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Special Events Introducing ‘The Teeth Beneath’
The Science of Camouflage Mote Scientist on ‘Mythbusters: The Search’ Roads Most Traveled: Wildlife ‘Blueways’ Adventures in Cuba Mote Milestones Join Today MOTE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2017
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Mote Magazine (ISSN 1553-1104) is published by Mote Marine Laboratory, a world-class nonprofit organization devoted to the ocean and its future. Through marine science stories, Mote hopes to enhance ocean literacy among the public and encourage conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. PRESIDENT & CEO
Michael P. Crosby, Ph.D. ASSISTANT VP, COMMUNITY RELATIONS & COMMUNICATIONS
Stacy Alexander EDITOR
Hayley Rutger
MOTE SPRING 2017 EVENTS CALENDAR
MARCH March 6, 13, 20 & 27 n MOTE’S ANNUAL SPECIAL LECTURE SERIES. Sponsored by Bob and Jill Williams, Mariash Lowther Wealth Management. WAVE Center. 5:30 p.m. cocktail hour (cash bar). www.mote.org/lecture March 8 n COFFEE WITH A SCIENTIST. Dr. Noam Josef, “Studying an Alien Technology: Camouflage Capabilities and Limitations.” Mote’s Boca Grande office. 9 a.m. www.mote.org/coffee March 24 n PARTY ON THE PASS. A casual evening of good food, good fun and goodwill supporting Mote’s dolphin and sea turtle hospitals. “Havana Nights” theme. Mote Aquarium. 6:30 p.m. www.mote.org/party
APRIL April 1 n 31ST ANNUAL RUN FOR THE TURTLES. Sanctioned 5K and 1 mile fun run/walk in support of Mote’s sea turtle research. Siesta Key Public Beach. 6:30 a.m. Register at: www.mote.org/turtlerun
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Alexis Balinski ILLUSTRATOR
Haley Robinson CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Kaitlyn Fusco, Hayley Rutger CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Stacy Alexander, Rusty Dodson/ Adobe Stock, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Kasey Gaylord-Opalewski, Conor Goulding, Meaghan Johnson, Erinn Muller, Arielle O’Brien, The Nature Conservancy, Science Channel, Dena Smith
April 21–22 n SARASOTA BAY CUP: THE MOTE MARINE LABORATORY REGATTA. Coordinated by Bird Key Yacht Club. www.mote.org/regatta
Mote Magazine is proud to recognize Sarasota Magazine as its publishing partner. For information on sponsorship, please contact Sarasota Magazine at 941-478-1109.
May 20 n MEMBER MOVIE NIGHT. Join us after hours for a special showing of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. WAVE Center, Mote Aquarium. 6:30 p.m. RSVP at: www.mote.org/movienight
SPRING 2017 • VOLUME 74
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INFO: 941-388-4441 • M O T E . O R G COVER PHOTO
April 27 n TEA FOR THE SEA. Celebrates women’s leadership in science and philanthropy. Sarasota Yacht Club. 2:30 p.m. www.mote.org/tea
MAY May 14 n MOTHER’S DAY. Any mom may visit Mote Aquarium for free with the purchase of their accompanied child’s ticket. Party must include one paid ticket per free ticket.
June 3 n WORLD OCEANS DAY FAMILY FESTIVAL. Games, crafts and educational booths sharing knowledge about our wondrous oceans. Free with regular admission. Mote Aquarium. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. www.mote.org/worldoceansday June 18 n FATHER’S DAY. Any dad may visit Mote Aquarium for free with the purchase of their accompanied child’s ticket. Party must include one paid ticket per free ticket.
JULY July 7-9 n SARASOTA LIONFISH DERBY. Divers help harvest an invasive species and the public is invited to a fun, educational culminating event. Based at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium. This common octopus will take part in camouflage research at Mote Marine Laboratory.
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Dates TBD n SHARK DAYS AT MOTE. Mote celebrates its very own shark week with education and entertainment. Look for updates at: www.mote.org/events
New reasons to smile - reptile style
Photo by: Rusty Dodson / Adobe Stock
Big, toothy grins are in store for those who visit “The Teeth Beneath: The Wild World of Gators, Crocs and Caimans,” a new exhibit that opened Feb. 25 at Mote Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida.
