Global study finds reef sharks now at a higher risk of extinction
Overfishing is driving reef sharks toward extinction, according to new study published today in the peer-reviewed journal, Science. The five main shark...
Achieving fin-tastic firsts with sharks, rays, fisheries – 2020 Annual Report
This story is a highlight from Mote's 2020 Annual Report. SUSTAINING FISHERIES—GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT ON MOTE In November 2019, Mote...
Social distancing may be new for humans, not so much for whale sharks
In 2007 scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory and Ch’ooj Ajauil AC placed a location-tracking tag on a whale shark nicknamed "Rio Lady" and documented her epic migration spanning close to 5,000 miles. Now, Rio Lady is back in the...
Mote receives federal grant to study highly migratory sharks as part of new consortium
Sarasota, Fla. — October 2, 2019 — Mote Marine Laboratory is bringing its long history of shark expertise to a new consortium studying highly migratory species, thanks to new funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...
Global threat to sharks highlighted in Nature paper co-authored by Mote scientists
A new study in the prestigious, peer-reviewed, scientific journal Nature reveals that major high seas fishing activities overlap significantly with important shark hotspots worldwide. Study partners point out that North...
Mote scientists tag two whale sharks off southwest Florida
Written by Stephanie Hagan Thanks to whale shark sightings reported by the public off the southwest Florida coast in early June, scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory located five of the polka-dotted, filter-feeding giants...
Great white sharks off Nantucket in the scientific spotlight
OCEARCH EXPEDITION WITH FLORIDA SCIENTIFIC LEADER AIMS TO BUILD UPON SERIES OF SHARK-TAGGING SUCCESSES Today OCEARCH and its collaborating scientists launched a three-week expedition to tag mature great white sharks off Nantucket,...
Do sharks survive after the hook? New technology helping solve fisheries mystery
Fitbit-like sensors are the best tools for monitoring whether sharks survive catch-and-release fishing — essential data for fisheries management — according to a peer-reviewed study published today, June 23, by scientists from...
Earth Day Webcast: “Sharks Alive!” with Mote
Kids around the world can watch “Sharks Alive!” – a free webcast by Mote Marine Laboratory via Google Hangouts and Youtube from 10 – 10:25 a.m. EST on Earth Day, April 22. “Sharks Alive!” will focus on shark research...
Searching day and night: diel hierarchical search patterns in a large marine predator that never stops swimming
Animals may demonstrate area-restricted search (ARS) behaviour when encountering prey, where they turn frequently to remain in an area where the probability of finding additional prey is relatively high. We would expect optimally foraging...
Center for Fisheries Electronic Monitoring at Mote (CFEMM)
Center for Fisheries Electronic Monitoring at Mote (CFEMM) The Center for Fisheries Electronic Monitoring at Mote (CFEMM) internship provides research experience...
Virtual Summer Camp
Color Our Ocean Week From sea turtles to manatees to sharks and more, campers will embark on a colorful virtual learning journey beneath the waves. Brought to you by Mote Marine...
Exploration Hall
Exploration Hall 10,000 Square Feet of Stunning Space with a 400,000-Gallon Tank Experience the awe-inspiring beauty of Mote SEA’s Aquarium Venue Exploration Hall, a breathtaking 10,000-square-foot space...
Venue Rentals: City Island
From mid-size rooms to larger halls to a Chickee Hut that provides a unique outdoor setting with a Southwest Florida feel, our waterfront location showcases everything that is special about Sarasota and her islands. Each year, millions...
The trophic role of a large marine predator, the tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier
Tiger sharks were sampled of the western (Ningaloo Reef, Shark Bay) and eastern (the Great Barrier Reef; GBR, Queensland and New South Wales; NSW) coastlines of Australia. Multiple tissues were collected from each shark to investigate...
Undersea Constellations: The Global Biology of an Endangered Marine Megavertebrate Further Informed through Citizen Science
The whale shark is an ideal flagship species for citizen science projects because of its charismatic nature, its size, and the associated ecotourism ventures focusing on the species at numerous coastal aggregation sites. An online...
Modulation of shark prey capture kinematics in response to sensory deprivation
The ability of predators to modulate prey capture in response to the size, location, and behavior of prey is critical to successful feeding on a variety of prey types. Modulating in response to changes in sensory information may be...
A United States shark fin ban would undermine sustainable shark fisheries
A proposed nationwide ban on the sale of shark fins within the United States would undermine sustainable shark fisheries, would have little effect on global shark mortality, and would perpetuate the misconception that the shark fin...
Nurse shark
Nurse sharks range from yellow-tan to brown, blending into the sandy ocean floor. They have two sensory barbels near their mouths, helping them detect prey in the sand. Unlike many sharks, their small,...
Animal Encounters: Aquarium Morning Rounds
On this small group tour, a Mote Educator will guide you through the morning routine at Mote Aquarium, as our biologists prep for the day. You’ll learn about your favorite sea creatures, have all of your ocean questions answered,...
Sandbar shark
Sandbar sharks are gray-brown with a tall, triangular dorsal fin and long, broad pectoral fins, helping them glide efficiently through coastal waters. They prefer sandy or muddy bottoms in shallow areas...
Rate of Tooth Replacement in the Nurse Shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum
Three juvenile nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum, were examined weekly for 3 yr to document rates at which teeth, marked by clipping the cusps of newly exposed teeth, moved from the innermost to the outermost row and were eventually...
Behavioral electrosensitivity increases with size in the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus
During elasmobranch ontogeny, increasing body size has been proposed to result in a tradeof between increased sensitivity and decreased spatial resolution of the electrosensory system, but this hypothesis has not previously been tested....
Length at life stages of the white shark Carcharodon carcharias in the western North Atlantic
Length at life stages of the white shark Carcharodon carcharias is not well known for most of the 9 populations of this species, including in the western North Atlantic (WNA). We analyzed length and maturity data by sex for 87 white...
Sphyrna alleni sp. nov., a new hammerhead shark (Carcharhiniformes, Sphyrnidae) from the Caribbean and the Southwest Atlantic
Hammerhead sharks (Family Sphyrnidae) comprise a monophyletic Miocene radiation of carcharhiniform sharks characterized by their laterally expanded and dorsoventrally compressed head (‘cephalofoil’). The bonnethead shark (Sphyrna...
Climate-driven global redistribution of an ocean giant predicts increased threat from shipping
Climate change is shifting animal distributions. However, the extent to which future global habitats of threatened marine megafauna will overlap existing human threats remains unresolved. Here we use global climate models and habitat...
Blacktip reef shark
Blacktip reef sharks have silvery-gray dorsal sides and white bellies. Eluded to in their name, these reef sharks have dark black spots on the end of all of their fins, including their tail. They are fast and agile, frequently leaping...
Horn shark
Horn sharks get their name from the two distinct ridges protruding from their head. They are slow-moving, bottom-dwelling sharks that use their pectoral fins to "walk" along the seafloor. With strong, molar-like teeth, they are...
Partial migration of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre), from the Dry Tortugas Islands
Nurse sharks have not previously been known to migrate. Nurse sharks of the Dry Tortugas (DRTO) mating population have a highly predictable periodic residency cycle, returning to the Dry Tortugas Courtship and Mating Ground (DTCMG)...
Potential Human Health Applications from Marine Biomedical Research with Elasmobranch Fishes
Members of the subclass of fishes collectively known as elasmobranchs (Class Chondrichthyes, Subclass Elasmobranchii) include sharks, skates, rays, guitarfish, and sawfish. Having diverged from the main line of vertebrate evolution...