Grouper Moon 2023 is here!

Hello Everyone!

It is so amazing to back on Little Cayman for the Grouper Moon Project! We have a wonderful crew of about 20 scientists and researchers from the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment (DOE) and REEF here working hard to monitor and protect the last viable Nassau Grouper aggregation in the Caribbean. I arrived here Sunday after flying over night from Seattle. The sea conditions have been excellent so far and about an hour after I arrived I was able to join the team for the evening dive on the aggregation. It was absolutely stunning. I saw thousands of Nassau Grouper as well as a number of other species, like Tiger Grouper and Bar Jacks.

Today, we had our first Grouper Education livestream! I want to thank all the classrooms that were able to join us. Your support and engagement are a critical aspect to the success the project. Especially, I would like to thank all the teachers for going the extra mile to make this happen. We all appreciate you so much! If you were unable to attend today’s livestream, you can view it anytime on REEF’s YouTube page. Today’s livestream highlighted a number of scientists working on the project and some incredible footage of the growing aggregation on Cayman Brac as well as footage from aggregation here on Little. You can view it here: 

Finally, on today’s livestream, a few of you asked if saw sharks on the aggregation. We definitely see them out there and sometimes they’re able to get ahold of a Nassau, but these are some tough fish. Take a look at this grouper, affectionately known as Lucky, who clearly had a bite taken out of him in the past, but he healed and continues to show up on the aggregation each year! Amazing!

Remember to tune in for our second livestream tomorrow at 11:00am. Go Grouper Moon!

Lucky was certainly one of the main highlights of the trip!

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