News & Press

As Florida’s Coral Reef experienced record-breaking heat waves starting in July, with temperatures in adjacent backreef areas reaching temperatures above 100°F, Mote Marine Laboratory immediately began an unprecedented evacuation of thousands of stressed and dying coral from its four offshore coral nurseries.

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On Tuesday, July 25, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium announced a milestone advancement in the construction of its new Science Education Aquarium as Mote staff and a wave of Mote SEA corporate sponsors witnessed a large piece of an acrylic window as it was installed into the new aquarium’s largest exhibit, the Gulf of Mexico habitat.

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On Thursday, July 13, Mote Marine Laboratory once again joined forces with members of the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge (CWVC) to plant corals and restore the Higgs Head coral reef in Key West.

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Mote Marine Laboratory is pleased to announce the establishment of a voluntary Sea Turtle Protection Zone (STPZ) in Sarasota County. Its main focus is to protect sea turtles from unintended boat strikes. The Sea Turtle Protection Zone initiative was created in 2021 through a partnership between the Loggerhead Marinelife Center and the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research at the University of Florida. Mote Marine Laboratory scientists documented boat-strike hotspots in local waters and mapped the voluntary Sea Turtle Protection Zone for this area. The zone stretches from Longboat Key to Siesta Key, including Sarasota Bay, and extends from shore to 1.5 miles offshore.

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Mote’s Aquaculture and Fisheries Ecology & Enhancement Programs worked together to successfully raise 20,000 red drum fish –and plan to release all the fish in Sarasota and Charlotte counties this month with the goal of replenishing red drum populations that have been negatively affected by events such as cold stuns and Florida red tide.  This effort represents the largest number of red drum produced in the program’s 25-year history for the purpose of fisheries conservation efforts.

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Overfishing is driving reef sharks toward extinction, according to new study published today in the peer-reviewed journal, Science. Results from this latest research, which includes 22,000 hours of video footage from baited underwater video stations across 391 reefs in 67 nations and territories, indicates widespread overfishing is the main culprit driving reef sharks toward extinction.  

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At Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, researchers use specialized suction cup mounted “helmet” tags to collect acoustic and movement data on whitespotted eagle rays. These tags will help examine the relationship between eagle rays and their prey and can be leveraged to evaluate their interactions with shellfish aquaculture and restoration. This new technology is part of a five-year project, which started in March 2022, funded by the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (NSF CAREER), and led by Dr. Matthew Ajemian at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (FAU-HBOI)* in partnership with Mote and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)**. 

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Thursday morning, June 1, Mote Marine Laboratory released a male loggerhead sea turtle, nicknamed "Steve," that has been outfitted with a satellite tag by Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, which provides data critical for sea turtle conservation efforts.

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Mote Marine Laboratory and The Florida Aquarium are thrilled to announce the release of two rescued loggerhead sea turtles nicknamed, "Valerie" and "Mahomes," at Anna Maria Bayfront Park Tuesday morning, May 30. This momentous event marks the finish line of months of dedicated care and rehabilitation provided by Mote's Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital and The Florida Aquarium Turtle Rehabilitation Center.

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