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For more than 20 years, the Foundation has incorporated a unique mix of scientific research, outreach, educational and cultural programming, led by its flagship dolphin conservation project.

Recognizing that “seeing leads to doing,” the Foundation has, for the past three years, provided dolphin watch tours, exploring the coastal waters along Palm Beach and Martin counties, as well as the Intracoastal Waterway. Authentic, fun, engaging and educational, these personalized wind-in-your-hair tours create memorable and transformative experiences. Beyond local residents, men, women, and children from around the world include these tours in their vacation travels. They leave the tour with a new sense of individual responsibility to preserve our marine environment, not just for the sake of dolphins and other marine life, but for the survival of our civilization.

Presently, these tours are constricted by the size of the boat and the limited hours it is available to TARAS. The Foundation wants to increase its capacity to educate and involve the public in its research. Obtaining a larger version of the rigid inflatable boat we are currently using would help accomplish those goals. The larger vessel will allow Taras to:

  1. Strengthen our impact by expanding our dolphin tours to six days a week and increasing capacity to 20 seats so we can accommodate larger business and private groups.
  2. Increase the frequency and lengths of our research and monitoring surveys.
  3. Increase the production of educational videos aimed at instilling a desire for marine preservation and allow us to distribute the videos to schools and community groups free of charge.
  4. Expand the number of free dolphin tours for low-income, or otherwise challenged, children and families who would otherwise be deprived of this first-hand experience. This will be done in partnership with other nonprofits such as the Make a Wish Foundation, with whom we already work.
  5. Reduce or eliminate the need for additional fundraising to sustain the organization; thereby keeping the focus strictly on marine research, environmental preservation and education.