Origami

Get a jump on the GBR Legacy Living Coral Biobank from this three-minute December 2019 Living Coral Biobank overview video posted to YouTube. In the video, you'll hear from Dr. Charlie Veron, John Rumney, Dr. Dean Miller, and Lyle Squire (CEO of Cairns Marine) Subscribe to their YouTube channel (Great Barrier Reef Legacy) for the latest on this organization's important work. You can also learn more at the Living Coral Biobank project webpage.

First raffle prize to be announced is a Trigger Systems Crystal 30 Acrylic Sump, donated by WAMAS. A $310 value. Attend the meeting to have a chance to win this beauty!

With COVID lockdowns largely behind us and the ability to once again reserve suitable space, we're pleased to announce the resumption of in-person WAMAS meetings! Saturday, August 6, 2022 Time: 1:00 P.M. - 5:15 P.M. (Speaker starts at 3 PM) Where: North Bethesda Middle School 8935 Bradmoor Dr Bethesda, MD 20817 WAMAS members get in free. Guests are $5 each (paid at the door). Refreshments provided by WAMAS. Speaker: Dr. Dean Miller, Managing Director of the Great Barrier Reef Legacy Organization Dr Dean Miller is a marine biologist, film maker, photographer and the managing director of Great Barrier Reef Legacy, a non-profit organization based in Port Douglas, QLD, Australia dedicated to conservation of coral reefs around the world with an array of innovative projects, including the Living Coral Biobank. Note: Dr. Miller will be joining us virtually from Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia and we will be streaming his presentation live to the WAMAS Facebook group for those who can't make the meeting. He will take questions from the group in attendance at our meeting, but we will not be taking questions from those attending online via Facebook. Attendance via the Zoom platform will not be offered for this meeting as we will be hosting an expert panel to participate in the meeting. Topic: The Living Coral Biobank Project As coral reefs worldwide decline due to climate change, severe storm events and coral disease, the Great Barrier Reef Legacy team, comprising John Rumney, the "godfather of coral" Dr. Charlie Veron, and Dr. Dean Miller decided it was time for immediate, groundbreaking action to help preserve our reefs. The outcome of this collaboration is the Living Coral Biobank which will collect and house all 800 hard coral species from around the world in a state of the art holding facility in Port Douglas (Queensland, Australia), creating a ‘coral ark’ to safeguard the living biodiversity of corals and their algal and bacterial symbionts before it’s too late. The project will also use public aquariums and home aquarium collectors to hold and maintain backup fragments all over the world, creating the largest collaborative preservation network of corals. This talk will cover the need and the urgency of the situation, the foundational idea and main players of the project, the plan and its status, and the road ahead. The Great Barrier Reef Legacy Team: John Rumney, Dr. Charlie Veron, and Dr. Dean Miller Agenda: 1:00 - 2:50 Sign-in / socialize / frag sales 2:50 - 3:00 Club business 3:00 - 4:15 Speaker: Dr. Dean Miller 4:15 - 4:30 Break 4:45 - 5:15 Raffle! Directions to North Bethesda Middle School: - NOTE: The school is just inside the north edge of the beltway near Old Georgetown Road. Here's a map from Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/bKz79Y9HmQF2 Special thanks to theses sponsors. Please support them & say thanks next time you shop with them. You can find their website address by visiting their forum or the sponsor page on the WAMAS website. WAMAS Platinum Sponsors - Air, Water & Ice - Aquarium Depot - Avast Marine - Blue Ribbon Koi - Capital Aquarium - ChemiPure (Boyd Enterprises) - Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture - FishnReef.com - MASNA - Pimped Out Aquariums - Premium Aquatics - Puddle Aquatics - Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition) - Reef eScape - Reef2Rainforest Media (Coral Magazine) - SaltwaterAquarium.com - Supreme Reefs WAMAS Banner-Only Sponsors - Cobalt Aquatics - Coralvue - Jellyfish Art - Live Aquaria - Two Little Fishies 2022 virtual meeting support provided by Eureka Strategic Consulting, Discover the Extraordinary. Raffle Prizes (Yes, we'll have raffle prizes again for in-person meeting participants!) Trigger Systems Crystal 30 Acrylic Sump, $310 value, donated by WAMAS Six $50 livestock gift certificates donated by Blue Ribbon Koi & Marine (Catharpin, VA)! (Six chances to win!) One 50-gallon box of AccuraSea Artificial Seawater Mix from Two Little Fishies. One Veggie Mag magnetic floating veggie clip from Two Little Fishies. One 16-inch AlgaEraser stainless steel algae scraping tool from Two Little Fishies. Five $25 gift certificates for Premium Aquatics (Five chances to win!) Two Full Conference Passes to MACNA 2022! (Donated by MASNA) Three $50 coral gift certificates donated by long-time WAMAS sponsor, www.fishnreef.com! (Three chances to win!) $150 "mystery box" of corals donated by Supreme Reefs (pickup at store in Fairfax, VA) Two $100 gift certificates donated by Puddle Aquatics. (Two chances to win!) Five $25 gift cards donated by Capital Aquarium. (Five chances to win!) Four 1/4-gallon (1.3#) jars of kolar labs nitrate-reducing biopellets from Saltwateraquarium.com! (Four chances to win!) More raffle prizes to be announced. Sponsors On Site, Selling Puddle Aquatics @LiVEWiRE Members On Site, Selling @gws3 @BtmDweller @Lynne @SkiCurtis @Samayoa @Mr.Chalice @copps @DaJMasta Stay tuned to this post for updates!

