Thursday, October 30, 2014, will see The International SeaKeepers Society host their annual Founders’ Dinner. The event will honor vessels that participated in the 2014 DISCOVERY Yacht expeditions, SeaKeepers Drifter deployments, as well as outreach programs.
Founders’ Dinner will take place at a private waterfront residence in Fort Lauderdale on the night of October 30th during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. SeaKeepers will honor 2014 DISCOVERY Yachts: motor yacht Copasetic, charter yacht Defiance, Fugitive, LoJo, superyacht Meduse, charter yacht Penny Mae, Shredder of Fleet Miami, and Valkyrie yacht for their generous contribution to DISCOVERY Yacht missions.
This year, SeaKeepers facilitated three scientific expeditions, four outreach programs, and had five SeaKeepers Drifters deployed. Copasetic hosted a genome sequencing expedition and housed a custom-made at-sea mobile laboratory. Penny Mae hosted a week-long tiger shark tagging expedition with assistance from LoJo. Fleet Miami’s Shredder hosted a three-day expedition monitoring the behaviors of various designs of ocean drifters.
Five SeaKeepers Drifters were deployed thanks to Defiance, Fugitive, Meduse, and Valkyrie.
Defiance hosted two educational outreach programs this year: a drifter deployment with school children in Bimini, Bahamas and a lesson on ocean conservation with children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County in Newport, Rhode Island. Shredder introduced youth of the Miami-based organization StreetWaves to ocean currents, drifter instrumentation and oil spill research. Copasetic led an outreach program teaching children about microscopic organisms and touring the genome sequencing lab.
Founders’ Dinner guests will enjoy a video highlighting the 2014 DISCOVERY Yacht missions. Guests will have the opportunity to board Shredder, which will be docked at the venue. A silent auction, featuring items from sailing experiences to vacation getaways, will take place during the event.
