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In January 2013, Mote launched its first-ever Informal Science Education programs in Charlotte Harbor. These new programs, including partnership efforts with YMCA, have reached more than 6,000 kids and adults to date.

Mote developed the Charlotte Harbor education programs in 2012 thanks to a donation from Regions Bank, which provides an office in Punta Gorda, and a grant from the West Coast Inland Navigation District and Charlotte County to support new educators.

Mote is based in Sarasota and was originally founded on the coast of Charlotte Harbor, where it currently operates a field research station and recently opened a community outreach office on Boca Grande.

“Baby” corals of at least some species are vulnerable to Deepwater Horizon oil and are especially likely to die when exposed to dispersants used during a spill, according to a lab-based study by Mote Marine Laboratory scientists that was published online Jan. 9 in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE.

This study involved the first controlled test of how Deepwater Horizon oil and the dispersant Corexit® 9500 affect coral larvae — drifting offspring of corals that must settle and grow to maintain and expand reefs. While the study focused on two coral species from the Florida Keys — an area not directly impacted by the spill — the results highlight concerns about corals nearer to the spill site and provide new insights for mitigating oil spills near reefs.

In January, researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia and Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla. reported that using the term “shark attack” leads to misperceptions and inaccurate risk reporting.

The term “shark attack” is typically used by the media, government officials, researchers and the public to describe almost any kind of human-shark interaction — even those where no contact or injury occurs between humans and sharks.

In their new paper in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Christopher Neff of the University of Sydney and Dr. Robert Hueter, leader of Mote’s Center for Shark Research — the only Congressionally designated national research center in the U.S. focused on sharks — proposed a new system of classification to support more accurate scientific reporting about shark interactions, along with more accurate public discussion about shark risk to swimmers and divers.

Update: In August, The American Elasmobranch Society (AES), the leading society of shark researchers in the U.S., announced its new resolution urging media outlets to adopt new terminology proposed in the Neff-Hueter paper. The resolution encouraged high-level media outlets “to adopt a labeling typology for the multiples types of interactions and outcomes associated with shark-human interactions, thereby resisting use of the term ‘attack’ without scientific basis and providing more accurate reporting.”

In February, a team of Southwest Florida resource managers announced a new project to develop numeric nutrient criteria for tidal creeks with help from local scientists.

Numeric nutrient criteria define the maximum levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous permitted in a body of water to protect the biological resources and critical ecological functions that these habitats provide. In areas where runoff amounts, timing and nutrient loads have been altered, excessive nutrients and extreme high flows can degrade the ecological value of these small but important creek habitats.

The new two-year project, supported by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and led by the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, includes partners from Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Programs; Janicki Environmental, Inc.; Mote Marine Laboratory; the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute; and the University of South Florida’s Center for Community Design and Research. Technical experts at county governments in the region also provide input and sampling services.

Project partners have classified the tidal creeks for relative impacts, soil types and other characteristic features, and they have selected 16 representative creeks to sample over a year. In November project partners began collecting samples to assess water quality, vegetation and bottom types, along with the number and species of juvenile and adult fishes using the various habitats.

Results will help reveal how specific levels of nutrient pollution affect these creeks — key information needed for state and federal resource managers to set water-quality standards in order to support the creeks’ biological health.

• Of the 63,837 species worldwide that have undergone population assessments, 19,817 — a startling one out of three — are threatened with extinction, according to a 2012 report from the IUCN Red List. But in reality, those figures don’t account for threats to species that have never been studied; nor do they address threats to human populations that occur when species disappear.

If learning something new was your resolution for 2013, then Mote’s annual Special Lecture Series was just what the doctor ordered. The annual Series, graciously sponsored by Bob and Jill Williams, completed another successful run in March after drawing sold-out crowds through the season.

The lineup showcased an exciting speaker list of top scientists and explorers, including Dr. Diane Nelson, Professor Emerita, Dept. of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University, and Dr. Eugenie Clark, Founding Director, Mote Marine Laboratory; Capt. Alfred Scott McLaren, Senior Pilot of the Super Aviator submersible; Carlton Ward, Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition leader and photographer; Dr. Erinn Muller, Mote Postdoctoral Fellow; Dr. Dennis McGillicuddy, Senior Scientist in the Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Dr. John Reynolds, Director of the International Consortium for Marine Conservation and Manager of Mote’s Manatee Research Program.

Researchers in Mote’s Environmental Laboratory of Forensics have been studying the impacts of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill since it occurred. Through their ongoing efforts, they are working to uncover its possible lingering effects on marine ecosystems, and in the process, developing new lab tests that could benefit research on fish health for years to come.

Mote is carrying out this work as a partner in C-IMAGE (Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem), a 13-institution team based at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Marine Science that is tackling Deepwater-Horizon research from many angles. C-IMAGE, supported by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, which is funded through penalties levied on BP, is studying how the oil has moved, broken down, and potentially affected Gulf animals at all levels of the food web, from tiny plankton to fish and marine mammals.

