Using Reef Check For Long-term Coral Reef Monitoring in Hawaii
Gregor Hodgson
Institute for Environment and Sustainable Development
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong<rcgregor@ust.hk>
Carl M. Stepath
Save Our Seas
P.O. Box 1437
Paia, Maui, HI 96779 USA<sos@aloha.net>

Abstract
A major goal of a government coral reef monitoring program is to provide the datarequired for management. But management programs will fail without community
support. Involving the community in monitoring builds public support for management
initiatives. The Reef Check coral reef survey program is carried out by volunteers fromthe community, particularly recreational divers. It was initially designed as a one-timeassessment of coral reef health on a global scale. During 1997 and 1998, the Hawaiian
environmental group, “Save Our Seas” coordinated Reef Check training and surveys atseven sites on Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island, providing the first standardized coral reef
survey results from these three islands and demonstrating that the local community isinterested in helping to monitor coral reefs. Internationally, Reef Check also grew quickly
and spread to 40 countries. A formal link was established between Reef Check and the
Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) to serve its community-based
monitoring needs. This led to a demand to broaden Reef Check objectives to include
long-term monitoring. In the future, it is expected that most countries with coral reefs will
belong to the GCRMN/Reef Check network and will have long-term monitoring
programs including at least two levels: a community-based level using localized versionsof Reef Check, and a higher resolution level. The State of Hawaii could benefit greatly
from formally incorporating Reef Check into its planned monitoring program, and should
provide seed funding for environmental groups to coordinate these surveys on all islands.
A number of issues must be considered when using Reef Check methods for long-termmonitoring. The most important are taxonomic specificity, temporal and spatial
replication.
Introduction
The scope of the Reef Check program has changed as it has grown. The program wasinitially designed as a one-time assessment of coral reef health on a global scale using
teams of recreational divers trained and led by a marine scientist (Hodgson, in press). The

original concept was for teams to be deployed at the same time at many sites around theworld and to use a common survey method to check on the status of coral reefs. In 1997,
the “window” for surveys was specified to be 2.5 months, while in 1998, the open period
was expanded to 6 months. Beginning in 1999, surveys can be carried out at any time. By
the end of 1998, well over 400 reefs had been surveyed in 40 countries and territories
around the world by hundreds of recreational divers, villagers, and scientists. The
methods were successfully adopted by a wide variety of users including government andnon-government monitoring and management programs in both developing anddeveloped countries. Also in 1998, the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network(GCRMN) was formally linked with Reef Check, and GCRMN chose the Reef Check
methods for its community-based monitoring work. Thus the desired application of theReef Check methods has been broadened, and some adjustments are needed to meet these
new uses.
There will never be an “off-the-shelf” long-term monitoring program. Each location has
specific needs and resources that will require a custom design. The need for governments
to carry out long-term monitoring of coral reefs has been slow to be realized, even indeveloped countries. However, as more individual projects and governments havedecided to set up coral reef monitoring programs, a “preferred design framework” hasemerged (Hodgson, this proceeding). In locations such as Western Australia and theFlorida Keys, where coral reef monitoring programs are well developed, it is becoming
clear that the ideal model will involve at least two levels of monitoring: a communitybased, relatively broad-brush monitoring program carried out by teams of scientists andcommunity members e.g. Reef Check, and a high resolution program carried out by purescientific teams. In the above two locations, and many others, Reef Check has become
part of a well-thought-out, well-developed, multilevel monitoring program that is usefulat local, regional and global scales. The program has worked well with divers from local
communities and with the international community of tourist divers.
In a multilevel monitoring program Reef Check has several roles. First, it is a relatively
fast method, that allows a team to gather a snapshot of the health of reef corals, otherinvertebrates and fish at up to two sites per day. As more sites are surveyed in a particulararea, the resolution of the snapshot is increased. Because Reef Check is based on major
inputs from volunteers, with modest government and NGO support, Reef Check teams
can be mobilized to survey many more sites than is possible with more intensive methods
which are much more costly in time, staff and funding. Thus, the “ideal” two-levelmonitoring program would have a few high resolution sites using methods such as
English et al., and a larger number of lower resolution Reef Check sites (Fig. 1). In
addition, the Reef Check sites can be resurveyed more frequently than the high resolution
sites. Typically, high resolution scientific surveys are carried out once, or at most, twice
per year. If Reef Check surveys are repeated at quarterly intervals, they can then act as
an early warning system for major anthropogenic changes such as bleaching, blast or
poison fishing, overfishing, eutrophication and sedimentation.
