Benthic Surveys

The Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) and Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) are hard at work completing benthic surveys for the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). Run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NCRMP is one of the largest monitoring program in the world and is designed to support the conservation of coral reef ecosystems by providing consistent, sustained and long-term measurements of key indicators that gauge the status and trends of coral reef health. Every other year, Florida surveyors collect fish, coral demographic and benthic data – such as substrate cover and relief – at sites across Florida’s Coral Reef. Teams from CPR and CRCP recently completed surveys in Jupiter at 14 sites in three days.