What:
Underwater dedication ceremony for the Nature of America: Kelp Forest First-Class collectible 44-cent First-Class stamps sheet.

Who:
Nature of America stamp series artist John Dawson
U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors member Mickey D. Barnett
Monterey Bay Aquarium Managing Director Jim Hekkers
Monterey Aquarium Guest Program Assist. Manager Traci Reid
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Research Specialist and SCUBA Diver Chad King
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Web Developer and SCUBA Diver Scott Chapman

When:
8:30 a.m. PT, Oct. 1, 2009

Where:
Monterey Bay Aquarium Kelp Forest Exhibit
886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA 93940

Media should arrive by 8 a.m. and park on the street. They may enter through the Aquarium’s main entrance.

Background:
Creatures of the deep make a splash on stamps as the Postal Service delivers October as National Stamp Collecting Month with the underwater unveiling of the Nature of America: Kelp Forest stamps at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The public can view the event live in streaming video at one of two Aquarium Kelp Exhibit webcams. Broadcast quality video of the event will be available at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT that day.

This “Where’s Waldo?” of Monterey Bay’s National Marine Sanctuary highlights 27 fish, plants and animals on the front of the 10 stamped sheet. Students and families can “test their smarts” from the descriptions on the back

Hundreds of species live in the kelp forest, a lush undersea ecosystem in which the largest seaweeds, known as kelp, grow as tall as trees.

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a federally protected area encompassing 5,322 square miles of ocean off the central California coast. Here, a rich assemblage of marine organisms finds ample food and shelter. One species is especially important to the survival of the kelp forest itself. The sea otter likes to eat sea urchins, spiny kelp-eating creatures that can overgraze groves of kelp when otters are absent.

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR REPRODUCING STAMP IMAGES: The stamp design must be reproduced in its entirety, including denomination and perforations. If the stamp design is reproduced within 75-150% of stamp size, a line must be placed through the denomination to 'cancel' the reproduction and prevent its use as actual postage. The appropriate USPS trademark and copyright notices must be included.

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.