Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium received a generous holiday gift from Longboat Key Turtle Watch. The donation of close to $10,000 will be used to support a number of Mote programs related to helping local sea turtles, including support for Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program, Mote’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital, Mote’s Hatchling Hospital and Mote Education.
Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program works to better understand sea turtles through their movements and nesting behaviors and in turn, learn how to better protect them with that information. In the same vein, Mote’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital works to help sea turtles recover from threats such as red tide, strandings, and boat strikes. This donation will provide them with new equipment that will aid them in these goals.
Additionally, Mote Education provides both virtual and in-person programs to the public in order to educate them in topics of marine science and conservation. Mote Education will use some of the donation to bolster both virtual and in-person programs, and the rest will go into the Orville Clayton scholarship fund which brings local children to Mote’s summer camp programs.
“The Longboat Key Turtle Watch is honored to donate to the great programs at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium,” said Longboat Key Turtle Watch President Tim Thurman. “This marks the 13th year Longboat Key Turtle Watch fundraising efforts have allowed this to happen. Our total donations to Mote now exceed $100,000! The Longboat Key Turtle Watch focuses on education and awareness of sea turtles and their habitat, and supporting these programs furthers these objectives.”
We thank the Longboat Key Turtle Watch for their generous support of our programs!