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Dear %%First_Name%%,
Spring is finally here! Sadly that means the end of whale season but nothing stops at Reef Check Australia. Our Reef IQ education program is going down a storm and our coral health database has officially launched to the public.
Training has been a priority with four new instructors in the far north, seven new SEQ volunteers and nine in Townsville. We’ve also been fostered by Australia’s favourite nature Journal for an exciting new campaign.
There’s just too much to fit into this issue already and we’ve just had word that our Reef IQ game has won “Best use of Flash” at the Queensland Multimedia Awards this month. Congratulations us!
More updates next quarter. Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for our TV debut on Channel Ten’s Totally Wild in December.
Thank you all for your continued support.
 
Mark Miller
Board Chair
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seq'S SUPER seVEn
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With another three new volunteers just completing their RCA course before the sun set on the Gold Coast, we’ve now increased our 2009 regional trainees to a super seven.
 The RCA SEQ monitoring project has been busy too! With 23 surveys on 17 sites, our dedicated teams have been working to establish ten new sites from Noosa to Palm Beach Reef, including some inshore Moreton Bay sites within Ramsar wetlands areas.
If you’d like to get involved with some temperate surveys or you know somebody who might like to join the next surveyor course in 2010, contact seq@reefcheckaustralia.org to find out more.
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in the spotlight
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Operator Profile | Pro-Dive (Brisbane) and Ocean Cat
 The Pro-Dive team, based in Milton, Brisbane for 21 years, are a professional team and they run a wide range of tailored scuba courses, from “Become a diver” to Instructor level, under the SSI certification scheme.
In partnership with Pro-Dive, George Sklavos, skipper of luxury yacht Ocean Cat, regularly provides RCA survey teams with two free berth spaces to conduct monitoring of this important area. George’s 12 metre purpose-built dive catermaran hosts 16 divers with hot lunches and hot showers, making trips to Flinders Reef; Hutchinsons Shoals Henderson Reef and cave system; and the wrecks at Curtain Artificial Reef.
Pro-Dive also offers a 20% discount on the dive package to the other team members on all survey trips. Mark Greene of Pro-Dive recognises the value of RCA’s monitoring at Flinders Reef, “We’re happy to support Reef Check Australia’s work in the area as we believe it’s very important to preserve and nurture the coral life we depend on.”
For a city-centre escape to the reef on Ocean Cat, find out more and book a trip through the Pro-Dive website at http://brisbanediving.com.
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top marks for ReEF IQ
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We have been busy evaluating the success of the Reef IQ teachers’ resources the last few months with some fantastic comments coming from teachers who have been using the resources:
 "Great job- can’t wait to see what you come up with next!"
"I love the whole program and the students were really excited by it."
"An excellent resource, which can be used to raise children's awareness."
Reef IQ enjoyed a Palm Island adventure recently, where indigenous students from Bwgcolman State School took part in Reef IQ. Their Marine Sciences teacher was delighted: “the students had a fantastic time, it isn’t often we see them so motivated about a project.” We are now working to secure funding for next year when we hope to visit again and provide equipment required to run regular junior coral reef surveys.
Reef IQ is targeted to Years 4-7, but has been successfully piloted with classes up to Year 9. The entire program is easily downloadable for FREE from www.reefcheckaustralia.org/for-teachers.html
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AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC BACKING
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 The famous Journal, Australian Geographic, has selected RCA as its chief beneficiary for a Society fundraising campaign for coral reefs. The fundraiser will run through January to March next year with a special article in the Journal and themed products available in AG stores nationwide!
We've also been successful in securing a SEQ Catchments’ Oil Spill Recovery Grant under an umbrella grant from Sunshine Coast Regional Council. The funds will support a volunteer training course in the region and conduct monitoring on three sites that were within the fallout zone of the March 2009 spill. The data collected will help provide information about the possible long-term impacts of the event.
Although these are both great contributions to RCA’s work, we still desperately need to secure more funding to continue our projects in 2010. There are currently several sponsorship options for businesses or organisations to partner with us. See more details at http://reefcheckaustralia.org/sponsorship-support.html
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CORAL HEALTH DATA GOES PUBLIC
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October 15th 2009 saw the official state-wide launch of RCA’s coral health database. With presentations in Cairns, Airlie Beach and Brisbane, the news travelled fast and several local publications took up the story – Marie-Lise even featured on
Channel Seven News!
Reports are available online through a simple Google Earth interface, which offers easy access to data on coral cover, key invertebrate abundance, fish life and damaging impacts, such as coral bleaching and disease.
All of the coral health data collected by our survey teams on the GBR and in the SEQ region is now available online for anyone to access at http://reefcheckaustralia.org/data.html
SPECIAL THANKS
We’d like to take this opportunity to give our heartfelt thanks to our dedicated office volunteers who give up so much of their time to help us with the day to day land-based activities that keep the organisation afloat!
Thanks to Dave Henry and Helen Manski for all your hard work. Congratulations also to Helen on the recent birth of her healthy happy baby boy, Seth! Thanks also to Agnes Rouchon, Daniel and Robbie Wisdom for coming on board!
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