Contact: Lenore Alpert/954-762-5268
            For Immediate Release

 STATE LEGISLATURE AND FLORIDA CABINET 

RECOGNIZE FLORIDA OCEANS

 TALLAHASSEE – April 4, 2001--A celebration for Florida Oceans Day is being held on April 4th in Tallahassee to recognize the importance of Florida’s coastal and ocean resources.  It is also a means to promote public awareness of the need to protect, enhance, and manage these ocean resources for future generations.  Healthy oceans are critical for Florida’s economy to promote sustainable resources for all Floridians.

As part of the celebration, the Florida Senate, the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Cabinet are proclaiming the week of April 2d through 8^th as Oceans Week, designating April 4th as Oceans Day.  The Oceans Day events are being sponsored and organized by the Florida Ocean Alliance, the Florida Institute of Oceanography and Mote Marine Laboratory.

Oceans Day events will include fifteen ocean-related exhibits by Florida universities and private research groups for legislators and governmental officials in the Capitol Rotunda throughout the day on April 4th.  Other activities include a presentation by Dr. Sylvia Earle, world-renowned scientist, author, Explorer in Residence at National Geographic Society and former chief scientist at NOAA, who hails from Florida.  Her briefing to a joint legislative group on “Ocean Priorities for Florida” will be held in room 117 of the Knott Building from 9:30 am to 11:00 am.  Mote Marine Laboratory will sponsor a reception for legislators and other governmental officials to meet Mote scientists and educators on April 4^th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the 22d floor of the Capitol.

“The Florida Ocean Alliance is very pleased to have Dr. Sylvia Earle speak to legislators on the importance of Florida’s oceans to our state’s ecology and economy.  As an expert on ocean research, Director of the Sustainable Seas Expedition, and as one of the world’s Heroes of the Planet, she is well prepared to discuss responsible stewardship of ocean resources for Floridians,” said  Nancy Wheatley, Alliance chair and senior vice president of safety and environment for Royal Caribbean International.

 During Oceans Week, Oceanology International 2001-Americas is also taking place in Miami from April 3d through 5th.  This world-class joint ocean forum and exhibition is Oceanology International’s first biennial Americas Conference in Miami.  Over a dozen related scientific meetings and workshops are occurring during the conference, which has over 300 exhibitors and expects over 3,000 visitors.  The event is free and you can register online at www.oiamericas.com/registration/registration.htm.

The Florida Ocean Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public-private partnership of government, academic, and private sectors that was formed in 1999 to promote awareness and understanding of the ocean’s importance to the ecology and economy of Florida.  More information on the Alliance is available at their website www.floridaoceanalliance.org.

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