Boater education is one of the best ways to prevent the accidental spread of exotic aquatic plants and animals. In an attempt to provide a dose of fun along with an educational message, the University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program and several federal, state, and business partners from across the nation have teamed up to produce a 10-minute clean boating video, designed with owners of personal watercraft, motorboats, and sailboats in mind.

The clean boating message is being delivered by John Ratzenberger (a.k.a. Cliff Clavin of the television show, "Cheers").

"John Ratzenberger's character was key - it was the detail-oriented, know-it-all character that we thought would fit well with getting across the video's message of how to prevent the spread of aquatic nuisance species," said Doug Jensen, Exotic Species Information Center Coordinator for Minnesota Sea Grant.

"Mr. Ratzenberger agreed to do the video as a public service because he's an avid angler and sailboater who understands the importance of this issue," said Jensen. "We wanted to produce a video that was entertaining, could be used in workshops to educate boaters, and could be used in other public venues like environmental learning centers, and even in recreational fishing shops."

"I got a call awhile back from somebody in Minnesota who said they needed some help," said Ratzenberger. "So who else were they going to turn to but yours truly? There's the Mounties, the FBI and me."

Ratzenberger said he's been involved with the environment since the late '60s, even funding development of a substitute for Styrofoam that's used as a packing material. He spends a lot of time on the water. "I had my first boat at 8 years old - as a matter of fact, before I got my first bicycle. And I've been fishing ever since. It's going on 40-some-odd years now," said Ratzenberger.

Ratzenberger learned about the problems exotic species pose by working on the video project. "You've got power plants and water treatment facilities, and if those intakes or outputs get clogged up by the mussels and whatnot, it will shut them down and then you've got millions of people impacted by something that's no bigger than that," he said, holding up his hand with his thumb and index finger slightly apart. "They can shut down a city. It's not the big monsters like Godzilla that we have to watch out for, it's the tiny ones."

Filming took place this past September at two locations near Brainerd, Minnesota. Ratzenberger spent two nights at the Grandview Lodge in Brainerd and one night at the Radisson in Duluth. The video is being produced by ProVideo Productions, Inc. of Duluth and is expected to be completed this winter. Logistical support was provided by In-Fisherman, Inc. Project partners are Sea Grant, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and SeaLand Technology, Inc.