The second role of Reef Check is to build up community support for a coral reefmonitoring and management program in each area. Without such support, even well-funded government-led management efforts will fail. By participating in Reef Checktraining, fund raising, and surveys, community members develop a sense of stewardshiptowards the reefs they are monitoring. What is particularly important about thisideological transformation is that it may involve businessmen, politicians, artists etc.
These are people who may not originally have had a particularly strong interest inconservation, and who can then spread their educational experience throughout society.
There also are large rewards for scientists who volunteer to help train the survey teams.
By taking the time to explain to members of the public why coral reefs are important,scientists are able to show why coral reef science and ecology in general, are important
pursuits. While many scientists are already involved in some form of community
education, others are not. This type of interaction generates public support for coral reefscience and for scientists who carry out basic research.
Reef Check Methods Used in Hawaii
A full description of the Reef Check methods is given at the website:
http://www.ust.hk/~webrc/ReefCheck/reef.html. A summary is given below.
Site selection
Site selection is important to determine the geographic distribution of human impacts on
reefs. For this reason, Reef Check teams that can only survey one site are asked to survey
the "best" site they have access to in terms of least likely to have been affected by humanimpacts, fishing, pollution etc. with high living hard coral cover and dense fish andmobile invertebrate populations. For groups willing and able to survey multiple sites,
then they should choose two or more additional sites representative of moderate andheavy human impacts. By describing these sites in the Site Description sheet, later during
the analysis, it is possible to compare like with like. To standardise comparisons, surveys
of reefs predominantly located in caves or underhangs are not accepted. Reef sites
should be moderately to fully exposed reefs with a reef crest and outer slope. The
transects can then be placed seaward of the reef crest on the outer slope.
Basic design
The goal is to survey two depth contours, 3 m and 10 m below chart datum (lowest low
water). However, on many reefs, the highest coral cover will not be found at these exact
depths. Therefore, choose the depth contour with the highest coral cover within thefollowing ranges: Shallow (2 - 6 m depth), Mid-reef (>6 - 12 m depth). Note thatparticularly for the shallow transect, the tide should be taken into account. Along eachcontour, four 20 m long line transects will be deployed and surveyed. The transects
should follow the designated depth contour one after the other, however, transect startand end points should be separated by a 5 m space. The distance between the start of thefirst transect and end of the last transect will be 20 + 5 + 20 + 5 + 20 + 5 + 20 = 95 m.
The depth contours were chosen for practical reasons of time and safety. Reefs in many
areas are not suitable for survey at both depths. In this case, just survey one depth
contour. A single 100 m fiberglass measuring tape available from hardware and survey

equipment supply stores is recommended. In locations where reefs are broken into
patches with large areas of sand/rock in between, it may be necessary to separate thetransect into 20 m segments.
There are four types of data that will be recorded. The three transect surveys will be madealong the same transect line.
1) Site Description: Anecdotal, observational, historical, locational and other data should
be recorded on the Site Description sheet.
2) Fish Belt Transect: Four 5 m wide (centered on the transect line) by 20 m longtransects will be sampled for fish typically targeted by spearfishermen, aquarium
collectors, dynamite and cyanide fishermen. The fish transect should be carried out first.
3) Invertebrate Belt Transect: Same four 5 m wide (centered on the transect line) by 20 mlong transects as above will be sampled for invertebrate species typically targeted as foodspecies or collected as curios.
4) Line Transect for Substrate: Same four 20 m long line transects, but this time, point
sampled at 0.5 m intervals to determine the substrate types on the reef.
