Friends June Newsletter
There are few moments more magical than observing life in the wild. As one of our Power Swim participants noted when sharing the ocean with marine life, there is a special sense of camaraderie that can emerge with the knowledge that we are literally in it to win it together!
“About 20 feet from shore, a stingray was swimming around like it was greeting everyone coming into the finish line, saying, “Swim well done.” I went right over the top of it and rolled onto my back to take my fins off before standing up for the finish.” —Team River Runner swimmer, Shaun E.
Curiosity for the world beneath the waves was very much a part of the Tektite Project that took place in the late 1960s in Great Lameshur Bay. Overseen by NASA, the Navy and the Department of Interior, the project’s mission was to place marine scientists and others 49 feet below the surface of the bay for extended periods in underwater living quarters. This was ahead of the Apollo Mission, and the deep sea was as unfamiliar to human life as outer space.
Friends is thrilled to be working with filmmakers Steve Simonsen and William Stelzer to tell this extraordinary story in a documentary. Even more exciting, Friends has a limited number of VIP passes to a special screening of footage from the Tektite Project, including interviews with Dr. Sylvia Earle then and now, on National Space Exploration Day at EPCOT on July 20! We would love for you to be our guest! Details in the newsletter!
To our members, donors, sponsors, volunteers and everyone who so generously supports our work and does what they can to help protect our beautiful planet, we thank you.
