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Keys Connectivity
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Keys Connectivity: Science, People and Policy in the Florida Keys

During 2006:"Caribbean Connectivity" was part of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute's 59th Annual Meeting in Belize City, November 10th, 2006 and associated workshop on the 11th, conducted by Dr. Frank Muller-Karger of University of South Florida and Dr. Mark Eakin (NOAA) who both participated in the first Connectivity meeting.

During 2004:  The Sanctuary coordinated an international, multidisciplinary meeting at the historic Casa Marina hotel in Key West from August 17th-21st, 2004, just days after Hurricane Charley passed directly over the Dry Tortugas.  Sanctuary Friends, represented by Sanctuary Advisory Council chair, Commissioner George Neugent, graciously hosted and sustained the more than 200 guests and participants during the event.  Keynote presentations from Dr. Elliott Norse of Marine Conservation Biology Institute (www.mcbi.org), who was shocked to see the degradation of the reef at Looe Key since his last visit two decades before, and Dr. Carl Safina of the Blue Ocean Institute (www.blueocean.org), speaking of the need for an “Ocean Ethic” to complement Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic, were well received.  Professor Terry Done of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (www.aims.gov.au)  and Dr. Rodney Salm with The Nature Conservancy (www.tnc.org) in Hawaii highlighted the global nature of the pressures facing the world’s coral reef ecosystems.  Dr. Robert Ginsburg of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (www.rsmas.miami.edu)  brightened the proceedings by leading the participants in a rendition of the Coral Polyp Dance while a technical glitch was sorted out.  The proceedings of the meeting will shortly be published as the Sanctuary Science Report for 2004 and available electronically as part of a NOAA special series.

 We are proud to announce our contributions to date in the amount of $40,000.00 and are pleased to be able to assist in funding of this project that will inspire people to become better stewards of our marine environment