots coral reef leaders.  We salute you for your continuing stamina in the face of discouraging odds.  Thanks for all your good work.

http://www.acualina.org/

Ángela Amalia Corvea Martínez, or as we call her, Angelita Corvea,  is a Cuban dynamo who founded the nonprofit conservation organization ACUALINA in Havana, Cuba in 2003.  The mission of Acualina is “To transmit environmental education to the population, mainly, to kids, to change people’s attitude and mobilize their minds in favor of the health of the environment so they can face the challenges of the current world. ”

Craig and I met Angelita when we arrived in Havana, Cuba,  to begin a multi-year coral reef survey of Cuba.  She was working at the Cuban Institute of Oceanography and we became true friends.  We encouraged and supported Angelita’s growing efforts to provide environmental education and hands-on projects focussed on cleaning up the world.   In a remarkable way, Angelita has enlisted Cuban students to become involved in marine debris clean-ups of shorelines in and around  Havana, Cuba.  She has written numerous articles promoting coral reef protection.  Despite great challenges, Angelita succeeded in expanding awareness of the importance of marine biodiversity in thousands of young Cuban citizens through her efforts at Acualina.   

To achieve this progress, Angelita has worn many hats:   Community Environmental Educator, Coordinator, Member of Organizing Committees and Bearer of Reports in Scientific Events and of Environmental, National and International Conservation;  popularization of topics of Environmental Education through the massive means of communication (TV, radio and written press);  Consultant and Environmental Tutor as extracurricular activity to primary and secondary schools, local and municipal exhibitions; Talks and Actions with the community and other centers;  Member of the Environment Commission and of that of hydrographic basins of the West in the Municipal Government of Playa; Coordinator of the International Campaign “Clean up The World”: Save your piece! in the municipality of Play; affiliated to the Environment Committee of the United Nations, member of the Scientific Committee of the World Underwater Federation and the Cuban Underwater Federation.

Most of all, Angelita has shown the vision and determination to make a difference in her world by spreading awareness and support for protecting the marine environment of Cuba.  She has received numerous awards including a Coral Polyp Award for Ouststanding Leadership from Reef Relief and even came to Key West to receive the award at our annual Membership Meeting.

Luiz Rodrigues is an incredible person.  I first met him when we first started Reef Relief.  He lived in Key West and provided one of the most important educational tools Reef Relief has.  While a student at Florida Keys Community College,  Luiz wrote the Introduction to the Coral Reef Ecosystem, the first document we provided to local educators and others to learn about coral reefs.  It is proudly featured in the Educational Resources section of this website.  But that was just the beginning.

Luiz moved to South Beach and in 1994 he founded the Environmental Coalition of Miami Beach, a major force in the effort to improve the shoreline and nearshore waters of Miami Beach.  He has worked tirelessly and continues to make a HUGE difference for that community. 

ECOMB, as it is called, is dedicated to the promotion of environmental sustainability and the preservation of South Florida’s ecology. The mission is achieved by reducing the amount of litter in Miami-Dade County’s beaches, waterways, islands, parks and mangroves; increasing the county’s residential and commercial recycling rates; and promoting the protection of coastal habitats, such as sandy beaches, near shore coral reefs, beach dunes, mangroves, and Biscayne Bay islands and waters.  Under Luiz’s leadership, ECOMB works to decrease the community’s carbon footprint through the adoption of “green” lifestyle practices that are more environmentally sustainable.  Luiz has personally adopted an ultra green lifestyle and is an inspiration to everyone around him.  His natural friendliness, optimism and brilliance has achieved wonders.

By forming strategic partnerships both with local, state, and national non-profits, businesses, schools and government agencies, ECOMB is able to organize various community cleanup projects, conduct environmental seminars, and promote sustainable behaviors, practices and initiatives. Through personal sacrifice, Luiz has enabled the organization to achieve so much.

Luis–you are a true inspiration to anyone who wonders what one person can do!

Reef Rescue is a volunteer, nonprofit, grassroots conservation organization dedicated to protecting the coral reef resources of South Florida. Formed by a handful of local scuba divers from south Florida, their ranks have expanded worldwide to include divers and non-divers alike; comprised by all who share a commitment to protect the imperiled coral reef resources for future generations. 

We first worked with Ed a few years ago to phase out the City of Delray’s sewer outfall.   The videos of the outfall and Reef Rescue’s local, hands-on knowledge of the coral reefs was impressive; Ed and his team continue to do great work today to protect coral reefs.  Check out their website and blog:

www.reef-rescue.org/

http://www.globalcoral.org

In 1990, our friend Dr. Thomas Goreau founded The Global Coral Reef Alliance is a small, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to growing, protecting and managing the most threatened of all marine ecosystems—coral reefs. Tommy is most famous for having voiced alarm over the extent of coral bleaching and warming sea temperatures on coral reefs at least 20 years ago—long before it was fashionable to be aware of climage change.   Craig and I first met Tommy in Negril, Jamaica, through Katy Thacker of the Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society.  We’ve become great friends and colleagues through many years of work in Jamaica during the 1990′s.    

GCRA is a coalition of  volunteer scientists, divers, environmentalists and other individuals and organizations, committed to coral reef preservation. He primarily focuses on coral reef restoration, marine diseases and other issues caused by global climate change, environmental stress and pollution.  Dr. Goreau employs a method which allows reefs to survive and recover from damage caused by excessive nutrients, climate change, and physical destruction through the BIOROCK system of sending an electrical current through coral nurseries that enhance growth rates.

Photos:

*Michael and Kathy Blades today.

* Laura Urian, Reef Relief Board Member Wendy Weir, world renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle, Michael Blades

*  Then Mayor Wilhemina Harvey, Michael Blades and Craig and DeeVon receiving an Honorary Conch Certificates.

* Intern Victoria Tenbroke, Michael Blades, Store Manager Celia Stearns (how Hutchins), and Reef Ball Queen Coordinator Nadene Grossman.

Photos:

* Joel Biddle with interns Dolly Householder, Simon Dankel, Sarah Davidson and Michael Blades seated.

* Joel teaching 4th grade students at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. His role playing was phemonemal.

*  Joel with Michael Blades at a booth–I think it was the DEMA dive show.