[link to acknowledgement of Audobon as recipient]

October 1, 1998 

(Miami) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has awarded $537,000 in 10 grants to marine conservation organizations through The Ocean Fund, chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain announced today. 
In the two years since its launch, The Ocean Fund now has donated $1,382,000 on behalf of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises to 22 organizations working to protect the marine environment. Among the newest grant recipients are the Alaska SeaLife Center, University of Florida's Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and the Caribbean Marine Research Center. Two organizations earning grants a second time were the Center for Marine Conservation and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. 

The grants ranged from $30,000 to $75,000 and will underwrite research into endangered fish and sea turtle populations, protection of coral reefs and various educational projects, including teacher training in marine science. 

``The potential impact of projects supported by The Ocean Fund is truly remarkable,'' Fain said. 

``There are so many dimensions to marine conservation and the protection of our oceans, and we are pleased to become a partner with experts in research and education.'' 

Previous recipients have included The Nature Conservancy, National Audubon Society's Living Oceans program and EarthWatch Institute. 

New grants include $75,000 to the Center for Marine Conservation, which received the fund's first award in October 1996. CMC will compile data from its International Coastal Cleanup, which attracts almost 400,000 volunteers worldwide, and implement a Model Communities project in San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico. 

``The CMC is very pleased to have the generous support of The Ocean Fund to further the goals of the world's largest volunteer activity for our marine environment,'' CMC President Roger E. McManus said. 

Organizations receiving the newest Ocean Fund grants are: 
 

• Alaska SeaLife Center: $50,000 to marine research and public education center in Seward, to develop interactive exhibit with real-time information on field research programs 
•  BREEF -- Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation: $35,000 to collect data on endangered Nassau grouper during spawning periods along Andros Barrier Reef and to conduct public workshops 
•  Caribbean Marine Research Center: $30,000 to establish permanent mooring buoy system to protect marine habitats around Lee Stocking Island research facility in Exuma Cays, Bahamas 
•  Center for Marine Conservation: $75,000 to support the 1999 International Coastal Cleanup and the Model Communities Project on waste reduction in San Juan Bay 
•  Florida Aquarium (Tampa, FL): $47,000 to create the high-school teacher education program ``Science Education at Sea'' for marine biology and oceanography 
•  Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (Fort Pierce, FL): $75,000 to expand Sea Profiles, an interactive CD-ROM for students in grades 6-12, exploring ocean environments 
•  Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment: $50,000 to examine coastal and marine areas as part of the survey ``Designing A Report Card on the Nation's Ecosystems'' 
•  Reef Relief (Key West, FL): $75,000 to complete photo-monitoring survey that has identified coral diseases in Florida Keys and to develop coral nursery at Sambo Reef 
• University of Florida / Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research: $50,000 to study origin of sea turtle mortalities on lower Atlantic coast and Bahamas through the use of DNA sequencing 
• World Wildlife Fund: $50,000 to conduct biodiversity assessment of the 1,000-kilometer Mesoamerican Reef and conduct ecoregional planning workshop in Belize