BY HAYLEY RUTGER
At “The Teeth Beneath,” visitors can meet Florida’s reptilian residents who survived by tooth, claw, and scaly armor long before the first humans arrived. See American alligators and invasive spectacled caimans found in Florida waters and wetlands, and learn how wetland and coastal habitats are vital to native species such as the elusive and endangered American crocodile. Gators, crocs and caimans are crocodilians — a group of large, reptilian predators that are sometimes feared or misunderstood but play important roles in their ecosystems, reminiscent of the sharks studied by Mote Marine Laboratory scientists. Mote, an independent nonprofit marine science institution, educates visitors through exhibits like “Otters & Their Waters,” which opened in 2015 and highlights watersheds that drain into the ocean. Alongside the otter exhibit, “The Teeth Beneath” continues the watershed-to-ocean theme. “Alligators and their relatives are gorgeous and recognizable animals, but many people don’t know their back-stories — the conservation challenges that some species have overcome, the ways they benefit ecosystems and the reasons they deserve our appreciation, support and respect,” said Evan Barniskis, Assistant Vice President for Mote Aquarium. “We want visitors to see these animals with new eyes.” “The Teeth Beneath” is open — wide open — 10 a.m.-5 p.m. seven days a week in Mote Aquarium. It is located in Mote’s Ann and Alfred E. Goldstein Marine Mammal Research and Rehabilitation Center, 1703 Ken Thompson Parkway in Sarasota, Florida — down the street from the Aquarium admissions office. Learn more at: www.mote.org/visit
Gator gab and croc talk Like the sharks studied at Mote, crocodilians are top predators integral to nature’s food webs, helping control prey like plant-eating rodents. They benefit ecosystems — for instance, digging holes where wildlife finds water during droughts. Crocodilians can hold their breath up to an hour! The animals in “The Teeth Beneath” are being trained using positive reinforcement: rewarding an animal with food or another treat when it completes a desired behavior. Training is meant to support their care, feeding and veterinary procedures. Crocodilians are extremely noisy. During mating season, male alligators, caimans and crocodiles roar loudly and females answer with prominent bellows. Don’t be an insti-gator: It is illegal to harass, feed or possess gators or crocs in Florida. Feeding can make shy animals aggressive.
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Octopus Lab: Science meets stealth
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WANT TO INTERN AT MOTE? Learn more and apply online at:
mote.org/internships
BY KAITLYN FUSCO
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1 Mote’s new cephalopod lab has 12 aquariums large enough for
one octopus each, with eight resident octopuses and four cuttlefish at press time. Overhead LED lights provide a daily light cycle (most octopuses are nocturnal or at least prefer subdued lighting). 2 Curtains shield the octopuses from seeing one another, preventing
3 What has three hearts, blue blood, eight arms, a hankerin’ for stone crabs and is really good at hide-and-seek? That’s right, an octopus!
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ote Marine Laboratory scientist Dr. Noam Josef wants to learn more about how octopuses interact with stone crab traps in southwest Florida and eat the delicious stone crabs within. He and his colleagues also study these color-changing creatures to make algorithms predicting their complex camouflage. Cephalopods are marine mollusks — animals with no backbones, including octopuses, cuttlefish and squids — that perform the fastest and most versatile camouflage displays in the animal kingdom. Octopuses are colorblind, yet they intentionally display rapid, dynamic and successful camouflage patterns. When an octopus stalks its prey or avoids predators, it can camouflage instantaneously and seamlessly among rocks, coral or other objects in its environment.
aggressive behavior, and minimizing stress from routine maintenance. 3 The octopuses are given enrichment devices — such as PVC pipes and screw-top jars — for healthy mental and physical stimulation. 4 An experimental tank will be used to measure octopuses’ camouflage capabilities. In general, advancing camouflage technology based on nature can be used for fashion, recreation, understanding ecological predator-prey relationships, defense applications and more.
