December 18, 2025
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2025 Year in Review

Top Row:
Southern California had the honor of completing the 2,000th kelp forest monitoring survey at Cathedral Cove off Anacapa Island

Participants from the Los Angeles and Antelope Valley Dive into Science program on Catalina Island during their Open Water scuba certification

The newest cohort of Reef Check kelp forest divers after finishing their Northern California training in Fort Bragg

Bottom Row:
After powering through cold water and low visibility with positivity and enthusiasm, these trainees joined the Reef Check Washington family this season

Reef Check EcoDivers from across the US gathered in Barbados for a collaborative mission between CARES and Barbados Blue to save the local coral reefs (Photo: Kramer Wimberley, DWP-CARES)

Reef Check Trained Restoration Divers “Kelp Forest Defenders” removing urchins from Nellie’s Cove, Oregon

As the year comes to a close, I want to extend my sincere gratitude for your support. Thanks to our global network of volunteers, donors, and partners, 2025 has been a milestone year for Reef Check.

We celebrated the 20th anniversary of our Kelp Forest Monitoring Program, completed our 2,000th kelp survey, and launched a new monitoring program in Chile. We also strengthened our team by hiring a Dive into Science Program Coordinator and new Volunteer Coordinators in Oregon and Washington, expanding our reach along the West Coast.

Across our coral reef programs, we welcomed Aqualink as an official Global Reef Tracker partner, contributed data to the GCRMN Pacific assessment of coral reefs, and held our first tropical EcoDiver/Kelp Forest crossover course in Hawai‘i. 

Our education and community programs grew as well, with 53 new scuba certifications, expansion of Dive into Science into Oregon with ORKA and the Coquille Indian Tribe, and the completion of a Kelp Forest Monitoring course with the Coastal Chumash and Tongva Community program.

In restoration, we launched Oregon’s first Kelp Defenders training program and completed 33 surveys across ten restoration sites—important steps toward rebuilding resilient kelp forests.

If you are able, I respectfully ask you to consider making a year-end donation to help sustain and expand this vital work. To help amplify your impact, all donations—whether made as a one-time gift or as a new monthly contribution—will be matched dollar for dollar up to $7,500. 

Thank you for being part of the Reef Check community. I wish you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season and look forward to what we will accomplish together in the year ahead.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Jan Freiwald
Executive Director
Reef Check Foundation

2025 Successes

Organizational

  • Hired Dive into Science Program Coordinator
  • Hired Volunteer Coordinators for Oregon and Washington

Kelp Forest Program

Coral Reef Program

Education Program

  • Achieved a total of 53 scuba certifications across all programs
  • Successfully completed a Reef Check Kelp Forest Monitoring certification course as part of the Coastal Chumash and Tongva Community program
  • Expanded Dive into Science program into Oregon in partnership with ORKA (Oregon Kelp Alliance) and Coquille Indian Tribe

Restoration Program

  • Launched our first restoration training program in Oregon; the “Kelp Defenders” were trained to monitor restoration sites and remove urchins from restoration sites
  • Monitored 10 restoration sites and completed a total of 33 restoration surveys