During the first week of October, Honda Marine held a "dealers meeting" at the Boca Raton Resort and Club (BRRC) in Boca Raton, where about 500 of their dealers from around the country were introduced to a new size of Honda outboard engine, 150 hp. In order to acquaint their dealers with this new engine, they held some on-water demonstrations of the engine, putting it on about twenty-six different boats from about fifteen different manufacturers. These on-water demos were primarily going to take place in the ocean, but in case of bad weather, and because some of the boats don't do well in the ocean, they wanted to use the intracoastal waterway (ICW) near the BRRC.

Because they wanted to demonstrate the operational capabilities of these engines at high speed, they applied to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for a variance of the speed limit (25 mph) in this part of the ICW. The Commission granted the variance, but required that Honda Marine and BRRC implement a manatee watch program, to make sure that there were no manatees in the area prior to the start of the high-speed demonstrations, and to make sure that no manatees entered the area during the demonstrations.

Ed Keith, Ph.D. was contacted by BRRC and asked if the Oceanographic Center could assist with the manatee watch program. Keith developed a plan, submitted it to the Commission, and received approval. OC students were hired to serve as observers, and the R/V Explorer, the center's biggest research vessel, was also utilized. The group assisted with the on-water demos on October 3,6 and 7.

In appreciation for their efforts, Honda Marine donated a 225 hp engine, which will be put on another of the center's vessels, the R/V Surveyor, after it is converted from inboard-outboard propulsion to outboard propulsion.