Octopuses are one of the main predators of stone crabs. In some recent years, fishers have found many octopuses in their traps instead of stone crabs. To study octopus-crab interactions, Josef will place an octopus and a crab trap in an experimental tank, and a video camera will record how the octopus enters and exits the trap and interacts with the crabs. Josef hopes to learn whether octopuses demonstrate different risk-assessment behaviors while interacting with clawed crabs compared with declawed crabs. By learning how octopuses infiltrate crab traps, Josef hopes he can find ways to keep them out. Josef’s work is carried out through the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC) and Mote, which have joined together as part of an exciting new IHMC-Mote Postdoctoral Research Fellowship collaboration. MOTE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2017
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Photo courtesy of: Science Channel
myth busted: science and style don’t mix Mote scientist shares what she learned from competing on the national TV show “Mythbusters: The Search” BY KAITLYN FUSCO
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self-proclaimed fan of snapback hats, fingerless gloves and ripped jeans, Mote Marine Laboratory scientist Dr. Tracy Fanara admits not everyone pegs her for a Ph.D. scientist, but she hopes her debut on the national TV show “Mythbusters: The Search” helps bust the myth that science is supposed to look a certain way.
My job calls for creative mythbusting through investigative design, experimentation and research of environmental issues, while helping the public separate myth from fact regarding the impacts of Gulf of Mexico red tide, Karenia brevis, which produces toxins that can kill marine life and cause respiratory illness in humans.
“Mythbusters: The Search” is a new series that aired from Jan. 7 to Feb. 23 on the Science Channel and featured 10 next-generation science and building pros who worked to bust myths while being judged each week as they vied to become the next host of the widely popular science and engineering show “Mythbusters.”
I also have extensive experience in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling through my doctorate work, along with nearly 10 years of engineering consulting design experience. I also have expertise in stormwater treatment and water quality analyses, as I studied the fate and removal of phosphorus in urban environments by “storm chasing” for my master’s degree research. My biology experience includes a study of microscopic algae called diatoms as water quality indicators, seagrass displacement and algae growth in water bodies. I also mentored and served as design engineer for two integrated, nationally winning, EPA Rainworks Challenge teams.
The original “Mythbusters,” hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, launched on Discovery Channel in 2003 and ran through March 2016. In “Mythbusters: The Search,” Fanara and nine other contestants applied their science, engineering and building skills to tough puzzles like finding a needle in a haystack for a chance to follow in Savage and Hyneman’s footsteps.
q&a with fanara q: Can you tell me a bit about yourself as a scientist? a: I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degrees and doctorate, all in environmental engineering, at the University of Florida. I now manage the Environmental Health Research Program at Mote, where I investigate the effects of marine and freshwater chemicals on the environment and public health.
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What was it like filming for the show and why did you want to do it?
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It was such an incredible and rewarding experience. At first I was nervous, but I knew this was such a great opportunity. Applying a scientific approach to hypotheses is my passion: It is what I do at Mote and it is what “Mythbusters” is all about. I believe that change and growth are inspired by education, and having the opportunity to spark scientific interest, especially on national television, has the potential to be powerful.
I saw this opportunity as a chance to show women, young and old, that there is no stereotype to smart, that science is cool, and that anyone can be a scientist or engineer with some passion and hard work. I like that I can be a role model for women in science and I hope to use this platform to show women, and really anyone, that they can be whatever they want to be if they put their mind to it.
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What was your favorite myth you tested and why?
My favorite myth was episode 1’s ejecto seato. I loved that I was able to use my knowledge of physics to provide design calculations and dive into the build. The coolest part was driving the car and ejecting the passenger seat.
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How do you plan on incorporating what you learned during filming to your job at Mote?
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In the past I have concentrated on design, along with public outreach. After this experience, I have broadened my capabilities and now my research efforts to include development as well as design. Also, I hope to produce research-based documentary video products to engage the public and continue to inspire a love for science.
q: How far did you make it on the show and what are your plans for the future?
a: Although I faced elimination on the show, this was a great first experience in TV and science education. I’ve learned a lot from this experience and intend to take that knowledge into future projects. I think growing professionally and personally comes from going out of your comfort zone, and I knew filming for this show on national television definitely was not in my comfort zone. I did my best knowing that this was a stepping stone toward my goal of creating future outreach tools on a larger scale to inspire environmental scientific interest nationally and globally. I hope that my success will show women that they can excel in science, and that my elimination will show anyone that the path to every dream will come with obstacles and closed doors and people that will tell you “no,” but those obstacles are just challenges, those closed doors aren’t the only way there, and those people telling you “no” will make you even better in the long run. You can achieve any dream; just don’t give up.
