Ocean adventures await year ’round at Mote Aquarium, home to more than 100 marine species and exhibits showcasing the adjoining Mote Marine Laboratory. See freaky frogfish, graceful seahorses and other wild denizens of Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast, including sandbar, nurse, blacknose and bonnethead sharks. Guests can also see dolphins, manatees and sea turtles.
In our newest exhibit, Sea Turtles: Ancient Survivors, Mote spotlights sea turtles. Visitors can learn how sea turtles outlived the dinosaurs and how these animals need our help to survive in modern times. An interactive display even lets you follow the journey of real sea turtles tagged in the wild by Mote scientists and see where they went between feeding and breeding seasons.
When you buy a ticket to Mote Aquarium, you support world-renowned research at Mote Marine Laboratory. Visitors can glimpse our cutting-edge science and learn about the lab’s founding director, Eugenie Clark, and the research she did when the lab opened its doors in 1955. You can also see the work she and other researchers are doing at Mote today.
Mote Aquarium is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 365 days a year at 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, City Island, Sarasota. Admission prices are $17 for adults, $16 for seniors and $12 for kids ages 4-12. Mote Members and kids 3 and younger always get in free.
If you want to dive deeper into ocean fun, check out these new offerings at Mote Aquarium:
Fossil Creek
You can play marine archaeologist at Mote’s new Fossil Creek, where guests can buy buckets of sand for $5.99 (plus tax) and sift out hidden sharks’ teeth and other real marine fossils using a sieve in a mini waterway. Then you can take your treasures home.
Breakfast at Mote
Our new “Breakfast at Mote” tours allow small groups to enjoy Mote’s facilities before we open our doors to the general public. Participants can linger in front of their favorite exhibits, take unobstructed photos and even see bits of our morning routine, from fish feedings to shark tank cleanings. Your admission includes a continental breakfast and guided Aquarium tour. Ticket prices are $23 per person ($11 for Mote members). Go to www.mote.org/breakfast for more info.
Birthday Parties at Mote
For all you party animals, Mote now hosts children’s birthdays at our waterfront picnic shelter, with a self-guided Aquarium tour included. You can make the party totally your own or opt for birthday cake and other treats, lunch, ocean-themed games and other Mote extras. Parties are available for up to 40 guests and for children ages 3 and older. Visit www.mote.org/birthday for details.
To schedule a Breakfast at Mote tour or birthday party, please call 941-388-4441, ext. 536, or e-mail groupsales@mote.org.
Mote Marine Laboratory is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the science of the sea through the study of marine and estuarine ecosystems, through the public Mote Aquarium and through an Education Division that provides unique programs for all ages.
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