2018 Go Blue Awards Nominees – Business
Blue Business of the Year Finalists:
The Blue Business of the Year Award recognizes a business that has made outstanding contributions toward promoting and encouraging conservation, restoration, or preservation of marine life and/or marine ecosystems through their business practices, products or technology.
andrewredharrisfoundation.org/
The Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation (ARHF) mission is to “enhance and protect the marine habitat”. Web pursue our “enhancement” mission by building artificial reefs offshore of northern Palm Beach County and our “protection” mission by encouraging children to love the ocean. The foundation’s efforts to raise money and generate support for protecting our marine environment by building new habitat has helped make many more people aware of what they can do to help. Many local residents and businesses and people from all over the country have contributed to our projects- because they care and we give them a way to get involved.
Our reefs will build local fish populations for the future, but we believe it is also critical to build a new generation of marine environmentalists. We want today’s children to learn to love our oceans, rivers and lakes—and to strive to protect them throughout their lives. If you ask a marine scientist why they chose their occupation or when they first fell in love with the ocean they will likely tell you it happened as a result of childhood experiences.
The foundation believes teaching children to love the ocean will have huge future benefits for the children and for our environment. We need more of our population to see our marine environment as a huge asset that must be protected, and the earlier in their lives they get started, the better.
With those goals in mind, the foundation is donating 11,000 five book sets of the “Professor Clark the Science Shark” third grade STEM readers to every third grade classroom in Florida, a $730,000 donation. The Palm Beach County School Board received their 1000 book sets (5000 books) August 13, 2018. The book series tells the story of a little boy (Andrew) that meets and befriends an orphaned tiger shark pup. The marine animals communicate their problems and needs to the human world through Andrew. Andrew loves his marine friends and shows how deeply he cares for them by organizing reef and beach cleanups and rushing out to help them after a hurricane in book 5. In book 4, “Reada’s Rescue” the marine animals show Andrew a sick turtle and he helps save it by calling the Loggerhead Marinelife Center and transferring the turtle to the rescue boat.
Loggerhead is prominently featured in book 4 with pages in the story and LMC pages in the back of the book. We are working with the Palm Beach School Board’s Elementary Science Supervisor to develop the program for teaching children to love the ocean and for implementing it in every third grade classroom in Palm Beach County (684). The Palm Beach program kicks off in August 2018 for the new school year, and when formally announced will be described as a $65,000 donation.
The donation and environmental education program will be announced statewide in October, 2018 when the foundation and a Palm Beach County School Board representative present it to the annual convention of the Florida Association of Science Supervisors and to the Florida Association of Science Teachers conventions in October, 2018.
The foundation will describe it’s goals in creating the marine environmental education program first to the science supervisors for each county school board in the state and then do the same for the leading science teachers from each of the state’s school boards. The Palm Beach School Board will share the blueprint and experience developed in Palm Beach County for sorting, barcoding and distributing the books to the classrooms, and training the third grade teachers on how to use the books to teach their students to love the ocean and it’s inhabitants.
The foundation has been working on this program for the past 6 months and we are very excited about the prospects for our donation benefitting the marine environment by helping create many, many more marine environmentalists!
The foundation partners with Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management to build new reefs with four ton concrete “Coral Heads” of our own design and 4-5’ diameter limestone boulders.
The ARHF has raised well over $1 million to fund it’s projects and has deployed 319 reef modules and 1800 tons of boulders since being founded in 2014 including:
– 40 Coral Heads on our first site off Jupiter in 39’ of water in 2015
– 100 Coral Heads and 300 tons of boulders in 58’ on our second site off Jupiter in 2016
– 15 Coral Heads on the Blue Heron Bridge snorkel trail in 2016
– 132 Coral Heads and 1000 tons of boulders on our second site in 2017
– a 17’ tall replica of the Jupiter lighthouse on our second site in 2017
August 17 and 23, 2018 the foundation created a new reef off Juno Beach in 75 feet of water
with 32 Coral Heads and 500 tons of boulders.
Please see the videos on our Facebook page and the attached brochure.
The Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation is a 501C3 non-profit that strives to enhance the marine environment by building artificial reefs and to protect it by encouraging children to love our oceans, rivers and lakes.