The Hawaiian Reef Check fish indicators are: Butterfly fish, Taape Blueline snapper,
Roi (Peacock grouper), Ulua (Jacks), Wekeá (Yellow goatfish), Uhu (Parrotfish) >20cm,
Lau'ipala (Yellow tang), Puhi (Moray eel), Umaumalei Naso literatus. The invertebrates
are: Banded coral shrimp (Stenopus hispidus), Black urchin (Echinothrix diadema),
Pencil urchin (Heterocentrotus mammilatus), Sea cucumber (edible only), Crown-ofthorns seastar (Acanthaster), Triton shell (Charonia tritonis), Lobster, Cowry shells,
Collector urchin Tripneustes. In addition, the percentage of the reef covered by thefollowing living and non-living substrate types is recorded along a line transect: Hard
coral, Soft coral, Dead coral, Fleshy seaweed, Sponge, Rock, Rubble, Sand, Silt/clay,
Other.
Pre-dive Preparation
The training needed for each team will depend on their experience and knowledge level.
A half-day training on land prior to the dive day is recommended, so that the training canbe absorbed and there is sufficient time for questions and discussion. This can besupplemented with a brief review on the dive day. The Team Leader/Team Scientist(TL/TS) are responsible for making a presentation that includes:
1) An explanation of the goals of Reef Check;2) A review of the sampling design and rationale of the indicator organisms;
3) Field identification training for all organisms and Reef Check definitions for substrata;
4) An introduction to the data recording format, and preparation of slates;
5) An explanation of the difference between work diving and pleasure diving and how to
avoid smashing reef corals by proper buoyancy control;6) Explanation of the post-dive data entry, checking and submission procedures.

There are three field data sheets (pro-forma) for the core protocols, the Site Description,Line Transect and Belt Transect sheets. The Belt Transect sheets are divided into a
section for invertebrates and a section for fish.Teams may use either underwater paper ora plastic writing slate. Photos of the indicators can be downloaded from the Reef Checkwebsite and printed in color and either laminated or placed inside a plastic "zip-lock" bagand then carried underwater for reference.
One buddy pair should lay out a 100 m transect line along the specified contour (2-6 or>6-12 m). Estimated time to deploy the transect is 30 minutes. After deployment, theentire length of the transect should be examined to ensure it is not snagged or floating too
high off the bottom. Small marker floats should be attached to the start and end points
and (optional) permanent stakes can be installed so that the site can be located next time.
A GPS (Global Positioning System) reading should be obtained from one end, and thecompass bearing to the end marker buoy recorded (only those teams with precisionnavigation systems such as differential GPS need record the coordinates of both ends).
Visual line-ups with landmarks should also be recorded in case the GPS has given false
readings. Teams without a GPS should obtain the most detailed chart of the area available
and record the coordinates ofthe location of the transect.
Fish Belt Transect Instructions
The fish belt transect should be the first work done after the transect line is deployed. Try
to begin the fish transect at about 10:00 AM. Work can be started after a 15 minuteperiod during which no divers disturb the area. Estimated time to completion is 1 hour.
The maximum height above the transect to record fish is restricted to 5 m. Data should berecorded on a slate following the Belt Transect Sheet format.
The diver(s) assigned to count fish will swim slowly along the transect and then will stop
to count target fish every 5 m, and then wait 3 minutes for target fish to come out of
hiding, before proceeding to the next stop point. This is a combination timed and area
restriction survey, four sections x 20 m long x 5 m wide = 400 m². At each depth contour,
there are sixteen "stop-and-count" points, and the goal is to complete the entire 400 m²
belt transect in 1 hour.
Target fish: The target fish have been selected as some of the top fish typically removed
from reefs by spear or line fishing or other methods. Given the magnifying effect ofwater, divers should practice estimating sizes using the transect line or measured sticks(hand-held or floating tethered to a small weight) before attempting the fish surveys. A
note should be made of any sightings of rare animals such as large manta rays, sharks andturtles, and if these are off-transect records, they should be written at the bottom of theslate under “Comments".
In poor visibility, or when there are large numbers of fish, we suggest that each diversurvey half the 5m wide belt. One diver can cover one side of the transect line and record
fish in a 2.5 m wide strip with the buddy recording the other side (together the 5m wide

belt will be surveyed). A measured 2.5 m colored wire or rod can be used to help estimate
the 5 m belt transect width.