Welcome back, Scott. Thanks for serving and best of luck with the new tank! We're glad to have you here.

Every bit helps and is appreciated. Thank you to all that have signed up to support WAMAS by designating it as your Amazon Smile charity.

Nicely done! Thanks.

I don't know of any schools that need tanks right now, Eric. If anybody else does, please speak up.

Welcome. We're glad to have you here! Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Incumbents have been sentenced re-elected to another two year term. President: Tom Land, Origami Treasurer: Scott Friedman, Scott711 Membership Director: Nikki Bridges, ReefdUp Congratulations and thank you!

Also, during the meeting today, mention was made of Rich Pyle's rough introduction to the hazards of deep diving and his long road to recovery from the bends. This story is documented in an old article, Confessions of a Mortal Diver, still available on the web here.

Great meeting! Rich is an exciting speaker - he's done so much. Here are the raffle results if anybody's wondering.

Mok-Yi, I'm hoping that we are able to restart in-person meetings again soon and hope that you'll stop by again. Best regards.

+1. Welcome back to the hobby and welcome to WAMAS.

We're just about an hour away from the meeting. Come join us.

Raffle sign up is closed.

Last minute addition to the raffle courtesy of our wonderful sponsor, Reed Mariculture (maker of Reef Nutrition products)! Nancy over at Reed has generously provided... One gift card valued at $100 (plus an additional $30 that can be used to cover shipping costs) AND Two more gift cards valued at $50 (plus an additional $30 each that can be used to cover shipping). These are great products that, once you've tried them, you're bound to love. Our most sincere thanks to Nancy and Reed Mariculture for their generous support!

Bumping this as a community service to remind people of tomorrow's meeting (WAMAS' annual meeting as required by our bylaws) featuring guest speaker, Rich Pyle. The meeting will be held virtually on Zoom and will also be live-streamed on Facebook to the WAMAS group there. If you are attending the meeting and haven't yet signed up for the raffle, you need to do so before noon next Saturday. Sign up on this thread (once and only once please).

Just a reminder, if you are attending the meeting and haven't yet signed up for the raffle, you need to do so before noon next Saturday. Sign up on this thread (once and only once please).