Behind-the-scenes photos courtesy of: Science Channel
Below left: Dr. Tracy Fanara is surprised at the success of her team’s first mythbusting project: ejecting a seat from a car. Below center: Fanara and “Buster,” the test dummy from the original “Mythbusters” show.
Above: Dr. Tracy Fanara, Manager of the Environmental Health Research Program at Mote Marine Laboratory, collects a water sample for her research. MOTE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2017
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BY HAYLEY RUTGER
A huge, polka-dotted whale shark swims away from southwest Florida bearing a scientific tag and the nickname “Gilbert,” both bestowed by Mote Marine Laboratory scientists. When his satellite tag pops up to the surface 56 days later and transmits data to the scientists, Gilbert has traveled 1,137 miles.
The coolest part: Gilbert’s journey isn’t rare. Myriad animal species make incredible journeys through the Gulf of Mexico to find food, mates and habitats to bear young. The Gulf surface measures 579,153 square miles, and some migratory birds make a 600-mile crossing in less than 24 hours. Endangered and threatened sea turtles travel hundreds to thousands of miles between Gulf coast nesting beaches and feeding sites. Tunas, swordfish, marlins, sharks and other fishes, whales and dolphins traverse this biodiverse ecosystem. In fact, 79 percent of species dubbed “highly migratory” in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea occur in the Gulf. Recent scientific advances have opened new windows into their world and new opportunities to take good care of it.
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In October 2016, The Nature Conservancy released a new report synthesizing data from over 100 scientists studying 26 Gulf migratory species of fish, sea turtles, marine mammals and birds. This synthesis has begun to reveal “blueways” — migratory corridors that could be “superhighways” for multiple species. Mote senior scientist Dr. Bob Hueter and associate researcher John Tyminski provided data from 25 tracked whale sharks, Earth’s biggest fish species, and bull shark data for this big-picture report. “A big, comprehensive plot of multiple species is useful because these animals don’t live in a vacuum,” Hueter said. “It is important to understand how an organism relates to its environment — including the relationships among migratory species and their predators and prey.”
Photo by: Marj Awai
Gulf on the go
Left: Overlay of migratory corridors for 10 marine species: six fishes, three sea turtles and one marine mammal, and protected and management areas in the Gulf of Mexico. Source: Brenner, J., C. Voight, and D. Mehlman. 2016. Migratory Species in the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem: Pathways, Threats and Conservation. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, 93 pp.
Tracking migratory marine life with electronic tags is a relatively new endeavor. Hueter tagged his first sharks in 1975 using simple dart tags for identification, but back then, no commercially available electronic tags could map an animal’s entire journey from point A to point B. Not until 2003 did Hueter deploy his first satellite tag — on a whale shark off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. That tag failed to report. So did the second and third. But in 2005, two Mote tags tracked whale sharks for a month. “In 2006 we deployed eight tags,” Hueter said. “Some reported back, but late,
and one was pulled off by a tour guide who brought it to me later in a restaurant in the town of Holbox.” No one said animal telemetry was easy — but since then, it has come far, fast. “The downsizing of satellite tags, largely from ever-improving battery and processor technology, has opened the door to studying movement and migration of marine species we’d have never considered possible 10 years ago,” Tyminski said.
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“Together with advances in remote sensing technology, we can now overlap the tracks of multiple species from different levels of the food web and ultimately gain an understanding of the living and non-living factors driving animal movement on an ocean scale level, which will be essential for understanding large scale impacts such as climate change.” Those goals dovetail with several recommendations in The Nature Conservancy’s new report, “Migratory Species in the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem: Pathways, Threats & Conservation.” It weaves together migration and observation data for diverse Gulf species, from loggerhead turtles to Gulf menhaden to sperm whales, and derives priorities for science and management. “Our vision was to synthesize all the available information into pathways, to show how species are constantly moving and using the whole Gulf,” said Dr. Jorge Brenner, associate director of marine science for The Nature Conservancy in Texas. “We want government resource managers to read this, invest in research of migratory species and look into integrating the seasonal migration even more in management — taking into account that a species is here now, elsewhere later. What affects their migration can affect their survival.” Mote-tagged whale shark Gilbert is one excellent “tour guide” to explore the report’s findings. Gilbert swam northwest from Florida into deep-blue open water of the Gulf, heading toward one significant migratory corridor offshore of the Mississippi River Delta. According to the Conservancy report, multiple species travel corridors between Louisiana’s coast and Veracruz, Mexico, around Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and south Florida, in the Straits of Florida and off the western edge of Cuba — making all these areas priorities for science and conservation.
