The students who answer maritime distress calls for Eckerd College Search and Rescue do not receive a paycheck. They do not receive academic credit, either.
They do, however, provide Tampa Bay with something state Rep. Linda Chaney calls a “force multiplier.”
The St. Pete Beach Republican helped secure $364,811 in state funding for EC-SAR, the college’s student-run maritime rescue operation. The money, approved as part of Florida’s 2026-27 budget, will allow the program to tackle boat and waterfront infrastructure projects without relying entirely on its traditional fundraising efforts.
“We are tasked with raising our own money each year,” said Krista Park, assistant director of Eckerd’s Waterfront Program and a former EC-SAR volunteer. “The majority comes from donations. What this funding is going to do is alleviate the worry of doing that.”
The appropriation will help replace engines on three rescue boats and fund repairs to waterfront infrastructure, including docks damaged during Hurricane Helene.
“After Helene, our dock took a beating,” Park said. “Every three years we do capital replacement. This funding allows us to do it all in one go.”
The state funding comes as the college’s rescue program continues to provide a free service that would otherwise fall to government agencies, commercial operators or boaters themselves.
EC-SAR was founded in 1971 to provide safety services for Eckerd’s watersports activities. Six years later, it expanded its services to the broader Tampa Bay boating community. The team was among the rescue units that responded to the 1980 Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster.
Today, Eckerd describes EC-SAR as the nation’s only college maritime rescue team. Its students work alongside the U.S. Coast Guard, Pinellas County 911 emergency responders and other state and local agencies.
That relationship is one reason Chaney believes the state has an interest in keeping the boats running.
“Because it’s a force multiplier for our state agencies, such as FWC rescue missions,” Chaney told the Catalyst.
Chaney said that extends beyond emergency response. She pointed to Eckerd’s other community service initiatives and said EC-SAR also functions as workforce training for students who leave college with experience that can translate directly into maritime and public-safety careers.
“The students are ready to work right out of the program,” she added.
EC-SAR’s student volunteers train in technical rescue, seamanship, navigation, firefighting, medical response and search operations. The program operates four rescue vessels and an operations and communications center. Its services are available around the clock and free to the public.
“There’s not a whole lot we won’t send them to,” Park said. “Anything from a simple tow for a vessel that needs fuel to search and rescue for a missing person.”
There are limits, though. Salvage operations and derelict vessels are generally left to agencies such as the Coast Guard. But the work relationship is mutual: the Coast Guard also regularly asks EC-SAR to assist with incidents.
Team members typically volunteer 12 to 15 hours each week for training, meetings and equipment maintenance. They are also on call for a 24-hour period every three days.
The college reported 64 students on the team this academic year. EC-SAR now responds to around 400 maritime distress calls annually. This last year it was 500 distress calls plus an estimated $6.5 million in property damage.
An enhanced partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) now trains EC-SAR students to assist with distressed marine mammals. The team has helped capture and transfer manatees to FWC boats for treatment at rehabilitation facilities.
Park knows the program from both sides, having enrolled at Eckerd in 2018 and joining EC-SAR as a student before graduating in 2022. She remained with the Waterfront Program and was promoted this summer to assistant director.
Park can still deploy when an incident is technically challenging or requires additional experience. Those calls are increasingly uncommon, she said, because of the students’ capabilities.
“I wish I could go out more,” Park said.
Despite an unusual and impressive level of responsibility, EC-SARS members receive neither pay nor course credit. Eckerd describes service itself, along with the opportunity to develop technical and leadership skills, as the incentive.
That makes the state appropriation unusual as well: Florida is putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into infrastructure and equipment used by unpaid students at a private college. But Chaney said the public benefit justified the investment.
“They are such a big part of the community and have a good reputation,” she said.
The Florida House lists Chaney as the sponsor of the $364,811 EC-SAR appropriation request through its Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee.
Chaney said she was unaware of any significant pushback against the request during the appropriations process and said the project ranked highly among funding priorities.
It was not her first attempt to direct state dollars toward EC-SAR. Chaney sought appropriations for the program three times. One previous request succeeded, while another did not make it through the budget process last year.
The latest successful request means less time worrying about how to pay for aging engines, battered docks and other capital needs – and more certainty that its student crews can continue answering calls on Tampa Bay.
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com
