Earth Tech Environmental has again embarked on the quarterly Reef Monitoring Project in Charlotte County to assess the overall health of the artificial reef and the species it supports. The scope of the services includes monitoring fish populations, by season, on artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico and Charlotte Harbor near Charlotte County, Florida.
A school of spadefish, one of the most commonly seen fish in this reef.
The day of fieldwork consists of diving at four different locations, each with a seven-minute period of still fish observations followed by a 20-minute period of swimming observations. The number of fish for each species are recorded along with their size.
A subadult goliath grouper.
Ecologists observe the condition of the reef itself and investigate for signs of erosion. Sightings of invasive species such as lionfish or green mussels are also recorded; none were observed during these series of dives.
A whitespotted soapfish exploring the reef.
The results of this monitoring are 25 different species observed with a total of 5,613 fishes!
