The Lionfish Sleeps Tonight

I caught and killed my first lionfish on Thursday!!! He was just hanging out in a hard bottom area with his spines out not moving. It was very easy to catch, but that's completely beside the point.

Catching a lionfish is important for a couple reasons, but one of the campers put it best when someone asked him what he saw on the boat and he said, "We saved the reef today." Ok, so we didn't really save the whole reef by just catching one, but it's still important to kill them because they are an invasive exotic and shouldn't be in the Atlantic. They are basically destroying our reef ecosystems because they have no natural predators over here. For example, they grow to 8 inches in the Pacific and up to 20 inches in the Bahamas where they are spreading out of control. In case you are confused as to what a lionfish is, here is a picture:

If you want more information on the lionfish invasion you can check out the REEF website, which is where I got this beautiful picture.

Plus, there is a competition to see who of the instructors can capture the most lionfish by the end of the season (next week). I know I'm not going to win because Nick has caught a myriad of lionfish, but at least I won't have a zero when they tally the numbers. Plus, I'm saving the reef.