The Project In conjunction with Seamus Day, the owner of the Water’s Edge restaurant on Grand Turk, the Museum has decided to take a more active role in “Message In A Bottle” research. Instead of being a passive partner and just waiting for the bottles to turn up here, we are going to send out our own messages. As you can see from Brian Rigg’s article about how to send a message it is more complicated than many people think – but if we do it right we should getter a higher level of messages and bottles surviving, and of course the chance of a higher rate or responses. So what does our project entail? We will be putting 300 numbered “messages in a bottle” into the waters around the Turks and Caicos Islands over a period of two years. Won’t this just be adding to the waste in the sea? The first thing that we should state here is that we do not want to be responsible for adding more waste into the sea. For this reason all the bottles used will have been collected from the beaches of Grand Turk – a sort of recycling project – putting back only what we take from the sea: This has been approved by the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources and will take place during Environmental Awareness Week. What will the Message be? Each message will be numbered and dated, which will help us collect useful statistics, and to keep sponsors notified of their bottle’s journey. However, the main part of the message is to inform people of where the Turks and Caicos Islands are. There will be a map, details of our climate, a very brief History and a response section for the finder to fill in and return to us. We will also give details of the project and our main aim – to show the Turks and Caicos Islanders where our rubbish goes! Using the idea from the bottle sent by the Hillery’s (see Obssessive Bottle Droppers) and found on Grand Turk we will be including glitter to make the bottle more noticeable on a beach, which should encourage a greater pick up rate, and as such these bottles should find their way into a bin, but hopefully the message will not meet the same fate!. Who will be sending the messages? To gain local support each school will be asked if they wish to participate. For these bottles an additional message from the school will be included. It is hoped that this can lead to links being formed between local schools and those around the Atlantic. The remaining bottles will be offered out through a sponsorship scheme. Visitors and residents alike can sponsor a bottle (sponsorship $5 per bottle) and for this they will be kept informed of the plight of their bottle (of course this will depend on it being found!). For yacht/boat owners, they can sponsor a bottle and then take it with them to drop into the sea – the only condition being that it is dropped within the territorial waters of the Turks and Caicos Islands. We will regularly report in the Astrolabe on any responses we get. But why do the project? 1) Aren’t you interested in where the rubbish dropped on beaches or in the sea around our Islands goes? We all complain about the litter that is washed upon our beaches. Some of this litter is in a perpetual cycle of being washed up, being picked up by the tide again and moved along the beach and then during rougher weather possibly being washed back out to sea to start another journey. However, we should also be concerned about the litter that we leave on our beaches or drop from boats. Some of this is accidental for example a wave washing the odd shoe overboard, and some is deliberate – we have all seen a beach after a party. 2) Are you interested in creating greater awareness of the Turks and Caicos Islands? A project of this scale should see more people around the Atlantic learning about where we are, what the country and its people are like, and maybe create long lasting pen pals. These pen pals can just be individuals or even institutions, for example schools or other Research Facilities. It is also clear that there will be interest when a bottle is found – A good example is the article in a Spanish newspaper that recorded the Museum had responded to Salvador Garcia after finding his bottle (see Brian Riggs article) 3) What will happen to the information we collect? We are working with Wilderness Graphics, a design company based in Florida, who wish to produce a jointly sponsored display on the Atlantic currents. The basis for the exhibition will be “messages in a bottle” which tell us about the currents, the people who live around the Atlantic and the different perceptions of the Atlantic from a multitude of people - from the bored sailor, to the holidaying family, from the local child helping clear a beach of rubbish to the big institutions carrying out research. This will be a touring exhibition, which will be displayed firstly in the Turks and Caicos and then be hired to other Museums and relevant organizations in the countries on the Atlantic. What is the next step? 1) If you would like to sponsor a bottle please contact the Museum 2) If you find a bottle from this project please return it to the Museum. This includes any that wash upon the shores of the Turks and Caicos Islands. 3) If you want more information about the project contact the Museum The future for our research - A Traveling Display After reading this issue of Astrolabe, would you or your company consider sponsoring or part sponsoring a traveling exhibition based on the Atlantic current, and marine debris? It is estimated that the display will cost $40 000 to produce and will be offered to Museums that are related to maritime History, environmental issues or are located on the Atlantic shoreline. The exhibition will be produced in conjunction with Wilderness Graphics, based in Florida. For further information please contact the Museum. Contents of this story: Turks and Caicos National Museum Nigel Sadler Printed from Turks and Caicos National Museum (http://www.tcmuseum.org). Printed On: Monday, September 8th, 2008