Hi everyone,

2007 was a very successful year for the Light and Motion Sensor Program!

The LMSP received over $13,000 in donations. Thank you so very much for your generous support! This has enabled 14 Rainbow Arrays to be deployed -13 along the leeward coast, and one as a control site at Jerry’s Reef off Klein Bonaire. Your donations have also purchased essential programs equipment including underwater readers, replacement sensors, and batteries.

Volunteers have been and continue to be an outstanding part of the LMSP. Under the supervision of Albert Bianculli, many divers have been trained to service the Rainbow Array moorings and collect data. Many thanks to all of you for your hard work and dedication!

Big thanks also go out to Ramon de Leon and the BNMP staff for their ongoing direction, collaboration and logistical support, as well as to Caren and the CIEE for steadily sending the raw data to the University of Southern California lab.

STINAPA now has the LMSP on their website. Check it out at:

http://www.bmp.org/lightandmotion.html

USClab is also developing LMSP program info to include on their website. Those pages are not published yet, but stay tuned for that.

2008 will see more exciting developments. In March, Tom Reynolds will be on island for two weeks to work with the BNMP, CIEE, Albert, and volunteer divers to implement several new experiments designed to explore several areas of interest that have been suggested by data collected to date. In July, Burt will present LMSP findings and plans at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. And in August Tom, Burt, and their team from USClab plan to visit Bonaire with sophisticated sensors in order to calibrate LMSP data.

Going forward, the LMSP will continue to grow and expand. It is likely that 20 locations for Rainbow Arrays will not be sufficient for the quantity and quality of data that are needed. Additionally, more control sites at Klein and possibly at one or more outer reef locations may need to be deployed. More specialized scientific equipment could be incorporated as well.

Your donations and volunteer support continue to be critical to the success of this exciting and innovative water monitoring program! Please spread the word!

Thanks again, and all the best!

Blue

Blue,

Thanks for the excellent work you are doing to get this essential piece of monitoring for the well being of the island and marine life.

Lydia

You're welcome Lydia!