Connecting re-Mote-ly during COVID-19
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Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium programs featured here: Mote Aquarium • Mote's Education Department • Mote's Community Relations & Communications Department • Mote's Facilities Division
Stories on this page: From Mote to re-Mote: Educating & inspiring no matter what
More education and outreach stories are here: Championing education, diversity in science • Not just any aquarium
FROM MOTE TO RE-MOTE: EDUCATING & INSPIRING NO MATTER WHAT
As news of COVID-19 spread around the world, Mote Aquarium closed temporarily on March 16, 2020—more than two weeks before the State of Florida’s temporary shutdown. Mote’s public education programs on site were also suspended. However, Mote’s mission of marine science, conservation and education never paused. While many staff worked from home, limited teams of Aquarium and Facilities staff began transforming Mote’s campuses for a safe and healthy reopening, while Mote’s educators and communicators continued to share their marine science knowledge and big hearts with the public through video chats and social media.
Mote President & CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby made clear that Mote would not reopen to the public or return its full team to working onsite until Mote had significantly heightened its already high levels of health-safety measures to meet and exceed the expanding guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At the same time, he emphasized that no member of the Mote family would be laid off or furloughed during the closure—because family takes care of each other.
- Closed but still caring
During the temporary Aquarium closure, Mote staff dove into the upgrades needed for reopening, and the campus transformed like a butterfly in a chrysalis. Guest services staff became painters, planners and renovators. The Aquarium and Facilities teams combed through each public gallery and made adjustments for social distancing, visitor flow, sanitation and enhanced air filtration and circulation. They installed signs with CDC guidelines and hand-sanitizer stations, streamlined the process of buying tickets online, determined how many visitors could be admitted safely at a time, and restructured the visitor experience to be as touchless and spacious as possible. That included a fully reconstructed Aquarium entrance with new windows for outdoor ticketing.
Of course, animal care has no pause button. The sharks, manatees, otters, sea turtles and other resident species needed feeding, health checkups, and a little something extra. Mote Aquarium biologists increased enrichment with the animals to replace the enrichment normally provided by visiting public. That meant even more interaction with caregivers and more toys offered to keep animals stimulated mentally and physically.
The Aquarium staff prepared for COVID-19 similarly to how they prepare for hurricanes—for instance, anticipating and planning how to address changes in their supply chains if necessary.
- Hands off, brains on
Hands-on learning is a hallmark of Mote’s informal science education programs. When hands-on learning was no longer possible, Mote educators turned to their other strengths: virtual learning and extraordinary creativity. In March, the educators had a big brainstorming session on how to adapt their excellent virtual resources—such as SEA Trek virtual learning programs and lessons that could be made into free downloads—and create new video programming to share on social media.
Mote’s Education team was busy, placing roughly 80-90 content pieces into their Google Classroom in a month! Meanwhile, their existing programs reached wider audiences. For example, Mote’s in-person Homeschool Days typically reach about 45 kids a month, but the webinar version, At Home with Mote, had sessions with more than 120 participants, from Florida to the other side of the country. Their virtual Boy Scout Day had participants as distant as Dubai.
Video-based programs turned Mote educators, scientists, Aquarium biologists—and one cute little terrapin turtle named Cecil—into social media stars. Mote SEA Trek educators and other video-savvy staff coached their teammates. The team learned and grew in incredible ways, building new skill sets and increased confidence while improving their abilities to self-teach and teach each other.
Using Google Classroom and the video-sharing platform Flipgrid, Mote educators engaged and supported teachers and families amidst school closures and transitions. Videos and posts on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube educated and provided fun, STEM-based activities to families coping with the disruption of their daily lives.
- Reopening with care
Mote Aquarium reopened to the public at limited capacity on June 5, and on June 3 and 4, Mote invited its most loyal visitors to return first: Mote Members. The continued support of Members was vital during the Aquarium closure. To say thanks and return that incredible support, Mote extended active Memberships for three months.