During the fish transect work, the other team members should be gathering descriptivesite data and one should be responsible for filling out the Site Description form. Only one
form is filled out per site.
Invertebrate Belt Transect Instructions
When the fish belt transect is complete, Divers 3 and 4 can carry out the belt transect
survey for invertebrates. The same transect line is used and, like the fish belt, theinvertebrate belt transect is 5m wide with 2.5 m on either side of the transect line. It isbest to split the work again, with each diver recording data along one 2.5 m wide strip.
Estimated time to complete this work is 1 hour. Total survey area will be 20 m x 5 m =100 m2 for each transect, for a grand total of 400 m2 for each depth contour. In addition torecording indicator organisms, each group should note the presence of coral bleaching or
unusual conditions (eg. that might be diseases) along the transects. Team members should
be encouraged to look in holes and under overhangs to detect species, such as lobster,that may be hiding
Line Transect Instructions
When the invertebrate belt transect is almost completed, the next designated buddy paircan begin point sampling the line transect (the same transect used for the previous work).
The estimated time to complete this work is 30 minutes.
The method chosen for Reef Check sampling of substrata is "point sampling." Point
sampling was chosen because it is the least ambiguous and fastest method of survey andis easily learned by recreational divers. In use, the diver can simply look at a series ofpoints where the transect tape touches the reef and note down what lies under thosepoints. In cases where the tape is hanging above the substratum, it is useful to carry a 5mm diameter nut or other heavy metal object tied onto a 2 m long cotton or nylon string
for use as a plumb-line. The object is dropped at each designated point and it touches
only one substrate type which can be recorded. For Reef Check, substrate type will berecorded at 0.5 m intervals along the line, i.e. at: 0.0 m, 0.5 m, 1.0 m, 1.5 m etc. up
to 19.5 m (40 data points/20 m transect). This procedure will be repeated for theremaining three transects at 3 m and the remaining four at 10 m depth. The
substratum categories are: hard coral, soft coral, dead coral, fleshy seaweed, sponge,
rock, rubble, sand, silt/clay, other. It is important for each group to document the transect
location, survey results and findings using a combination of still photos and videographyboth on land and in the water.
Post Dive Tasks
The team scientist is responsible for gathering the slates and data together as soon as thesurvey is completed and reviewing them immediately with the team members. The

purpose is to make a quick assessment of the data to determine if some error has been
made that can be corrected while the team is still on site, and the transect is in place.
Typical errors that could be corrected would be "double-counting" of fish, misidentification of organisms or mis-labelling the slate. When an error is suspected, a resurvey should be made to check or to correct it. Before departing from the site, the teamscientist is responsible for ensuring that all required data have been collected, and that theslates have been filled out properly, in particular with each individual's work identified.
As soon as possible after the dive, the data should be entered into the automated Excel
Spreadsheets which have been sent to all participants, and these spreadsheets emailed toReef Check headquarters <reefchck@ust.hk>.
How Reef Check has been implemented in Hawaii
The environmental group, “Save Our Seas” (SOS) has acted as the Hawaii coordinatorfor Reef Check since 1997. The first formal Reef Check surveys in the world werecarried out as part of a large International Year of The Reef event organized by SOS
called CLEAN OCEANS '97 during June 13-15, 1997 at the Princeville Hotel, Hanalei
Bay, Kauai. The activity involved over 100 recreational divers, supported by divecompanies (Hanalei Divers and Bubbles Below), the University of Hawaii Marine Option
Program, Sierra Club, and Hanalei Canoe Club. Drs. Alan Friedlander and Cindy Hunter
led the training and surveys, assisted by many other Hawaii-based marine scientists.
Based on this success, a plan was formulated for a volunteer coral reef monitoring groupin Kauai. Since then Reef Check has grown and spread to other islands.
Reef Check Hawaii was started in an attempt to help state agencies monitor reefs, gather
baseline information about the reefs, and bridge the gap between the scientificcommunity and people who are actually using the reefs. SOS advertised the concept byarticles in the newspaper, posters and brochure mailings, community access television, as
well as by word of mouth through local community networking. Many divemasters werealso contacted, and in turn donated tanks and other support for the volunteer operations.
As the program has grown, training has been arranged with the help of local scientists,
university professors and coral reef experts. The training consists of a three-hourclassroom session given on one evening including lectures about coral reef ecology. Thisis followed by a slide show of the indicator organisms, discussion of the survey methods,
and the use of the computerized data sheets, as well as a dry land simulation of Reef
Check monitoring. Local marine biologists, science teachers and other experts are invited
as guest speakers to discuss the significance of the area to be monitored.
A survey is normally scheduled on a Saturday or Sunday following the training, andadditional on site and in water training are provided at that time as needed. The divebuddy teams are made up of one person who has done Reef Check and a new trainee. In
this way the new people gain experience. One of the objectives of the program is to get
as many people involved as possible, while collecting good data. For this reason, SOS
also invites interested people to snorkel and observe the coral reef monitoring procedure.
Some of these people become data collectors at a later date, while others just learn about
coral reefs and monitoring.

So far, survey sites have been chosen because of their importance to the community, or
because some environmental problems were noted. Altogether, seven sites (Fig. 2) havebeen surveyed on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island (Big Island work was coordinated by S.
Peck of Sea Grant Extension Service). In the future, the State of Hawaii can provide a
priority list of its sites that can be added to the target list. This highlights the importanceof collaboration between Reef Check and a number of groups and government agencies.
The project has succeeded because of the support of the State of Hawaii Department ofLand and Natural Resources (Division of Aquatic Resources), University of Hawaii
Marine Option Program, Sea Grant, Save Our Seas, and the local dive and community
groups. More, however, can be done. In particular, seed money is needed to encourage
more communities to get involved and to pay for minor training expenses. The State
could reap large rewards by investing in this program, and providing financial support fora coordinator.
Despite a lack of core funding and a reliance on 100% volunteers, Reef Check has beensuccessful in raising public awareness about coral reefs as well as collecting useful data
in Hawaii. Following the surveys, Reef Check television programs have been shown oncommunity access television on most major islands. Positive changes can be observed.
For example, local high schools on Kauai have decided to participate and to adopt reefs.
More volunteer monitoring groups are being established on a number of islands. Data
continue to be collected, sent to Reef Check headquarters, and forwarded to the global
database on reefs called “ReefBase.” Local scientists and dive shops are working together
with community members in reef monitoring, and support has increased for the StateDLNR’s reef management programs. Direct community involvement is a very importantfactor in this process.
So far, Reef Check has been used in Hawaii to serve the original purpose of a snapshot
assessment. If some adjustments are made, the methods can easily be improved for use inlong-term monitoring that would complement the planned intensive monitoring program(CRAMP).
Considerations When Using Reef Check for Long-term Monitoring
It is important for all potential Reef Check users to recognize that the core methods aremeant to be flexible, and can be changed to meet local needs, within certain boundaries,and still be useful for the annual global assessment. While the methods were designed foruse by volunteer recreational divers, they have been used in many parts of the world byteams of scientists. The point is that the methods can and should be adjusted to match theability level of the team members and management needs. When major changes are madein the Reef Check methods, the team has two choices: either the team can extract the coredata and submit them to Reef Check for inclusion in the global database and annual
report (which is then provided to ReefBase), or the team can simply use them for theirown analysis and management purposes. While one goal of Reef Check continues to be
to obtain annual reports on as many reef sites as possible, the latter option is reasonable
when more than one survey is made per year at a given site.

The three most important considerations for using Reef Check for long-term monitoring
are taxonomic specificity, temporal and spatial replication. Team scientists areencouraged to add indicator organisms that may be of particular importance in their area.
Adding taxonomic specificity, i.e. requiring species level identification of someorganisms may also be useful. As more parameters and/or specificity are added to thecore Reef Check methods, the designer must try to strike a balance between the need toobtain “useful” data, the ability of the volunteer team members, and the potential to boreor burn them out. If more than a few additional species level identifications are added,
pre-testing should be used to ensure that the volunteers are capable of identifying allorganisms accurately. The success of Reef Check depends on it remaining an enjoyable
experience for volunteers.