In 2018 we deployed two 250 ton boulder reefs and placed 32 of our four ton “Coral Heads” adjacent to them. We also began a significant education initiative in 2018 by donating a 5 book set of the “Professor Clark the Science Shark” series to every third grade classroom in Florida, 55,000 books in all! Children love the story of the little boy (Andrew) who becomes lifelong friends with
an orphaned tiger shark pup. The marine animals communicate their needs through Andrew to the human world. Together they
clean up a reef and a beach, and then help save a sick turtle as they teach Florida children to love the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and our rivers and lakes.
Reefs the Foundation has built include:
– 40 Coral Heads in 39’ of water in 2015
– 100 Coral Heads in 58’ in 2016
– a 300 ton boulder reef in 58’ in 2016
– 15 Coral Heads on the Snorkel Trail in 2016
– 132 Coral Heads in 58’ in 2017
– four 250 ton boulder reefs in 58’ in 2017
– a 17’ tall replica of the Jupiter lighthouse
– 32 Coral Heads in 75’ in 2018
– two 250 ton boulder reefs in 75’ in 2018
The Foundation is 100% volunteer and receives tax deductible funding from individuals, businesses and foundations from all over the country. We hope our efforts to “enhance and protect the marine environment” incent water lovers, young and old, to join the fight to save our beautiful oceans, rivers and lakes. We invite you to contact us and find out how you can help!
Guy Harvey Magazine feature article excerpt, Summer 2017 Edition, “REEFS WITH A CAUSE” When you work on a noble cause, you will usually find success. That is certainly the case with the Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation, an organization that was born out of tragedy but today has gained the attention of thousands of water lovers for building innovative, artificial reefs. They’ve even caught the eye of country music superstar Kenny Chesney.
Andrew Harris was an inspirational young man who died at age 26 when he was struck by a boat while snorkeling on June 8, 2014.
Loved and admired by many, Andrew had begun a career in the insurance business and had found great success As a youngster, Andrew was always a gifted athlete. In high school he had the distinction of being named to the Palm Beach Post’s All Area team in both golf and basketball on the same day. And he was voted MVP of the Jupiter High School basketball team his senior year. Raised on the water in the Jupiter area, he loved to fish, snorkel, scuba dive and just be out on the ocean. When he thought about college, he decided to apply to only one: Florida State University, a school he loved dearly. But, his early attempts to get in were denied. Andrew continued to pursue his dream and graduated from FSU with honors.
“June 7, 2014 was the happiest day that Andrew and Ryan, our younger son, spent together,” Scott said. “It was highlighted by Ryan being drafted and getting a nice bonus from the Boston Red Sox. The next day was our saddest.” Since that dreadful day,
Andrew’s mother and father and many of their friends have worked together to honor his memory by building reefs for snorkeling,
diving and fishing. The Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation has made it their mission to enhance the waters he loved to help ensure
the long-term health of the oceans and to assure that he will not be forgotten. They’ve held golf and tennis tournaments many other events to raise money to build reefs. The foundation also sells its own shirts through their website. Understandably, Andrew’s mom and dad, Scott and Martha Harris, are the driving force behind the foundation. They were determined to do something in Andrew’s memory but they weren’t sure where to begin. “We started out with college scholarships,” Scott said, “but didn’t get much interest from local schools. It’s a very crowded space. Then we started to think about Andrew’s hobbies like golf, fishing and diving and we decided that artificial reefs would be perfect! “Andrew loved fishing and diving and we thought, ‘how hard could building artificial reefs be’,” Scott says with a laugh.
If getting the foundation cranked up was difficult, the Harris’s never let it show. They began the organization in August, just two months after the accident, and by November they had formed a viable plan to build and deploy hand-made, custom concrete modules. Nine months later, they sunk 40 artificial reefs and the next summer, in August 2016, they deployed 100 more – 50 pyramids and 35 custom-designed “Coral Heads.” They also put down 15 prototype concrete block reefs. A few months later, in November 2016, they placed 15 “Lagoon Coral Head” modules at the Blue Heron Bridge Snorkel Trail at Phil Foster Park in Palm Beach County. To date, the Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation has 155 reefs deployed and another 134 under construction.
