On Sept. 25, the Florida Keys Aquatic Preserve, in partnership with DEP Parks officially started Disturbance Response Monitoring (DRM) surveys for the season in the Big Pine area, within the Coupon Bight Aquatic Preserve. These surveys are designed to monitor coral reef health during and after a disturbance, and each year trained divers survey corals during peak annual temperatures.
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).
On August 20-21, Yesmarie De La Flor of the Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) and Stephanie Stinson of the Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), attended the 2026 South Florida GIS Expo. The wide array of sessions ranged from insights into emerging GIS technologies, to environmental applications, and professional development opportunities.
On August 6, Coral Reef Conservation Program’s (CRCP) Awareness and Appreciation Coordinator, Maya Bhalla-Ladd, hosted an outreach event with local partner, Young At Art Children's Museum, to educate the new wave of ocean stewards with two back-to-back lessons on local coral ecology before diving into the six primary stony coral morphologies found on Florida’s Coral Reef. Participants then built a collaborative reef with molding clay!
The Coral Protection and Restoration (CPR) Program conducted a site visit to The Reef Institute in West Palm Beach. The visit allowed the team to see firsthand the extensive improvements that this key coral restoration partner has made their facility over the past year through support from the Florida’s Coral Reef Restoration and Recovery (FCR3) Initiative grant program.
Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves staff lent a hand to the Southwest Florida Water Management District regulatory staff and their consultant during a site inspection of the Gasparilla Island Causeway Shore Protection Project. Staff documented seagrass coverage within the project area including Thalassia testudinum (turtle grass) and Halodule wrightii (shoal grass).
DEP Coral Protection and Restoration Program’s Restoration Projects Coordinator, Katie Gretter, participated in a multi-day, hands-on Coral Spawning and Propagation Course hosted by Nova Southeastern University. The course, developed and supported through Florida’s Coral Reef Restoration and Recovery (FCR3) Initiative, aims to train the next generation of coral restoration specia
On April 16, Stephanie Stinson from the Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) participated in the Palm Beach State College Earth Day event. The CRCP team educated students on coral reef conservation efforts local to Palm Beach and throughout the state.
On April 10-12, the Coral Reef Conservation Program and its Citizen Support Organization, Friends of Our Florida Reefs, participated in the annual Tortuga Music Festival’s Conservation Village on Ft. Lauderdale Beach.
On March 13, the Florida Keys Aquatic Preserves' Ecosystems Assessment Specialist, Noah Singer, joined the Reef Injury Prevention and Response team as they conducted an assessment of a section of the coral reef in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park that was damaged by a ship grounding. Teams from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Pennekamp also joined the project.