This year, C-IMAGE scientists reported die offs of microscopic life forms called foraminifera on areas of the seafloor affected by the spill, and in 2011 reported greater numbers of skin lesions and other health issues in fish such as red snapper, tilefish, southern hake and yellowedge grouper in the spill zone off Louisiana’s coast.

Though it’s hard to link fish health problems directly to the Deepwater Horizon — which occurred in an area with chronic pollution — the findings to date seriously concern Gulf-Coast communities and drive marine scientists to continue learning more.


Mote Senior Scientist Dr. Kevan Main was appointed to serve on the Aquaculture Expert Working Group for the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative in April.

This group, funded by the German government, European Union and seafood distributors, is evaluating seafood certification and labeling programs for aquaculture and fisheries products to promote the supply of sustainable seafood for consumers. 
Main has pioneered sustainable aquaculture at Mote since 2001 as manager of the Marine and Freshwater Aquaculture Research Program at Mote Aquaculture Park in Sarasota, Fla.

This environmentally-sound fish farm and research laboratory is developing and using recirculating filtration systems to rear salt- and freshwater fish and to advance culture methods to farm these species for food and to restore wild populations. Mote's sturgeon farm is rearing Siberian sturgeon for meat and caviar sold across the U.S.

Dr. Michael P. Crosby officially assumed the leadership of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium on May 16, 2013, following the nonprofit organization’s annual Board meeting. He is taking the role of President and CEO following the retirement of Dr. Kumar Mahadevan, whose new position will be President Emeritus as he continues to be an advocate and ambassador of the organization, assisting in promoting and developing support for Mote’s world-class research and education programs. Dr. Mahadevan led the organization for 27 years.

As new President and CEO, Dr. Crosby will oversee the Lab’s groundbreaking research programs that take place in Southwest Florida and around the world, along with the organization’s efforts to educate and inform the public and policy makers about the marine environment.

Mote Marine Laboratory was declared Cultural Organization of the Year on May 10 by The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce during the 23rd annual Frank G. Berlin, Sr. Small Business Awards, which drew 500 business and community leaders to celebrate small business and honor winners in seven categories.

Mote is an independent, nonprofit marine science institution dedicated to today’s research for tomorrow’s oceans and to informal science education and outreach for all ages. This winning combination sets Mote apart from its peers worldwide and makes the Lab and its public outreach facility, The Aquarium, perfect Southwest Florida gems.

Kasey Gaylord-Opalewski, coordinator of Mote’s SeaTrek digital learning program, was declared President-Elect of the Florida Marine Science Educators Association (FMSEA) in May.


FMSEA, Founded in 1968, is a professional association of individuals and organizations devoted to marine education in Florida. FMSEA is a regional chapter of the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA), an organization that brings together those interested in the study and enjoyment of the world of water, both fresh and salt.
Opalewski will be inaugurated as FMSEA President during the organization’s annual meeting in April 2014 at Panama City Beach. She will serve a one-year term.


As a marine science educator in Mote’s SeaTrek program, Gaylord-Opalewski shares the wonders of the oceans and the world-class science of Mote Marine Laboratory with students nationwide and internationally using videoconferencing programs and online video chats. 
Mote’s digital-learning programs have won multiple Pinnacle Awards from the nonprofit Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration. The award honors videoconferencing programs rated highest by teachers.

Mote received a $150,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to establish the first center for electronic monitoring of commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico — a first step toward gathering more scientifically sound data to inform fisheries management Gulf-wide.

The grant, one of 15 awarded this year from NFWF’s Fisheries Innovation Fund, is being matched by private donations of funding and in-kind support, for a total of $271,435 shared by Mote and project partners at the Ocean Conservancy, Archipelago Marine Research Ltd., Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance and East West Technical Services LLC.

Funds are allowing Mote and its partners to work with commercial vessels to document their fishing activity with new electronic monitoring systems, which include digital video cameras, onboard computers, GPS and other technology.

The new monitoring effort focuses on reef fisheries important to Gulf economies, particularly on improving information about bycatch — unintentional catch that may include protected, sensitive or young marine life not ready for harvest. Project partners hope to expand these efforts over the long-term to include electronic monitoring Gulf wide, with consistent data analysis based at Mote.

Update: Project partners have installed the EM Observe™ electronic monitoring system developed by Archipelago on two longline vessels within the Shareholders Alliance. Five additional vessels will be equipped in the future. Data and video footage gathered by these systems will be reviewed and verified by Mote scientists.

Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium was honored for embracing the community education program EdExploreSRQ with a $5,000 award from The Patterson Foundation presented during the event HIGH FIVE: Hands Up for Hands-On Learning, which drew 350 pioneers and supporters of EdExploreSRQ on May 10 to Riverview Highschool.

