NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program regularly surveys a number of sites within US waters through their National Coral Reef Monitoring Program. Through the diligence of AOML’s Ian Enochs and, until recently, Derek Manzello, there has been a particular emphasis on not simply carrying out the more, run-of-the mill, point-intercept transect surveys in which coral and algal cover are estimated, but instead a more holistic assessment of reef accretion. In other words, are our study reefs still continuing to grow as living entities, or are they being withered away by abiotic (e.g., low pH) and/or biotic (e.g., biofoulers) forces? We therefore employed the same reef accretion surveys used at Flower Garden Banks, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and our other NCRMP sites (USVI and Puerto Rico, neither of which I have [yet] had the pleasure of visiting).

On June 24th, we loaded up two vans’ worth of SCUBA diving gear and scientific equipment and made the four-hour drive from Miami to Stock Island, just a stone’s throw from Key West. There, we met up with the exceptional crew of the Angari Foundation’s research vessel (R/V Angari): Kevin and Angela.