Sarasota Bay will be in the international spotlight Wednesday at Mote Marine Laboratory and you can possibly be in the audience. Check here for details on attending the forum, which includes how local bay restoration efforts are part of a global study.
Dolphin expert Randall Wells talks about discovering the intelligence of the bottlenose dolphins that inhabit Sarasota Bay.
This video is an interview with world-renowned dolphin expert Randalle Wells talks about his years of work researching the bottlenose dolphin: "We are currently observing dolphins that span five generations in Sarasota Bay," including a 60-year-old dolphin. Wells is a Siesta Key resident who often kayaks in the waters behind his house and sees the dolphins he researches as a scientist at Mote Marine Lab. "This really is home for these dolphins. We see these dolphins across generations and across multiple decades." Sign up for the Sarasota Patch email newsletter to get headlines delivered straight to your inbox!
A scientist from the Mote Laboratory in Sarasota claims that dolphins have unique names for each other.
The bottlenose dolphins that inhabit Sarasota Bay have distinctive names for each other that they call out in whistles, according to scientists at Mote Laboratory, WFla.com reports. Researchers say that the unique identifiers enable the sociable dolphins to travel together in groups or pods, which is key to their survival. According to WFLa.com: One of the lead scientists in the study, Dr. Randall Wells, is a local researcher who's been studying dolphins in Sarasota Bay for years. He said,"These whistles actually turned out to be names. They're abstract names which is unheard of in the animal kingdom beyond people." His finding were published in a research article recently. Wells works in the lab's Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, one …
In Tampa Bay, the Lightning Capital of North America, you're more likely to be struck by a bolt than a bull shark. Or any shark at all.
A new study completed in part by Sarasota's Mote Marine Laboratory is taking a bite into the media's "shark attack" reporting. Researches looked up the term "shark attack" to see how it was used, partially to see why Florida has such an online presence of being the "Shark Attack Capital of the World." Maybe "Land Shark Capital of the U.S.," but that's for another story. The study says that the Sunshine State recorded 11 fatal bites over the past 129 years — lower than other parts of the world. And here in Tampa Bay, the Lightning Capital of North America, you're more likely to be struck by a bolt than a bull shark. Or any shark at all. “Not all shark ‘attacks’ are created equal, and we certainly shouldn't call bites on kayaks and bites on…
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7:25 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
In all the year the Mote has been doing Shark research on our shores, for more than 30 years. They should have a robust educational policy on their behavior and habits. Nothing better than enlightenment to dispel a myth. more ›
A Mote Marine Laboratory study of the cleaning agent Corexit 9500 showed that the cleaning agent in BP oil spill disaster also caused great harm to coral.
A new report from Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota released Wednesday reports that cleanup efforts from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster could be causing a real threat to fragile coral reefs. The study focused on studying coral larvae and seeing how a dispersant that is used to cling to oil slicks and diffuse it from reaching shores could actually be just as toxic. The findings are published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE. The 2010 BP disaster spilled more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and responders used these dispersants, one called Corexit 9500, to prevent the oil from reaching beaches. "Overall, these findings indicate that exposure of coral larvae to the dispersant Corexit 9500 is toxic and …
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10:58 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
There have been many many studies of Corexit Do-gooder. If you have a local university go and do some computer searches. Anything is toxic to coral, including pure water. If placed in a jar in the lab, everything kills coral at the concentrations used in this study, including dish soap, soda, orange juice, you name it. If we could pour orange juice on the oil and make the slick disperse, then … more ›
Three special sea lions are now on exhibit at Mote Marine Aquarium.
