This project supports the purchase of a small outboard motor boast for field logistics of NSF scientists and other visiting scientists at the Smithsonian Institution's field station on Carrie Bow Cay on the barrier reef of southern Belize. The Carrie Bow Station is the core support facility for the Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems program administered by the National Museum of Natural History. At present, the two small Boston Whalers (13 and 15 ft) at the facility are assigned to Smithsonian researchers as a priority. This new boat (23 ft) is needed to relieve the management obligations of the Smithsonian field station that is shared my many NSF scientists, to ensure NSF scientists adequate field support and safety, and to allow NSF scientists essential access to specific study sites on the barrier reef.
