PRESS
RELEASE: July 6, 2015
ROOKERY BAY AND ESTERO BAY SEEK VOLUNTEERS
~Opportunities include operating boats and monitoring bird nests~
Rookery Bay Reserve’s Team OCEAN volunteers help
boaters safely and responsibly enjoy the waters and wilderness around Naples
and Marco Island.
Naples, Fla. – Rookery
Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Naples and Estero Bay Aquatic
Preserve in Fort Myers Beach are seeking volunteers for outdoor positions.
Volunteers with some boating or captaining experience in local waters is preferred.
The Team OCEAN
program at Rookery Bay Reserve is seeking volunteers to operate vessels and
provide other types of program support. The Rookery Bay Reserve protects
110,000 acres of coastal lands and waters that serve as habitat for many of
the state’s imperiled species.
“It’s not
necessary to be a licensed boat captain,” said Rookery Bay Reserve’s Volunteer
Coordinator Donna Young. “We’ll provide the training.”
Volunteers
operating boats require some extra training, including an online course to
ensure they will be safe on the water and meeting with the reserve’s
dockmaster to learn about safe operation of Rookery Bay Reserve’s vessels.
Volunteer boat
operators will transport other volunteers to areas in the reserve where they
conduct visitor surveys, pick up trash and provide information about safe-boating
practices and enjoying the beach responsibly. Team OCEAN volunteers are
required to sign up for 4-hour shifts at least twice per month.
Also needed are
vessel operators to transport research staff and volunteers to areas in the
reserve where shorebirds and other wildlife are monitored. These volunteer shifts
run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a twice per month commitment.
For businesses,
groups or organizations looking for a way to get outdoors while volunteering, Rookery
Bay Reserve offers other options such as trail maintenance, light construction
and other outdoor assistance at the reserve’s Shell Island Road location.
The Estero Bay
Aquatic Preserve located in Lee County is seeking volunteer assistance with
rookery monitoring and protection. A rookery is a location traditionally used by
birds for nesting and raising chicks. The birds that inhabit mangrove islands in
the aquatic preserve include various species of herons, egrets and pelicans. Volunteers
are needed to help conduct nest counts, record data and operate vessels.
Estero Bay
Aquatic Preserve volunteers set out monthly on the preserve’s 17-foot Boston
Whaler to do perimeter surveys of active nests. Training for this volunteer
opportunity can be completed that day on the boat. The survey trips last about
six hours and leave from either Lover’s Key or Estero Bay around 9 a.m.
For more
information about Rookery Bay Reserve’s volunteering opportunities or to sign
up, email Donna Young at volunteer@rookerybay.org or visit https://rookerybay.org/support/volunteering.html. A volunteer meeting is scheduled at
the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center on July 9.
For more
information about Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve’s volunteering opportunities or
to sign up, contact Cheryl Clark, preserve manager, at Cheryl.Clark@dep.state.fl.us.
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