HARBOR BRANCH - OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

HARBOR BRANCH AWARDED TWO NEW SPECIALTY LICENSE PLATES

TALLAHASSEE -- On Friday, April 30, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill creating eleven new specialty license plates, including two that will benefit Harbor Branch. The Senate had passed the bill earlier in the week. Proceeds from a new Florida Aquaculture specialty plate will support research in the institution's Aquaculture Division, and a Save Our Seas plate will fund research in Harbor Branch's Marine Science Division. Harbor Branch, which already administers proceeds from the Protect Wild Dolphins and Protect Florida Whales plates, is the first organization to ever be awarded more than one Florida specialty plate.

Harbor Branch expects the new plates to play an important role in supporting ongoing and new research. They were made possible by the hard work and support of several legislative sponsors, including House of Representatives sponsor Rep. Gayle Harrell (District 81, Port St. Lucie), House co-sponsor Rep. Richard Machek (District 78) and Senate sponsor Sen. Charlie Clary, (Distr. 4, Panama City). Senator Ken Pruitt also provided invaluable guidance and leadership to the effort.

The new plates were designed by world-renowned marine life artist Guy Harvey, and his distinctive artwork and name recognition played a significant role in gaining acceptance for the Harbor Branch license plates. The Save Our Seas plate depicts a large mako shark, while the aquaculture plate sports two colorful orange and white clownfish, an extremely popular saltwater aquarium fish now farm-raised successfully as a result of Harbor Branch research.

The new specialty plates were made possible in part by the formation earlier in the month of a coalition of all license plate bill aspirants who had followed and completed the necessary steps for new specialty plates. The bill that created the new Harbor Branch plates also instituted Family First, Sportsmen's National Land Trust, Live the Dream (Florida Food Banks), Discover Florida's Oceans, Family Values, Parents Make a Difference, Support Soccer, Kids Deserve Justice, and Animal Friend plates.

For more information, please contact Mark Schrope at 772-216-0390, or schrope@hboi.edu. High-resolution images of the new license plates are available.

HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution was founded in Ft. Pierce, Fla., in 1971 to support the exploration and conservation of the world's oceans. The institution has held to this mission and grown into one of the world's leading oceanographic institutions with a 500-acre campus, over 200 personnel, and a fleet of sophisticated research ships and submersibles.