A loggerhead turtle swims.
If you liked Finding Nemo or Happy Feet, you'll love the discoveries you'll make at Mote Aquarium. It delivers all the drama and color that captured your imagination in the movies, but here, it's real.
Colorful reef fish, toothy sharks and sensational sea turtles swim right before your eyes. You can actually pet a velvety "Mr. Ray" at the Ray Touch Tray, and pick up a sea star like "Peach" in the Touch Tank; reach out and touch live crabs, sand dollars, sea urchins, whelks, conchs, tulips and clams.
Even more heartwarming than the animated movies is the heroism of Mote's scientists and volunteers who rescue and rehabilitate sick and injured mammals. Thanks to them, real-life characters, like Moonshine the dolphin and Hang Tough the sea turtle, are alive and well.
Meet local celebrity manatees that weigh thousands of pounds and eat about 72 heads of lettuce a day! Like other manatees, they love to frolic underwater, but they also play an important role in the study of this endangered species. Mote Marine Laboratory is also the congressionally designated U.S. Center for Shark Research.
If your heart melted during movies like March of the Penguins or if you couldn't stop smiling during Happy Feet, prepare yourself for a range of emotions as Mote welcomes its newest inhabitants--some very cool black-footed penguins. During the exhibit, which runs from November 1, 2011-April 15, 2012, Mote visitors will get to meet the penguins and learn all about them. The six penguins, which are native to South Africa, come to Mote by way of Vallejo, Calif., where they live at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
Like several of Mote's other residents, wild, black-footed penguins are endangered. Mote strives to further its mission of working toward global marine conversation by showcasing a species that faces similar threats to the marine life we have here in the Gulf of Mexico.
Penguin enthusiasts have the opportunity to adopt a penguin for just $30. Portions of the proceeds will help penguins in the wild. As a reward, you'll receive an adoption certificate, photo and fact sheet. Higher level adopters can receive toys, tickets and more. For more information, visit www.mote.org/adopt.
For more information on Penguin Island, visit www.mote.org/penguinisland.
To check out all of the other exciting sea life you'll get to experience, visit www.mote.org.
Mote Aquarium is open daily, including holidays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located at 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, on City Island between St. Armands Circle and Longboat Key. Admission is $17 for visitors over 12; $16 for those over 65; $12 for ages 4 to 12. Children under the age of 4 are admitted free. Members are admitted at no cost (annual membership starts at $50). For more information, visit www.mote.org, or call 941-388-4441.
Mote Marine Laboratory is an independent, not-for-profit marine research organization based in Sarasota, Fla. Founded in 1955, Mote maintains field stations in eastern Sarasota County, Charlotte Harbor and the Florida Keys. Donations to Mote are tax deductible.
