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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Message In Bottle Project Launches |
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TURK, TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS, Dec. 5 -/E-Wire/--
An innovative project called 'Message in a Bottle' is set to highlight the tides and currents of the Atlantic and the environmental damage that can be caused by littering the beach. The project supported by the School for Field Studies on South Caicos, Water's Edge restaurant in Grand Turk and the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources and organized by the Turks and Caicos National Museum will be launched on 8th October to start off a series of International Coastal Clean-Up Day events.
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Over the last 12 months the Museum has been gathering "Messages in a Bottle" found in the TCI for an exhibition that will tour the TCI next year. "It is surprising how many messages are found on our beaches" comments Nigel Sadler Director of the TCNM. "The messages give us important information beyond what is written on them. They can tell us how the tides and currents of the Atlantic move and where our own litter may end up."
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The project will begin with people collecting empty clear glass bottles from beaches and donating them to the Museum. It is hoped that most of the bottles will be collected during the beach clean-ups. The Museum will then be inviting TC Islanders and visitors to write their own messages in the bottles. Each bottle will also contain a map and basic information about the TCI to help promote the country as well as information about project sponsors.
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Mr John Skippings Director of the Tourist Board comments "This is an innovative project that promotes the values of ecotourism as well as letting people know about the Turks and Caicos Islands. I hope people will fully support this exciting initiative and I'm pleased that the country is gaining promotion through traditional and well as non-traditional means."
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The first part of the project will involve volunteers for the clean-ups trying to collect 300 large clear glass bottles.
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The Museum will be giving a third of the message forms to schools across the TCI. The remaining forms will be available for people to fill in and will be located at the Turks and Caicos National Museum. Although free to Belongers and residents, tourists will pay $5 for their message to be sent into the surf. Any monies will be used to off-set the costs of running the project which will continue for up to three years.
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The bottles once complete will be put into the sea over the next 12 months. The first 30 will be thrown into the sea in October. In this way the Museum and DECR hope to see seasonal differences in how the waters move in the North Atlantic basin. Some bottles may be washed upon the shores of the TCI and will take only a few weeks to be found. Others will take many years, even decades to be found.
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People are being urged to get involved and make a mark on the ocean by joining in the clean-ups and donating the larger clear glass bottles found on beaches they find to the National Museum. To write a message everyone should contact the Museum on 946 2160 or make a visit to the Museum to fill in a message for a bottle. Anyone who finds a Message in a Bottle on the beach should bring it to the Museum so it can be added to the collection of finds that will bring together messages found on the beaches across the country that date as far back as the early nineteenth c
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