The Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, an amazing underwater park off Georgia's coast, is one of the largest nearshore live-bottom reefs in the southeastern United States. The sanctuary, managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, is composed of rocky ledges, undercuts, and sand patches that provide habitat for an array of ocean animals. Thousands of species of invertebrates (animals without backbones), marine mammals, and fish live at Gray's Reef. Fishing and diving are permitted in the sanctuary, giving anglers the chance to catch black sea bass, mackerel, snappers, and groupers.
To conserve the vast resources of Gray's Reef, there is an entire team above the water conducting scientific research and monitoring, providing education, and performing outreach to locals and visitors alike. The group began an initiative in 2019 to connect with fishers and provide education on the reef and fishing best practices through learning exchanges, or in-person educational workshops. The project became possible with funding from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, which the environmental organization The Nature Conservancy (TNC) applied for and received.
The learning exchanges had to shift from in-person to virtual education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the Gray's Reef team aimed to create an online platform. The team partnered with Dewberry, an Esri partner and a nationwide firm of planning, design, construction, and geospatial professionals, to develop an online solution, which has improved communication efforts with the fishing community and collaboration among partners.