Tampa Bay Watch's Great Bay Scallop Search

Tampa Bay Watch (TBW), a member of the Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) alliance, requests the SeaWorld Busch Gardens Conservation Fund's (SWBGCF) support for our efforts to promote and conduct the Great Bay Scallop Search, a community engagement and resource monitoring program through which volunteers will snorkel to search for scallops in select areas within Boca Ciega and Lower Tampa Bays. The Great Bay Scallop Search, to be conducted in partnership with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and Pinellas County Parks & Recreation, seeks to monitor and document the health and status of the bay scallop population, while engaging community members in the protection of Tampa Bay and the wildlife and other natural resources it protects. Hosted annually by TBW since 1993, the Great Bay Scallop Search is TBW's most popular volunteer event, with approximately 200 people expected to participate in 2017. SWBG staff would be invited to participate in this event. TBW & RAE look forward to working with SWBG to promote and leverage this event.