EdExploreSRQ is an initiative that provides students with valuable exposure to arts, science and culture through “explorations,” which include in-classroom and off-campus experiences that are offered by 36 partner organizations.

Mote received the “Pay it Forward Award” from The Patterson Foundation for its popular exploration about manatees — endangered marine mammals that are a major focus of research, conservation and education for the nonprofit Lab and its public outreach facility, The Aquarium at Mote. The award is designed to help organizations offer student explorations through EdExploreSRQ or to create new or enhanced explorations for the 2013-14 school year.

• Grand Champion — John Mallory, of Merritt Island (975 DNA samples) 
• Gulf Coast Champion — Capt. Robert McCue, of Ellenton (216 samples)
• Florida Keys Champion — Capt. Paul D’Antoni, of Key West (118 samples)
• Atlantic Coast Champion  — Capt. Carl Ball, of Fort Lauderdale (94 samples)

Six students from Booker High School conducted independent research on climate change and ocean acidification — major threats to coral reef ecosystems — through a science education program launched this summer in partnership with Mote Marine Laboratory.

The week-long program at Mote’s Tropical Research Laboratory on Summerland Key allowed the students to join scientists from around the globe at the Lab’s innovative testing facility focused on ocean acidification. This hands-on experience — supported by a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County —  focused on increasing the students’ science literacy and specific knowledge of climate change and ocean acidification — significant challenges for marine scientists and resource managers working to preserve coral reefs.

Manatees can feel water movements thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair — an ability that makes them one of the most touch-sensitive mammals on Earth — according to a study led by scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory.

The study, published in a special issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Comparative Physiology A, is the first published research revealing how well manatees can feel water movement using their facial whiskers. Results show that manatees can detect tiny ripples better than any marine mammal studied to date, suggesting that touch may be vital to their survival in the wild.

Florida’s coral reef got a boost in July when volunteers from the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge and SCUBAnauts International St. Petersburg and Tarpon Springs Chapters joined scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory at work in Mote’s coral reef nursery in the Florida Keys in a story that received national television coverage on The NBC Nightly News and The Today Show.

More than six years ago, Mote established an underwater coral nursery where scientists grow fragments of coral — particularly the threatened staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) — for replanting on decimated or damaged sections of reef within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

When the corals reach a suitable size, new coral fragments are snipped off, or propagated, to create new corals — similar to the way new plants are grown from cuttings of existing plants. In July, the youngsters and the veterans helped scientists hang these new coral fragments in the nursery and monitor coral fragments that were previously planted on coral reefs.

By the end of the two-day mission, the SCUBAnauts and veterans helped to produce some 2,000 coral fragments, bringing the number of staghorn corals growing in Mote’s nursery to about 10,000.

The largest-ever scientific study of whale sharks — the world’s biggest fish — was published in the journal PLOS ONE this summer by Mote sicentists and collaborators from Mexico. The study reveals the sharks’ international journeys and their relationship to the largest whale shark feeding hotspot known to science.

The nine-year study shows that whale sharks found at a major feeding aggregation site near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula travel to many places throughout the Gulf of Mexico, the northwestern Caribbean Sea and the Straits of Florida. These findings highlight why the Mexican feeding site is a vital fueling station for whale sharks throughout the region and suggest that these wide-ranging fish need international protection. The study also documented the second-longest whale shark migration ever confirmed — a trail that may help researchers discover where the sharks give birth.

Mote is proud to recognize Dr. Randy Wells as a nominee for the world’s top award for animal conservation. The Indianapolis Prize is a biennial award initiated by the Indianapolis Zoo that brings the world’s attention to the cause of animal conservation and the brave, talented and dedicated men and women who spend their lives saving the Earth’s endangered animal species.

Wells has studied Sarasota Bay’s dolphins since he came to Mote as a 16-year-old volunteer intern who helped program founder Blair Irvine begin a dolphin-tagging study in Sarasota Bay. Today, the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program is the world’s longest-running study of a wild dolphin population and is a collaboration between the Chicago Zoological Society and Mote.

During his career, Wells has studied marine mammals around the globe, has led or co-led more than 170 marine mammal research projects and has served as president of the international Society for Marine Mammalogy, chairman of the Atlantic Scientific Review Group, chairman of NOAA’s Working Group on Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events and held numerous other science and conservation leadership roles.

Wells is among 39 conservation all-stars nominated, and he shares the nominee list alongside anthropologist Jane Goodall and ocean conservation leader Carl Safina.

Six finalists will be revealed in spring 2014 with the winner announced later in the year. The winner and five finalist nominees will be honored at the Indianapolis Prize Gala presented by Cummins Inc., on Sept. 27, 2014, in Indianapolis. The winner will receive $250,000 and five finalists will each receive $10,000.