Mote Marine Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit, marine research organization based on City Island in Sarasota, Florida, with additional campuses in eastern Sarasota County, Boca Grande, Florida, and the Florida Keys. Founded in 1955 by Eugenie Clark in Placida, Florida, it was known as the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory until 1967. The laboratory aims to advance marine science and education, supporting conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. A public aquarium and associated education program interpret its research for the public.
History
The laboratory, founded by Eugenie Clark in 1955 in Placida, Florida, was known as Cape Haze Marine Laboratory until its 1967 renaming in honor of major benefactors of the laboratory William R. Mote, his wife Lenore, and his sister, Betty Mote Rose. Early research was focused on sharks and other fishes. Since 1960, it has been based in Sarasota, Florida, and has been located on City Island since 1978.
The laboratory celebrated its 55th anniversary in 2010 and was recognized for its marine science with a resolution in the Florida House and Senate during March 2010. In March 2010, Eugenie Clark was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame. When the laboratory celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2015, it unveiled its first multi-year, comprehensive fundraising effort, Oceans of Opportunity: the Campaign for Mote Marine Laboratory. Clark was still working as senior scientist, director emerita, and trustee at the laboratory when she died in February 2015.
As of 2017, the laboratory employed more than 200 staff members, including Ph.D. scientists conducting research through more than 20 research programs on coral health and disease, chemical and physical ecology, phytoplankton ecology, ocean acidification, marine, and freshwater aquaculture, fisheries habitat ecology, stranding investigations, ecotoxicology, sharks and rays conservation research, fisheries ecology and enhancement, coral reef monitoring and assessment, coral reef restoration, environmental health, ocean technology, marine immunology, benthic ecology, marine biomedical research, environmental forensics, sea turtle conservation and research, manatee research, and dolphin research. In partnership of the Chicago Zoological Society the laboratory conducts the world's longest-running study of a wild dolphin population.
Since 1978, the laboratory has expanded to include a campus in Sarasota, the Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration on Summerland Key, a public exhibit in Key West, a Boca Grande outreach office, and the Mote Aquaculture Research Park in eastern Sarasota County. In addition to staff members, the laboratory has about 1,000 volunteers.
Mote Aquarium
The aquarium is the public outreach arm of the laboratory, displaying more than 100 marine species with a focus on species and ecosystems studied by staff scientists. The aquarium is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which accredits qualified facilities based on a rigorous application and inspection process focusing on animal care, conservation, and science, facilities, and more.
The aquarium opened in 1980 on City Island in Sarasota Bay to display sharks, manatees, sea turtles, seahorses, rays, skates, and invertebrates including cuttlefish, octopuses, sea jellies, anemones, and corals. Special exhibits have included "Otters and Their Waters" and "The Teeth Beneath: The Wild World of Gators, Crocs, and Caimans" that features animals found in the watershed (land that drains into the ocean and other waterbodies), including North American river otters, American alligators, and spectacled caimans. A special exhibit "Oh Baby! Life Cycles of the Seas" deals with marine courtship and reproduction and features the offspring of multiple species and their early-life survival challenges through an interactive game, a baby shark touch tank, and other features. The aquarium includes windows into working laboratories and interactive exhibits designed to make science accessible for all ages.
The aquarium presents shark feedings, in which large sharks are trained to go to specific targets for a food reward. Other resident animals, such as sea turtles and river otters, are fed and trained similarly during sessions designed to enhance their care and provide healthy stimulation. All narrated training and feeding sessions are designed specifically for animal care, and in some cases, to allow behavioral research intended to inform conservation of wild populations.
Until 2011, Harley, the last recorded spinner dolphin in captivity in the United States lived at Mote Aquarium.