“The Palm Beach County ERM staff has been instrumental in the whole process,” Harris said. “They have guided me since day one and have been great partners. Their knowledge and expertise has really helped us to achieve our goals. “If building reefs began an emotionally healing process for the Harris family, it also had the side benefit of advancing the science of artificial reefs. Placing
many of their reef modules on a site where an ancient natural reef once existed has been clearing the smothering sand from the
underlying bedrock and re-exposing the natural sea floor. “It’s more important where you build an artificial reef than what you build it with,” Harris said. “And we think we have the best possible site: thin sand over flat bedrock in shallow water with good visibility. It’s no surprise that 100 percent of the money raised by the foundation goes to reef building. And, so far, they’ve brought in more than $900,000, some of which has come in the form of grants, fundraisers and donations of labor.
For example, Palm Beach County pays for deploying the reefs, CCA and Building Conservation Trust have been major donors, Morgan and Eklund donated the subbottom survey, the Wantman Group donated the engineering and Kimley-Horn made festival display boards. Jupiter Dive Center contributed funds and boats for deployment viewing. Of course, the Harris family itself has also been a major donor. “We are not just asking others to contribute, we are putting our own money and time in,” Harris said. “It’s important to us, and our community increasingly sees the benefits as our projects move from theoretical to actual and our dreams become real as the thriving new reefs we build help Jupiter’s marine environment”. As the foundation continues to do good and do well, more positive things are happening. Now, country music superstar Kenny Chesney and his No Shoes Nation have pledged their support. Chesney has partnered with ENGEL Coolers to create No Shoes Reefs.
The goals are to raise awareness and funding to protect precious coral reefs, which are vital for aquatic ecosystems to thrive. Limited edition “No Shoes Reefs” shirts and hats are available and a portion of the proceeds go directly to the Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation to assist in artificial reef building and deployment. “Our long term goal is to honor Andrew’s memory by seeing the foundation become a self-sustaining organization for building and advancing the science of artificial reefs,” Harris said. Anyone interested can sponsor a reef module for $5,000 or an entire boulder pile reef for $20,000. Three of the boulder piles are going in this year. Contributions of any amount are welcome.
I write this nomination on behalf of ANGARI Foundation who exemplifies the attributes of promoting public awareness,education, and preservation of marine life and ecosystems for which the Blue Business of the Year Award seeks. I know the foundation in the capacity of an educator teaching in the K-12 school system. Both my students and I have had a number of opportunities to collaborate with ANGARI since its inception. Both my students and I have experienced hands-on science aboard the RV ANGARI to learn about current marine research occurring in our waters. They have orchestrated professional development and curriculum writing opportunities for teachers to collaborate with scientists as well. They have been instrumental participants in my very own service project started with my students entitled: Surface 71, which derives its name from the fact that 71% of the planet is covered in water. The Surface 71 mission aligns with that of ANGARI.
Similarly, ANGARI has its finger on the pulse of the community as evidenced by the relationships they have built and the bridges they have formed between scientists, educators, and community leaders. Their involvement in events like Lagoonfest and beach cleanups is testimony to their commitment to bring about change in the way people understand and respect the marine environment. Their presence is wide reaching, so much in fact, that they are addressing awareness through 360/VR education in other states.
Obviously as a non-profit, all of the employees of ANGARI share a passion and a love of the ocean. The positive culture of the workplace can be felt by anyone they meet. Each employee brings their own skill set to aid in their mission of “creating a global community that is interested, knowledgeable, and invested in marine and environmental sciences by directly supporting research initiatives that foster a greater trust and dialogue between scientists and the public”.
I sincerely hope ANGARI Foundation is considered for the prestigious Blue Business of the Year Award, because I can personally say that they have impacted both my students and me as an educator in life changing ways. From the implementation of our Surface 71 project to even two of my students who have headed into marine science related fields as a result of their experiences.
Palm Beach County is an international destination for residents and tourists from around the globe. One of the most unique attributes of Palm Beach County, Florida is its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf Stream current. Palm Beach County is the closest point of land in the State to this conveyer belt of sea life. Palm Beach’s proximity to the Gulf Stream provides constant breezes, crystal clear water, and extremely biodiverse marine life making coastal Palm Beach County one of the environmental jewels in the United States.
Florida and Palm Beach County’s economy is powered by tourism. In 2017, Palm Beach County welcomed 7.9 million tourists as reported by the County’s destination marketing team, Discover The Palm Beaches. This is a record-breaking amount of tourists who visited our County and this record has helped to boost our economy and provide record low unemployment.
