USA Dive Club members and their guests are invited to attend either an in person meeting or a virtual meeting using Zoom.

The IN PERSON MEETING will be held at our new location:

Marriott Courtyard

2440 W Cypress Creek Rd

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309

Out of caution,we ask participants of the live meeting to be vaccinated and to wear a mask out of consideration of our other members.

You must register in advance for this meeting. Click on the link below to register. Members bringing a guest should send the guest's name and email address to president@usadiveclub.org so the guest's registration will be approved. Members and guests must register using this link.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcu2oqD0iE9VDmmUL1qH8_4Dc7SQFg_7J

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing the link to click when it is time to join the meeting. You must register before 5:00 PM on the day of the meeting.

Please join the meeting a little early to allow time to admit people from the waiting room before the meeting starts.

We will start the meeting with 10 minutes of social time so we can catch up with our friends. Then we will turn the meeting over to our speaker.

Program:

Sponge Restoration (virtual talk via Zoom)

Shelly Krueger is the Florida Sea Grant  agent for the University of Florida IFAS Extension,  Monroe County since 2013. Shelly is part of the UoF Extension faculty.   Florida Sea Grant is a UF-based program that supports research, education and extension to conserve coastal resources and enhance economic opportunities for the people of Florida.  In 2019, Shelly wrote the Sponge Restoration module for the new UF/IFAS Florida Master Naturalist

Program Marine Habitat Restoration and she is the outreach and education lead for the Florida Keys Community Sponge Restoration program, a multi-agency collaboration led by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to restore sponge communities. 

Sponges are essential for healthy ecosystems because they continuously filter large volumes of water while feeding on phytoplankton, viruses, and bacteria. Sponges also transform water chemistry by cycling nutrients and provide essential nursery habitat for important fisheries species such as spiny lobster, stone crab, and bonefish.  The loss of such an important component of nearshore habitats has prompted calls for sponge restoration.  By transplanting sponges onto experimental sites, researchers are evaluating how to ensure sponge transplants become self-sustaining and help restore the health of Florida Bay and Biscayne Bay. With Florida Sea Grant and EPA-funding, researchers are now testing transplant techniques to see if they can accelerate the restoration process.

Plan to attend and welcome back Shelly after she spoke to the club in March on Sargassum.