Sea lions Stella, 8, Rose, 7, and Kitty, 7, are now up for some play time in front of Sarasota crowds. The three Patagonian sea lions are part of The Aquarium at Mote Marine Laboratory's newest exhibit, Sea Lions: On the Water's Edge. The exhibit opened Saturday and will run through April 28 featuring other sea lions in the mix as well, including California sea lions. Patagonian sea lions — native to South America and not covered by the 1972 law — have also came back. Mote staff says the sea lions are still threatened today by injuries from fishing gear and marine debris, along with other complications of living in close proximity to humans. This is the first time sea lions have been on display at Mote. Sea Lions: On The Water’s Edge will…
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Riverview High School students received training on how to build scallop collectors for a special restoration project.
More than 40 students at Riverview High School received training on how to build “baby” scallop collectors Nov. 12 for a local scallop restoration project being conducted by Mote Marine Laboratory and Sarasota Bay Watch. Mote and Sarasota Bay Watch are working together to restore scallop populations to naturally sustainable levels in Sarasota Bay, where they are currently depleted. Project partners recently released about 4 million scallop spat, or larvae, near Longboat Key, and they plan to release more in the near future. The team will monitor how many young scallops are settling to grow using the new collectors made at Riverview. The students, freshmen through seniors in Riverview’s Aquascience Program, built about 40 spat collectors …
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Mote's Sea Turtle Program needs help in the form of donated supplies to mark, protect and document nests, after Tropical Storm Debby destroyed equipment.
Sea turtle nesting numbers broke a 31-year record in late July on beaches from Longboat Key through Venice, surpassing any annual count since 1991 — the first year of local nest monitoring by Mote Marine Laboratory. Mote is seeking donations of equipment and funding to meet the demands of this unusual year. (Click here for ways to help.) So far this year, 2,324 loggerhead sea turtle nests and three of the rarer green sea turtle nests have been documented by Mote’s Sea Turtle Patrol — a group of scientists, interns and more than 300 volunteers who monitor 35 miles of local nesting beaches each day of nesting season, May 1-Oct. 31. Even though nesting season is still in progress, these counts have already exceeded the previous record of 1,…
7:02 am on Sunday, August 12, 2012
Know your area! Mote only covers Longboat Key and Sarasota county. Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring covers all the beaches in Manatee County. We also had a record-breaking year and had to find more than 2,000 stakes after TS Debby. Even more importantly, your pic is of a leatherback, which does not nest on the west coast. We only have loggerheads and greens (rarely) in … more ›
"The sheer size of it was unbelievable," said Brennan Russell, one of two scuba divers who videotaped a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with a 25 foot-long whale shark in the Gulf of Mexico.
What would you do if you came within feet of a 25-foot-long whale shark? Don't mess with it, but definitely shoot some video of it. It's no secret that tales of "the big fish that got away" are often met with skepticism. But, two local scuba divers have the video to prove that their rare, once-in-a-lifetime encounter with a 25 foot-long whale shark was the real deal. "It was unbelievable. The shark was just breathtaking. It was so big, it was hard to comprehend. The sheer size of it was unbelievable," said Brennan Russell, a divemaster who works at Palm Harbor's Tanked Up Scuba Center. Help Track Whale Sharks Sarasota's Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota are asking boaters for help in tracking rare whale sharks, with one …
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Emmy Award-winning actress Loretta Swit, who's starring in a Asolo Rep production of "Love, Loss and What I Wore," visited Edna the sick dolphin.
She played a nurse on TV and checked in on how the ones in real life are helping Edna the sick dolphin at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. Loretta Swit, an Emmy Award-winning TV and theater actress — famed for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan of “M*A*S*H” — and a passionate animal advocate, toured Mote and its animal hospitals July 2, paying a special visit to the sick dolphin Edna, who remains in critical condition, but is improving. Mote’s leaders, scientists and animal care professionals said they were honored to host Swit, and to discuss their shared interests in marine conservation. “What a graceful, gracious lady,” said Mote President and CEO Dr. Kumar Mahadevan, who was thrilled to guide Ms. Swit through the Lab …
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RAJ (Bo) McMerritt
7:10 am on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
always wondered how Flipper got his/her/its name....well now I know! more ›