Another one of Palm Beach County’s more unique attributes is the fact that the Island of Palm Beach is often referred to as America’s first resort city given some of the United States first and most luxurious resorts were established on the island. Palm Beach has developed a significant resort portfolio and one of the most notable resorts is Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa one of the most awarded resorts and spas in all of Florida.
“Eau” is French for water, and Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa is aptly named because the resort showcases the element of water as the most important focal point for their guests to enjoy. Eau Palm Beach is situated on the island of Palm Beach with the Atlantic Ocean on one side of the resort, and the Intercostal Water Way on the other side of the resort.
The resort’s beach is among the most densely nested sea turtle nesting beaches in Florida and annually the resort can experience leatherback, loggerhead, and green sea turtle nests. The resort showcases the sea turtle in many elements of the guest experience from bronze educational sculptures around the pool and beach area to beautiful decorative sea turtle themed décor items in their Living Room (lobby). Sea turtles play an important role as the Resort’s primary animal ambassador.
In addition to the focus on the element of water, the resort has a deep commitment to the conservation of the environment and has developed a significant portfolio of business practices placing this resort on the leading edge of conservation best practices.
In 2017, the resort kicked off a significant conservation partnership with Loggerhead Marinelife Center that revolved around optimizing the resort’s conservation best practices along with increasing the resort’s philanthropic give back to our community.
This partnership kicked off with a comprehensive education session with all of the resort hotelier-team members. Ahead of sea turtle nesting season, Loggerhead staff were invited to present to Eau team members all of the unique elements about our local nesting beaches, ocean ecosystems, and facts and stats about our sea turtle population so that hotel team members could more effectively educate hotel guests about sea turtle and ocean conservation. At this meeting after the hotel staff was educated on plastic interaction, the resort made a very bold move; to remove all plastic straws and plastic coffee stirs resort wide in an effort to reduce their single use plastic waste. Eau Palm Beach was one of the first resorts in Palm Beach to eliminate plastic straws and stirs resort-wide and were on the leading edge of corporations who have migrated away from single use plastic straws and stirs.
Each year the resort welcomes over 250,000 and during sea turtle, nesting season (March – October) the resort provides guests during sea turtle nesting season with informational materials that explain why the resort dims their ocean front lighting to reduce sea turtle disorientation. In addition to the educational materials for guests, each child who checks in receives a sea turtle adoption kit of one of the sea turtle patients who are being rehabilitated at the sea turtle hospital at Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
Additionally the resort has kicked off the implementation of many additional conservation best practices aimed at reducing the resort’s environmental impact some of these include:
– Retrofitting lighting to low energy use lighting
– Retrofitting HVAC systems to be more energy efficient
– Eliminating the use of single use plastic straws and bags
In addition to the resort’s on-campus conservation work, Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa provided a very generous donation to the sea turtle hospital at Loggerhead to offset the complete medical costs associated with the rehabilitation of a loggerhead sea turtle patient. Due to this generous donation, Eau was able to name this patient and they generated the name by working with their hotel team members and came up with the name, “Eau-Tis.” Eau-Tis successfully made it through the rehabilitation at Loggerhead and prior to release the resort very kindly gifted funds to Loggerhead so that the center could GPS track Eau-Tis after release. The GPS tracking data is both fun for the general public to ‘watch’ however the data are exceptionally valuable to the research laboratory at Loggerhead as they allow our research scientists to better understand sea turtle’s offshore behavior: migration, foraging, nesting location, mating location, speed of swimming, frequency of diving, and depth of diving.
Eau-Tis can be GPS tracked at this web link:
https://marinelife.org/seaturtles/research/track/eau-tis/
When Eau-Tis was cleared for release, Loggerhead collaborated with Florida FWC to request the patient be release on the beach at the resort. This release location was approved and the Eau Palm Beach Resort Team along with Loggerhead Marinelife Center worked together to make this release a public educational event.
Hundreds of guests came to the resort for the release along with the County’s tourism officials and elected officials including one of Florida’s Congressman and his family. The release video was shared across social media sites at the resort and at Loggerhead generating over 5,000 views (educational impressions) in less than one week.
Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa has over 15,000 Facebook followers and more than 11,000 likes on Instagram and they use these platforms to regularly share sea turtle facts and stats promoting their partnership with Loggerhead and elevating the awareness of the center’s global mission. In addition, Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa features Loggerhead Marinelife Center prominently on their website that garners an astounding 500,000+ annual visits.
Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa is one of the most effective partners to Loggerhead Marinelife Center in essence offering a second campus with hundreds of thousands of in person and digital conservation learning opportunities. Loggerhead is honored to have such a generous and responsible conservation partner and we feel that Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa is an outstanding candidate for the Blue Business of the Year award.
I would like to nominate a newly opened business (April 2018) called JAR the Zero Waste Shop in Stuart, Florida. The store is owned and operated by 18 year old Brandi Kneip, a recent graduate of South Fork High School in Martin County. Her company’s mission statement is “JAR The Zero Waste Shop was founded on the idea of being the change. In only a short time of being open we have seen a significant change in the community. Our goals are to help people live a less waste life and provide people with the resources to make it fun. All of us at JAR are proud of all the people that have decided to reduce their footprint on this earth. We encourage you to encourage others!”
The focus of her store is to showcase the zero waste lifestyle and help people to reduce their carbon footprint by offering an assortment of eco-friendly and zero waste minded products including bulk dry goods, locally made beauty products, household items, and locally made food or beverages such a honey or kambucha tea. Customers are encouraged to bring in their own containers to purchase dry goods such as beans, rice, nuts, coffee, dried fruit and other grocery staples. She also has jars for purchase or compostable paper bags available if you forget to bring your own containers.
Jar’s mission supports marine conservation because the products at her store are helping reduce carbon footprint by being:
- eco-friendly
- many products are organic
- zero plastic packaging
- encourages use of re-usable containers
- features locally made products (less travel = lower carbon footprint)
- any plastic products are made of recycled content
- promotes a green lifestyle
This is the first store of its kind in our area (that I am aware of).
The National Marine Life Center rehabilitates and releases stranded marine mammals and sea turtles in order to advance science and education in marine wildlife health and conservation. Every aspect of NMLC’s mission and corporate culture focuses on benefiting marine life and fostering marine conservation.
This corporate culture starts with helping the individual animals that come through NMLC’s rehabilitation program. NMLC’s professional staff and dedicated volunteers provide every animal the best possible care with the hope of being able to release it back into the wild to contribute to the ocean ecosystem.
The corporate culture continues with NMLC’s science program. The individual animals coming through the wildlife rehabilitation program also offer opportunities to learn more about the diseases from which they suffer. Work focuses on how best to treat the diseases, what causes the diseases, and what the occurrence of the diseases may be signaling about the ocean ecosystem.
The corporate focus on benefiting marine life and fostering marine conservation culminates in NMLC’s education program. Educational lessons focus on marine animals, rehabilitation, the ocean environment, and the human impact on that environment. NMLC’s wildlife patients provide a context for teaching about these topics, thereby promoting positive actions and a sense of environmental stewardship.
The National Marine Life Center relies heavily on volunteers to accomplish its mission. In 2017, 115 program volunteers contributed 20,427 hours in the center! Volunteers of all ages come from all walks of life, and assist with every aspect of NMLC’s work. The largest number of volunteers are involved in NMLC’s wildlife rehabilitation activities. Many of these are also involved in NMLC’s environmental education activities.
As an organization that depends on volunteers and has few paid staff, NMLC is more often in the position of receiving volunteers interested in contributing to marine conservation. Participation in events such as education programs, fairs, and festivals helps inspire new volunteers to become ocean advocates. The following two stories exemplify the volunteer experience the organization provides.
Lou and Patty have been volunteering for the National Marine Life Center for 10 years, after retiring from their careers and moving to Cape Cod. Along the way, they have helped with animal care, facilities maintenance, education festivals, and special events. Several months ago, Patty underwent surgery and had to take a break from volunteering. She’s now recovered and back helping care for the animals on Monday mornings. In a recent e-mail, she commented: “I’m so glad to be able to volunteer again at NMLC, and to take part in the releases which make it so worthwhile!”
Gabbie is a recent college graduate who completed two internships with NMLC. She was involved with wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education. Of her experience teaching she said: “It allowed me to be a steward of the ocean and to instill that [value] in others.” For her closing intern presentation, she thanked NMLC staff for “providing me with on-the-job experience, expanding my knowledge, and being amazing mentors.”
In addition to fostering a spirit of marine conservation among its volunteers, NMLC’s staff is also involved in outside conservation activities. Executive Director Kathy Zagzebski, and Katherine McKenna and Wendy Wyman from the Animal Care program, volunteer for the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s marine mammal rescue program. Kathy Zagzebski also volunteers as a board member for the Massachusetts Marine Educators’ Association and with the Environmental Technology program at the Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School.
