SOUND WAVES USED TO PROTECT "GENTLE GIANTS" FORT PIERCE, FL., MARCH 21, 2000 - A second-generation acoustic-based manatee protection system is about to go on-line at the Port Canaveral Locks and how the system was designed and works will be the subject of this week's presentation in the 2000 Ocean Science Lecture Series. Design engineer Larry Taylor will talk about Manatee Protection Systems, or "How to Keep Those Big Gates From Hurting the Gentle Giants", Thursday, March 23, at 7pm in the Johnson Education Center on the Harbor Branch campus. Taylor and the engineering staff at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution have designed a system that uses sound waves and is so responsive it can stop the gates less than a 10th of a second after they detect a manatee. In addition, the system uses cutting-edge technology with a total of 320 sensors and fiber-optics to link all four gates, computers, and the control room, for optimum redundancy and reliability. The public is welcome and media inquiries are invited. Cost is $3 for associates and $6 for the general public. There will be an active demonstration of the newest system at the Port Canaveral Locks on Friday, March 24th, at 1pm. Members of the media are invited to meet at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution between 9am-9:30am to drive to the site. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Inc. is one of the world's leading nonprofit oceanographic research organizations dedicated to the exploration of the earth's oceans, estuaries and coastal regions for the benefit of mankind.