Put-in-Bay, Ohio Ohio Sea Grant & Stone Laboratory are offering loaner life jackets to the public for the day or the weekend at no charge.

The Aquatic Visitors Center, managed by Stone Lab and located near the popular harbor of Put-in-Bay, Ohio is a site for the BoatU.S. Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Program, which allows anyone to borrow a life jacket for free. Ohio Sea Grant was awarded a kit of 12 life jackets in sizes from infant to adult.

“Stone Laboratory is excited to help keep people safe while on the water,” said Assistant Lab Manager Kevin Hart. “The program gives anyone from the general public the opportunity to utilize a life jacket for free in the event that they don’t have one when heading out onto the lake.”

To borrow a life jacket, visit the Aquatic Visitors Center between 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday until September 10, 2016 and sign out an infant, child, youth or adult jacket for the day or the weekend. When you’re finished boating, return the jackets to the same location. After September 10, the life jackets will be available again when the Aquatic Visitors Center reopens for the 2017 season in June.

The Ohio Revised Code requires children under age 10 to wear a personal floatation device while aboard vessels under 18 feet.

To find other life jacket loaner sites near you, visit boatus.org/loaner. For more information, contact Ohio Sea Grant & Stone Laboratory Assistant Manager Kevin Hart at 419-285-1800 or hart.266@osu.edu.

Located on the 6.5-acre Gibraltar Island in Put-in-Bay harbor, Stone Laboratory is Ohio State’s Island Campus on Lake Erie and the research, education, and outreach facility of the Ohio Sea Grant College Program. The Ohio State University’s Ohio Sea Grant Program is part of NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 33 Sea Grant programs dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. For information on Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu.