We are the ocean’s champions—the best and brightest scientists, educators and stewards committed to healthy marine ecosystems and all those who depend on them. Our mission began in 1955 when pioneering scientist and “Shark Lady” Dr. Eugenie Clark founded a one-room marine lab in Florida. Today, our impact spans the globe.
Our future is bound to our ocean. The ocean supplies most of the oxygen we breathe, much of the food we eat, and the critical resources that underpin ecosystems and economies worldwide. Now, oceans worldwide face unprecedented challenges, creating an unprecedented demand for what Mote does best: Today’s research for tomorrow’s oceans.
We start with rigorous, peer-reviewed, marine science—and we don’t stop until we’ve changed the world. By developing science-based solutions to urgent problems, and translating and transferring them to society at all levels, we save marine wildlife, restore critical ecosystems, help coastal communities preserve their quality of life, and uncover new, sustainable sources of food and medicine from the sea.
Mote by the Numbers
during 2022 on Longboat Key through Venice, Florida—the 4th highest total in Mote’s 41 years of turtle conservation and research.
in the past year to restore Florida's Coral Reef. Since 2008, Mote has planted more than 216,000 corals.
to learn about the oceans and Mote’s groundbreaking marine science.
to study mysterious "blue hole" habitats in the Gulf of Mexico.
by Mote and partners to enhance fisheries and benefit Florida's ecosystems & economy.
during the past year, many resulting in sea turtle and marine mammal rescues and recoveries.
Mote News
An Exciting Mote-ment
Mote—founded in 1955 in Placida and based at City Island, Sarasota, for most of its history—has grown into an international marine science enterprise firmly rooted in our southwest Florida community. Now Mote and our community are approaching a major milestone.
The new Mote Science Education Aquarium (Mote SEA) is scheduled to open this winter at Nathan Benderson Park and will vastly expand Mote’s educational reach on the mainland.
This exciting change will allow Mote to transform the Aquarium’s footprint on City Island into much-needed space for our growing mission of research and science-based conservation. Ultimately, our City Island home will transform into an International Marine Science & Technology Innovation Park.
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