4-27-14We had a successful day of harvesting invasive lionfish thanks to a dedicated team of conservation focused participants. Over 150 lionfish were removed from three different artificial reef sites offshore Jacksonville Florida. Two of the reefs visited were sunken vessels known as the Spike and the Powerful, and...
Read MoreLionfish Invasion Control Efforts News Segment
ABC/NBC news segment featuring lionfish control efforts. Unfortunately the problem does not seem to be getting any better but is in fact much worse. It is hoped lionfish harvest efforts and the associated research will help lead the way to more manageable control.
Lionfish Blast Video Project Teaser Clip
Holy cow! Participants in the Northeast Florida Lionfish Blast tournament have already brought in close to 1200 invasive lionfish. We went out on a scouting trip this past weekend in preparation for a filming trip later this month. We decided to put a video teaser clip...
Read More"Spike the Tugboat" Children's Book Now Available
"Spike the Tugboat" is now available through Amazon! Click the button below to be directed to the book on Amazon."Spike the Tugboat" is a fantastically illustrated story based on a real life marine...
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TISIRI Awards Scholarship to Jacksonville University Artist
TISIRI is excited to announce that a scholarship has recently been awarded to Jacksonville University student Ali Pordeli. Ali is a creative individual with a phenomenal artistic skill set. We at TISIRI, without a doubt, feel his illustrations rival that of those created for Hollywood productions.
Read MoreSt. Johns River Reef Site Investigation
Two 200' by 200' zones have been permitted for future artificial reef material placement just south of the Interstate 95 bridge. The CCA is spearheading this project and the hope is two create two modest sized artificial reefs (one at each permitted location) in the relatively near future. In an effort to better understand the environmental parameters of each location the TISIRI team decided to send out a diving team to get a first hand look at the river bottom. Joe Kistel and Ed Kalakauskis were the investigation divers while Larry Davis was on board for equipment, imagery, and data collection support.
Read More"Species" broadcast on NBC and ABC Stations
Unfortunately Florida is also now home to many non-native species (aka invasive species). The list of nonnative plants and animals found in the state of Florida a long one. These invasive life forms tend negatively disrupt the ecology of the Florida habitats in which they are found, often causing significant problems.Of course, one of the invasive species causing havoc is the Lionfish. TISIRI's Joe Kistel discusses the issue and what is being done to combat it in the First Coast News segment featured.
Read MoreROLLINS COLLEGE AND TISIRI SERVICE TALBOT ISLAND
At Talbot Island our group preformed trail maintenance, pruning overgrown sections of the trail back so future park patrons had a clear path to follow. With a total group size of near twenty, 2 miles of trail were pruned relatively quickly. The trail terminated at the northern section of beach of Little Talbot Island and our group cleaned up trash and debris along the 2 miles of coast line back to the park pavilions.
Read MoreReef Clean Up Efforts; Pictures and Video
We visited a reef known as the school bus barge reef that rest roughly 12 miles east of the Mayport jetties. The barge sits in about 65 feet of water and is a popular fishing location due to its proximity to the inlet. Our goal was to remove entanglement hazards from the reef including fishing line and rope. Divers used scissors and snips to carefully remove line from reef structure and coral growth. Below are some pictures and video of the efforts.
Read MoreJacksonville Reef Clean-Up Scuba Diving Opportunity
We are coordinating a reef clean-up dive trip this Saturday 1-12-13. We will be removing fishing line and trash debris from popular reef sites. We do reef clean projects from time to time but have been motivated execute such efforts more frequently after recently finding a...
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