The National Marine Life Center (NMLC) is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) marine animal hospital, science, and education center located in Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Founded in 1995 by a group of individuals concerned about the high numbers of stranded animals on Cape Cod, NMLC’s mission is to rehabilitate and release stranded marine mammals and sea turtles in order to advance science and education in marine wildlife health and conservation. This three-part mission of rehabilitation, science, and education describes the core values of the organization and informs NMLC’s program development.
Rehabilitation Program: NMLC rehabilitates seals and sea turtles. In the future, they plan to expand the facility with more and larger pools to serve a greater number of stranded marine animals, including cetaceans. They formerly operated a temporary facility in an old warehouse, and have been building a new marine animal hospital. In fall, 2012, they opened the first patient ward of their new hospital. In the first five years of operation in their new building, they’ve rehabilitated 117 seals and 109 sea turtles. In addition, they collaborate with state biologists on head start and rehabilitation of endangered and threatened non-marine turtles such as red bellied cooters and diamondback terrapins.
Science Program: NMLC’s science program, led by veterinarian Dr. C. Rogers Williams, focuses on studying spontaneously occurring diseases in stranded marine animals using the “One Health” approach. The One Health approach is an international paradigm that recognizes that wildlife health, environmental health, and human health are interconnected. Current research investigates parasites in marine mammals, otitis media (middle ear disease) in seals, magaesophagus in seals, and diseases of pup and weanling seals. They also document significant case studies to share with the network via presentations, “Rounds Notes,” and peer-reviewed publications. Additionally, they collaborate with researchers from other institutions such as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MIT, Tufts University, Cornell University, NOAA, and other stranding network partners.
Education Program: NMLC’s education program delivers on-site and off-site presentations to school groups and community organizations. Programs combine subjects of marine animals, strandings, rehabilitation, and release with content that fulfills state and national curriculum standards. They have an on-site classroom used for programs, lectures, and other educational activities. Since initiating a formal environmental education program in 2005, they have taught over 2,633 programs to over 89,457 children and adults. NMLC operates an educational Marine Animal Discovery Center, a free public visitors’ center open during summer months and school vacations. Featuring educational activities, interpretive exhibits, and the opportunity to reenact with models various rehabilitation activities, the Discovery Center uniquely focuses on marine animal strandings, rehabilitation, and release as a way to educate people about ocean conservation. Since opening the Discovery Center 1999, N11U..C has welcomed over 129,689 visitors.
2017 Accomplishments
• Rehabilitated and cared for 114 animals.
o 25 harbor seals
o 5 gray seals
o 1 harp seal
o 60 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles
o 18 red bellied cooters
o 1 diamondback terrapin
o 2 box turtles
• Rehabilitated and released our 1OOth seal-female gray seal weaning “Miley Sealrus.”
• Delivered three scientific presentations at conferences.
o Bone core biopsy in Kemp’s ridley sea turtles
o Megaesophagus in maternally dependent harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)
o Shell necrosis of the dermal bone related to cold-stunning in sea turtles and terrapins
• Continued the world’s only marine mammal parasitology laboratory.
o Expanded capacity by hiring a laboratory research assistant
o Examined 400 samples collected from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill
o Discovered new host-parasite relationships
• Continued scientific research into marine animal diseases.
o Middle ear disease (otitis media) in seals
o Herpes virus in seals
o Megaesophagus in seals
o Bone disease (osteolytic lesions) in sea turtles
• Built and expanded scientific partnerships.
o National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-acoustic tagging
o New England Aquarium-alopecia in seals
o Tufts University-influenza in seals
• Record breaking education year.
o Reached 11,380 children and adults in 234 programs
o Welcomed 9,092 people to our Marine Animal Discovery Center
o Provided hands-on, experiential job training opportunities for 29 student interns
o Offered teacher workshops and “teacher-in-residence” experiences for 19 teachers through
partnerships with Museum Institutes for Teaching Science and Cape Cod Community College
• Built and expanded educational partnerships.
o Bourne Schools – Engineering Day
o Plymouth South High School-Service learning volunteer opportunities
• Provided opportunities for volunteer service. In 2017, 115 program volunteers contributed 20,427 hours!
• Capital expansion – Installed solar on our marine animal hospital roof and our pump house roof.