The original Reef Check methods were designed to be carried out once per year at eachsite. This level of temporal replication is typically sufficient to characterize changes inreef corals and other sessile invertebrates. If there is sufficient manpower, this may be
increased to twice per year to get a more frequent update. For mobile invertebrates andreef fish, however, this frequency of replication is generally considered too low for ameaningful stock assessment at one site (but when repeated at many sites, the snapshot
becomes very meaningful). It is important to recognize that the sample size used in one
Reef Check survey is robust with respect to the parameters measured. What allows thesurvey to be carried out quickly is that there are relatively few parameters measured andno temporal replicates. To use Reef Check methods for long-term monitoring of fish andmobile invertebrates, additional temporal replicates should be made of the fish andinvertebrate belt transects. A pilot study could be carried out to determine the variabilityof fish and invertebrate populations at a given location. A suggested rule of thumb would
be to carry out three replicate surveys at each site (i.e. three repeat surveys of one transect
deployment), and then to resurvey each site at quarterly intervals. If the taxonomic
requirements are not increased too much, this higher intensity survey could still beaccomplished by recreational divers.
The core methods include four spatial replicates along the transect line. Given the low
taxonomic specificity in the methods (typically family level), these replicates are
sufficient to capture variability within one site, and the overall 100 m length of thesample is robust. However, it is desirable to measure variability at several sites within“the area of interest.” Thus for long-term monitoring within a 1 km wide bay, a set ofthree to five sites might be used.
The core methods include two transects with the deepest located at a maximum allowable
depth of 12 m. The Reef Check program does not accept data obtained from deeper areas
for two reasons: safety considerations and the fact that reefs do not extend below thisdepth in many parts of the world making regional and global comparisons difficult.
However, in areas where it is important to record information at greater depths, a third orforth transect could of course be surveyed and the information used locally. Althoughthese data will not be included in the annual Reef Check report, they could be submitted
directly to ReefBase (www.reefbase.org).

The Future for Reef Check in Hawaii and the Pacific
The coral reefs of Hawaii have been the subject of studies for more than 100 years(Maragos, 1977). It is well known that Hawaii’s reefs have a high socioeconomic andcultural value. The marine recreation industry alone generates over $700 million annually(Grigg, 1997). Given its location and its academic strengths, the state of Hawaii should
be a leader in the design and implementation of coral reef monitoring and management
programs throughout the Pacific. Unfortunately, Hawaii has fallen far behind otherdeveloped locations such as Australia, Florida, Guam and even French Polynesia and interms of planning for sustainable monitoring and management of coral reefs. Thus there
is little monitoring data available for most Hawaiian reefs, particularly those on Lanai,
Molokai, Niihau and Kahoolawe. This Workshop and the recent CRAMP work are ahopeful sign that Hawaii’s potential will soon be realized.
If a combination of state and federal funding were provided as seed money for Hawaiian
community groups to coordinate Reef Check training and surveys, the number ofvolunteers and the number of surveys could be increased dramatically. Reef Check works
well even in impoverished villages in Indonesia where people cannot afford a scuba tank.
How much better it could work in a state which boasts one of the highest densities ofrecreational ocean users in the world. If Hawaii follows the model for a monitoring
program that has been successful around the world, it will provide for a two-tiered system
involving many dozens of Reef Check sites, interspersed with a handful of highresolution sites. The data from all of these sites would be submitted to the state at regularintervals, processed and analyzed. This network of sites, and particularly those involving
Reef Check, would provide an early warning system of ecosystem problems.
Literature Cited
Grigg, R.W. 1997. Hawaii’s coral reefs: status and health in 1997, the International Yearof the Reef. p. 61-72 in Status of Coral Reefs in the Pacific. R.W. Grigg and C.
Birkeland (eds). University of Hawaii Seagrant College Program.
Hodgson, G. 1999. What is the purpose of monitoring coral reefs in Hawaii. (thisproceedings)
Hodgson, G. in press. A global coral reef assessment. Mar. Poll. Bull.
Maragos, J.E. 1977. Order Scleractinia Stony Corals p. 158-241, In : D.M. Devaney, L.C.
Eldredge (eds) Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii, Section 1: Protozoa throughCtenophora. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication 64(1), Bishop museum
Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

Figure 2. Reef Check survey sites in Hawaii (1977-8)