Some coral reefs in the Middle East are strikingly beautiful and seemingly well-preserved, but will they stay that way as humans alter the environment? Dr. Emily Hall traveled to Israel to study stress on corals, including eutrophication – a big word you can say at parties to sound smart. But seriously, eutrophication (excess nutrients in bodies of water) could be challenging to corals already stressed by global climate change. Joe and Hayley ask Dr. Hall what she has learned about this challenge and what it's like to work in the Middle East, including diving for another project in the gorgeous Gulf of Aqaba. Dr. Hall also shares updates on her U.S.-based work as manager of Mote’s Ocean Acidification (OA) Program, including rebuilding her Florida-based OA research system to make it bigger and better after Hurricane Irma.
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A sea turtle nest was damaged July 5 on Nokomis Beach by suspected poachers; three individuals dug into a nest marked with stakes and left one broken egg on its surface. It is not clear whether they took any eggs. Mote Marine Laboratory reported the incident to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which investigates wildlife law violations.
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Mote Marine Laboratory is sending heartfelt gratitude to the southwest Florida community for making more than 430 gifts totaling $49,268 to the Lab online, along with several generous offline gifts, during the May 1-2 Giving Challenge. Mote ranked 12th for dollars raised among 635 other participating nonprofits.
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On July 7 and 8, divers boarded their boats, plunged into the Gulf of Mexico and removed 545 invasive lionfish during the fifth annual Sarasota Lionfish Derby, which concluded today, July 8, at Mote Marine Laboratory.
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July 3, 2018
Hayley Rutger
Congressman Vern Buchanan visited Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota on July 2 to discuss federal funding to fight red tide caused by Karenia brevis algae. The government funding bill signed into law earlier this year included legislation introduced by Buchanan dedicating $8 million to combat red tide, whose toxins are killing fish and impacting beaches along some areas of the Suncoast.
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Mote Marine Laboratory is pleased to welcome Michael Puto to its Florida Keys Advisory Council supporting Mote’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration (IC2R3) on Summerland Key and the growing number of Mote programs throughout Monroe County.
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A few weeks ago, Mote scientists placed tracking devices on two whale sharks nicknamed “Minnie” and “Colt” offshore of Longboat Key and New Pass in Sarasota. On Saturday, June 30, Minnie’s tag “pinged” and revealed her location about 50 miles north of the Florida Keys, a movement of about 150 miles over three weeks.
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They’re here — the first local loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings of the 2018 season were documented Thursday, June 28, from one nest on Venice and one on Longboat Key, by Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Patrol.
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June 29, 2018
Hayley Rutger
An adult male loggerhead sea turtle was fitted with a satellite tracker and released at the West Wind Inn on Sanibel on Thursday, June 28, following rehabilitation at The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW).
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