Halfway through...

Hello everyone. We're just about halfway through my 45 day crowdfunding campaign, so it seems to be the right time for an update. It's been a busy three weeks since this launched and I spent about half of that time in Bermuda. One reason I went was to get our baitfish project launched, but I'll save that for a separate update. Besides that, I was over there for Groundswell's 7th annual Lionfish Tournament, which was a huge success as always. In total, 110 people got in the water and caught 92 fish (although I had actually heard 112 fish). That might sound like small numbers to anyone more familiar with the lionfish situation as it has unfolded in Florida or the Bahamas, but that is a lot for Bermuda in the middle of the summer. I dove with my friends, Chris Cabral, Alex Davidson, and Sean Correia on Team Misconduct and Chris won the "most lionfish by a freediver" category. It was a blast. Once on the dock for the party, I spent most of my time doing my thing: talking with the public about lionfish and demonstrating how to handle them.

 

Thank you, Selange Gitschner, for the photo.

 

Thank you, Lara Funk, for the photo.

I also gave a few talks. One at the Bermuda Sub-Aqua Club, which was sort of a dry-run for my talk at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. The point of both was to share a few things I've learned through my studies of lionfish, Galapagos sharks (known locally as duskies), and the hogmouth fry (aka Bermuda anchovy), but also to promote this here crowdfunding campaign.

 

Here I am, talking to the BSAC crowd. Thank you, Julianne Rosset, for the photo.

 

Advertising my talk at BUEI.

 

Nice sign!

 

Talking talking talking fish science. Thank you, Julianne Rosset, for the photo.

I was also invited to BUEI's 20th anniversary celebration, a huge honor, where they unveiled their new Ocean Discovery Center. They even used a photo of me in their presentation. Sorry, I wasn't fast enough to take a picture of that.

 

20th anniversary cake!

All in all, it was a great trip. Busy as usual, but great.

So that's what I've been doing the past few weeks, trying to promote lionfish awareness and this project. Hopefully we'll start seeing some financial support rolling in soon. With that in mind, for those in the audience that already donated, thank you thank you 10,000 thank you's. If you haven't donated yet, please consider throwing a few dollars my way. Whether you have or not, please take a few minutes to think of five people who might want to support this project with a donation and please reach out to them for support.

That last point will be incredibly helpful, so I have to repeat it. Please spend a few minutes thinking of other people who might make a donation and please reach out to them.

THANKS!