Tea by the Sea raises money for Ostego Bay Marine Science Center
The Ostego Bay Foundation brought out the fancy china last weekend at Bonita Bill’s to raise money for their environmental programming.
Forty people gathered in the dockside restaurant for Tea by the Sea, an annual brunch event featuring a fashion show of local threads from India Boutique.
President Joanne Semmer told the crowd about the work they would be supporting.
The foundation hosts marine science internships, and currently have several local college students, one high school student, and one middle school student intern.
Their annual summer camp is taught by two local high school teachers who specialize in marine biology.
“It’s $275 for the week, but these kids are learning college-level marine biology and they just don’t know it. They have so much fun. Everyday includes some kind of field trip and then they come back and do their labs and classroom time,” she said.
But the foundation doesn’t just educate kids.
They also operate an oil spill co-op that trains first responders for oil spill disasters.
“Currently we have over 50 members, which includes the Town of Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, Naples, many of the fire districts, Collier County Pollution Control, and most of the major marinas in Southwest Florida,” said Semmer, who is a certified hazmat technician and trainer.
“The Coast Guard came to me and told me since we started our co-op, oil spills in Southwest Florida have been reduced by more than 50 percent,” she said.
Ostego Bay also has a research department with 14 years of published research, and they’re currently studying dolphins through a program with NOAA Fisheries.
The 501c3 non-profit is entirely self-funded with a mission to “promote the understanding, preservation and enhancement of our unique marine environment through education, research and community involvement.”
For more information, visit www.ostegobay.org, or call 239-765-8101.