We're in the home stretch!

With just a few weeks to go, we have six tags up and four still in the water.  As we approach the final days of the race, I check the satellite system every day for new pop-ups - hoping that we see a new tag from a marlin that has traveled further than the last one; and when there isn't one, hoping that means the remaining tags are still out there, being carried to still more distant places.  We'll certainly know more in the next few weeks - with the final tags due to pop up by the end of December.

By any measure, this has already been a very successful year - and with luck, the best might be yet to come!  We had great participation in the race, with ten tags sponsored.  We've already received a grant from West Marine for a tag in the 2011 race, and we've been contacted by several other organizations expressing an interest in getting involved one way or another.  As we had hoped, it appears that our program is beginning to grow!

Needless to say, none of that would have been possible without the fantastic support the Great Marlin Race has received from everyone involved.  From the folks at the HIBT and our various sponsors, to the anglers, captains and crews to put the tags out, to the data management teams who help us do our work - the GMR simply wouldn't happen without the generous contributions of a great many indivduals.

So for all of you, as we begin the Holiday Season, please accept my warmest wishes and deepest thanks.