Members and the public returned to a spotless Aquarium with enhanced sanitizing procedures in place, online ticketing to reduce contact, and masks available to anyone who forgot to bring theirs. Staff had to remind some guests that “masks aren’t just for divers,” and many guests thanked Mote’s team for requiring masks.
Returning guests marveled at the transformed Aquarium entrance, with a spacious outdoor ticketing area and redesigned lobby. In the renewed lobby, guests got a fresh look at Mote’s history, mission and identity—an independent, nonprofit science institution that works all over the world and has served southwest Florida communities since 1955.
- Fewer Mote visitors, many more ReMote visitors
Amid the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 this year, Mote Aquarium hosted 175,706 visitors total—almost 50% fewer than expected in a typical year—and 8,318 Mote Members continued to provide support—about 20% fewer than last year.
The Aquarium is a major source of funding for research and conservation at Mote, an independent, nonprofit institution. With this year’s revenue losses, philanthropic Donors and a faithful base of Members played a more vital role than ever in ensuring that Mote’s critical mission maintained its momentum. [Read about our supporters here—LINKED.]
At the same time, the Aquarium is returning to what it does best, with a healthy (but still limited) tide of visitors and some incredible successes to report this year (below). Meanwhile, plans for the rebirth of Mote Aquarium—as Mote Science Education Aquarium (Mote SEA)—never paused this year. In fact, as this year’s annual report went to press, Mote SEA was achieving a major milestone: Its groundbreaking ceremony. (Read more about Mote SEA and the other ways Mote is growing in our section.)
While Aquarium traffic rebounded, Mote’s social media interactions doubled, tripled, quadrupled… and even quintupled! An incredible array of new video programming produced by Mote’s Community Relations & Communications team—such as ReMote Happy Hour, Fossil Friday, and Cecil Adventures (featuring diamondback terrapin Cecil)—brought joy and learning to thousands of social media users stuck at home during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Compared with 2019, Mote saw the following increased traffic in 2020—totaled across its Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube pages:
- Engagement with Mote’s posts (clicking, liking, commenting, etc.) increased by 584%.
- Total video views increased by 436%.
- Total organic post reach (how many people saw Mote’s posts without paid advertising) increased by 256%.
- New likes for Mote’s pages increased by 205%.
- Sharing of Mote’s posts increased by 237%.
As the fiscal year ended in September 2020, Mote’s social media community continued to thrive, with:
- More than 83,177 Facebook friends an average of 60,000 people reached per post.
- More than 36,000 Instagram friends and 20,200 people reached per post.
- More than 17,000 Twitter followers and 1,500 impressions (times a post was viewed) per post.
This year, Mote’s Education programs served 26,974 total participants—about 16% fewer than last year—another unavoidable hit. However, by pivoting quickly to digital media, Mote educators launched exciting new programs—such as At Home with Mote, Virtual Scout Workshops and Online STEMventures—bringing Mote’s total number of education programs to 57 (four more than last year). At Mote’s Sarasota campus, small-group and socially-distanced experiences have proved popular—such as Choose Your Adventure, a single-household guided experience.
As the year ended, Mote’s virtual education programs reported exciting successes:
- Mote served more than 300 teachers and families in the K-12 community through its Google Classroom resources.
- Mote’s education-specific social media pages were busy too, with: 7,500 views and 126 subscribers on YouTube; 1,750 followers and 1,600 page likes from more than 55 countries on Facebook; and 1,878 Instagram followers.
Notably, Mote SEA Trek—the pioneering virtual learning program that played an essential role in Mote’s pivot to online education—received the Pinnacle Hall of Fame Award this year from the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC). This first annual award celebrates content providers that have been recognized for more than 10 years for their quality programming. Mote SEA Trek, launched in 1996, has been at the forefront of virtual learning. This year, Mote SEA Trek educators stepped up at a crucial moment, when lockdowns revealed the incredible value of remote learning, extending Mote's programming from local audiences in Sarasota to remote communities near the Arctic Circle and many points in between.