BOATERS NEEDED FOR REEF CLEAN-UP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOATERS  NEEDED FOR JUNE 23 REEF CLEAN-UP
Organized by Reef Monitoring

St. Petersburg, FL (May 30, 2012) - Volunteers, particularly boat owners, are needed for Reef Monitoring's next Dunedin Reef Clean-Up at the new Clearwater Harbor Marina scheduled Saturday, June 23. Pier Aquarium Curator of Exhibits Butch Ringelspaugh and aquarium staffers will be aboard and encourage boat owners to lend their vessels in the effort. 

The clean-up will be held at the base of Pierce Street in Clearwater, nearly directly under the Memorial Causeway Bridge. From north or south, take Ft. Harrison Avenue/Alt. 19 to Pierce Street and turn west towards the water. Follow Pierce Street  down the hill where there is parking. If this lot is full, there is an additional parking area up the hill next to the tennis courts, as well as at the City Hall parking lot at Osceola and Pierce. Meters are not enforced during the weekend. 

Divers will meet at the marina at 8am. Boat owners can launch at the Seminole Ramp and then tie up at the outer floating docks of the marina.

Non-divers can also help out and clean up from the beach, north side of the Dunedin Causeway, with the St. Petersburg College Science Adventures Club. Registration is $10 and includes an event T-shirt and lunch.

For information about registration and the reef cleanup, go to: http://reefmonitoring.org/reefcleanup.html or e-mail questions to cleanup@reefmonitoring.org.

About The Pier Aquarium 
Established in 1988, The Pier Aquarium is a private, non-profit aquarium and marine education center located in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida at The Pier. It showcases 17 tanks of live fish and other marine life and educational exhibits on the first and second floors and an outdoor marine laboratory and teaching unit, the Roy G. Harrell, Jr. Education Station, located on the Pier approach. 

Its mission is to enhance the public’s understanding of the value and fragility of the local and global marine environment through research, education and personal experiences. The Pier Aquarium serves as the "public face” for the St. Petersburg Ocean Team’s research, innovation and technology. The Ocean Team is a consortium of 14 marine science and oceanographic institutions and environmental research agencies in the Southeast and one of the top such industry clusters in the nation. 

More than 65,000 visitors, including 15,000 who participate in our scheduled educational programs, come to The Pier Aquarium annually to attend our Saturday programs, an annual free marine discovery day and Summer Marine Adventures summer camp. Volunteers contribute more than 3,000 hours each year.

The Pier Aquarium has announced a move to John’s Pass Village, Madeira Beach, Florida and expansion to a 13,000 sq. ft. facility called the Secrets of the Sea Marine Discovery Center and Aquarium. The opening is scheduled for Spring 2013.