How to Attend: Zoom or Facebook Livestream? This meeting will be available to a limited number of WAMAS members through our Zoom account; non-members (or members of their own choosing) can participate through the Facebook livestream. To participate through the Facebook livestream, you need to have a Facebook account and be a member of the WAMAS Facebook group. If you're not already a member of this group, you may want to request membership now because we may not be able to approve your request if things get too busy during the meeting. If you're a WAMAS member and are interested in attending the meeting on Zoom, please send me a PM with the subject "Zoom Request". Note also that I will not respond to requests until I have a full accounting of the situation which will probably be until just a few days before the meeting. If you don't hear from me right away, rest assured, though, that your request has not fallen into a black hole. Questions for the speaker are taken from both Facebook and Zoom attendees, so neither way of attending will offer an advantage in that sense. (Although questions from the Facebook audience are relayed to the speaker by the meeting moderator while those taken from Zoom can be more direct.)

A virtual raffle sign up thread has been posted here. Members: Sign up once (only) if you wish to participate.

Adding five $25 gift certificates to the raffle prizes. Donated by Premium Aquatics.

Rich's topic for this meeting is: Exploring the Coral-Reef Twilight Zone: Where we've been. Where we are. And where we're headed. Rich will talk about how this all started and what's been found over the years. He'll update us on what he and others are doing now (e.g., XCoRE), and provide a glimpse into what is being planned. Special emphasis will be given to fishes of interest to the marine aquarist.

It's hard to really capture just how exciting an opportunity it is to have Richard speak to the club. My hat's off to John Coppolino (Copps) who brought him to us. It's easy to Google Dr. Pyle and see just how much he's done over the years. You'll find his TED talk on YouTube, his articles and books everywhere, and much, much more. I found this partiicular webpage really enteraining. Take a peek and enjoy it if you have a little time.

>> ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE << Saturday, 19 March 2022 Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Speaker will start at 2:15 PM) Where: Virtual - Zoom + Facebook Live (to the WAMAS Group page) It's time to announce and to schedule our annual meeting as required by WAMAS bylaws. Once again, with COVID still affecting our daily lives, we will hold the meeting virtually. Making the most of it, however, we've worked to bring speakers to you that we otherwise might not have been able to bring to you had we been meeting in person. Read on for a special treat. But first, a few meeting details. Like previous virtual meetings, this meeting will be streamed to Facebook Live with reserved participation on our Zoom platform. We will post details on how to participate in this thread, so please check back as we update the thread with details. Since our last few virtual meetings have gone smoothly, we'll continue to increase the number of slots available to WAMAS Members and reservations will be given out on a first-come-first-served basis. (Please wait to make your request until AFTER registration has been announced.) This meeting will be free to WAMAS members and members of the WAMAS Facebook group. To view the meeting on the Facebook Livestream, you MUST be have an account on Facebook and must be a member of the WAMAS group. If you're not on Facebook or would prefer to participate on the Zoom call, request a slot and, if there's room, we'll provide call details prior to the meeting. Only WAMAS members are eligible to vote in WAMAS elections and to participate in the raffle give-away (details below). Because we are unable to gather physically, we will establish and publicize election rules and the process to be used this year. ==> WAMAS ELECTIONS <== This meeting is also our annual meeting. The offices of President, Treasurer and Membership Director will be filled at this meeting (two year terms). Click here for voting instructions. Agenda (tentative): 2:00 PM Announcements 2:10 PM Election Results 2:15 PM Speaker 3:30 PM Discussion / Q&A 4:00 PM Raffle/Doorprize Speaker: Dr. Richard Pyle, World-renown Ichthyologist and Pioneer Topic: Exploring the Coral-Reef Twilight Zone: Where we've been. Where we are. And where we're headed. Rich will talk about how this all started and what's been found over the years. He'll update us on what he and others are doing now (e.g., XCoRE), and provide a glimpse into what is being planned. Special emphasis will be given to fishes of interest to the marine aquarist. Speaker Biography: Dr. Richard Pyle is a scuba diver and ichthyologist working on Hawaii. Pyle discovered the principle of "Pyle stops" when decompressing from many deep dives in search of new species of fish, and has identified hundreds of new species, including the Peppermint Angelfish and Dr. Suess Soapfish. He is the author of over 130 publications. He was born and raised in Hawaii, where his passion for "all things fish" began at a very early age. He set up his first aquarium when he was five years old, and started scuba diving when he was thirteen. By the time he was nineteen, he wound up living in Palau where his passion for discovering new fishes lured him into deep water, resulting in a crippling case of decompression sickness while diving with world-renown ichthyologist John "Jack" Randall. Earning his PhD under Jack's tutelage, Richard's passion for undersea exploration never waned. Determined to continue exploring of the coral reef "Twilight Zone" (200-500 feet deep) in a safe and responsible way, he was among the pioneers of modern Technical Diving in the late 1980's. In 1994 he began as a test-diver for the prototype Cis-Lunar MK-4 closed-circuit rebreather, and has traveled the Pacific in search of new species of fishes on deep coral reefs - which he and his colleagues are discovering at a rate of eleven new species per hour of bottom time. Richard has authored over a hundred scientific, technical, and popular articles and has been featured in dozens of documentary films (including the IMAX film, Coral-Reef Adventure). He was a founding member and is currently on the Board of Directors for the Association for Marine Exploration - a non-profit organization dedicated to conducting innovative scientific exploration using advanced diving equipment and techniques. In 2004, he was selected by Esquire magazine for the "Best and Brightest" issue, and was also recipient of the "Genius Award" from General Electric to help support his research. Raffle Prize(s) to be announced $100 gift certificate for Reef Nutrition products from Reed Mariculture (plus an additional $30 to cover shipping costs)! $50 gift certificate for Reef Nutrition products from Reed Mariculture (plus an additional $30 to cover shipping costs)! (2 chances!) $25 gift certificate for Premium Aquatics (5 chances to win!) Raffle Process and Rules No purchase is necessary. The raffle is open to WAMAS members only. (You must be a member at the time of the drawing.) The WAMAS President is ineligible. The drawing will be held during the WAMAS meeting The winner must be "present" at the meeting (either through Zoom or Facebook) to claim the prize. If not present, we'll draw for the next winner. Members that sign up have an equal chance at winning. A week or so before the meeting, we'll start a sign-up thread in the forum. We'll post a link in this thread. Members participate in the raffle by posting once and once only to this thread. Duplicate sign ups will be deleted. If this rule is abused, a member may be removed as a partricipant. This thread will be closed the night before the drawing. No warning will be given to the thread closure. The WAMAS President will use an online random number generator to generate a number from 2 to the max post# in the thread and will announce the winning number. The drawn number identifies the winner by their post number (i.e., sequence number in the thread). If the winner is present, we'll mail or transfer the award to them. If not, we'll draw again until we have a winner. Thank You, WAMAS Sponsors Special thanks to these sponsors. WAMAS has deliberately avoided collecting sponsorship fees from them during these tumultuous times, but they need your support now more than ever. Please support them & say thanks next time you shop with them. You can find their website address by visiting their forum or the sponsor page on the WAMAS website. WAMAS Platinum Sponsors - Air, Water and Ice - Aquarium Depot - Avast Marine - Blue Ribbon Koi - Capital Aquarium - Chemipure - Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture - Fish n Reef - LRS Reef Frenzy - Piscine Energetics - Premium Aquatics - Puddle Aquatics - Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition) - Reef Escape - Reef to Rainforest Media (Coral Magazine) - SaltwaterAquarium.com - Supreme Reefs WAMAS Banner-Only Sponsors - Cobalt Aquatics - Coralvue - Jellyfish Art - Live Aquaria - MASNA - Two Little Fishies Special Thanks Special thanks to Eureka Strategic Consulting of Columbia, MD, who (through a very generous donation) are (again) sponsoring our virtual meetings in 2022.

IO has been my salt of choice for 15+ years now. I used to have to boost the calcium and alkalinity levels to get it where I wanted, but that's not been the case for many years now. IO and RC, of course, are made by the same company.