Above: Tracks of three whale sharks tagged with satellite transmitters by Mote scientists show how these highly migratory fish can move throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Prepared by John Tyminski/Mote Marine Laboratory.
In the northern Gulf, Gilbert may be vulnerable to ship strikes in some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. In this area with numerous oil rigs, pollution events could affect his delicate filterfeeding anatomy.
Of threats to multiple fish species listed in the report, No. 1 is “bycatch,” unintentional catch that can include protected species. Fortunately that shouldn’t affect Gilbert, because whale sharks are not normally caught on fishing gear in the Gulf. But it’s a Only one percent of the reported corridors overlap protected habitats, huge problem for other types of sharks, fish and sea turtles. Next and even protected species like whale sharks face challenges. in the ranking of threats to Gulf fish species are dams that can bar migrations upriver, loss of habitat including wetlands and mangroves, invasive lionfish, low-oxygen waters that can become “dead zones,” shipping traffic, multiple kinds of pollution, and more. WHALE SHARK Rhincodon typus To understand the impacts of such threats, “The largest fish in the ocean, more than 500 gather every year in the waters of the Yucatán Peninsula, the largest documented aggregation in the world.“ STATUS: VULNERABLE
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Source: TNC
the report recommends documenting Gulf migrations in much greater detail — particularly for species that have escaped scrutiny because they are not targeted by industry, or aren’t endangered or easily tracked. Other priorities focus on sharing and combining animal-movement data, and better integrating migratory corridors into wildlife management.
Here lie complex challenges. “There isn’t a master, multinational, open-access archive for all migratory species data in the Gulf of Mexico,” Hueter says. “But we’re seeing a move toward big, open metadata files in many arenas of marine science. If you look at efforts like the many research projects on the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout, systems have been created where data are shared and accessible to all.” Mote senior scientist Dr. Dana Wetzel leads fish toxicology research related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout through a consortium funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Researchers funded by the Initiative are required to share their results or data through the open-access system GRIIDC, whose website includes 1,372 data files from 247 research groups with 2,526 people.
These sharks face risks from growing boat-based ecotourism, ship strikes and coastal development around their much-needed Yucatan feeding sites. However, Mexico recently expanded the scope of a Whale Shark Biosphere Reserve off Cancun, which increases the Mexican federal government’s authority to apply protections. Mote-tagged whale sharks from this site have helped reveal that migratory species move among the Yucatán, south Florida and northwest Cuba sites — focal areas in the Conservancy’s report. In this region, wildlife managers are challenged to work across international boundaries, and some species are especially vulnerable.
OCEANIC WHITETIP SHARK Carcharhinus longimanus
Highly migratory species that GRIIDC started with strong momentum — BP’s is still caught off Cuba’s north pledge of significant funding through GoMRI coast, mostly as bycatch. and the unifying need to address a major Fishing for whitetips is already environmental disaster. Not all data sharing restricted in the U.S. systems have such momentum, but several STATUS: VULNERABLE systems focused on migratory species are growing. For example, the website www.seaturtle.org has multiple species’ satellite For example: The oceanic whitetip shark, a severely depleted tracks dating back to 2003, more than 300 active at press time migratory species, is currently proposed to become listed under and several from the Gulf. The Integrated Ocean Observing System the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Though fishing for whitetips is developed an Animal Telemetry Network in the past five years, already restricted in the U.S., this shark is still landed off Cuba’s but so far it is most active in the Pacific. The new but growing north coast, mostly as bycatch. iTAG network helps Gulf fisheries scientists — like Dr. Jim Locascio “Scientists in Cuba and the U.S. have been learning about this at Mote — share data collected by a large-scale array of acoustic by working with the fishermen,” Hueter said. “We have access, receivers that detect tagged fish swimming within range. together, to this really important information and thus we need to Each system is valuable, but good luck finding a one-stop shop collaborate to protect these migratory species.” with simple summaries for resource management! “The oceanic whitetip sharks caught in Cuba are almost all What scientists do have, however, is a solid foundation to expand, juveniles,” said Alexei Ruiz Abierno of the University of Havana, a integrate and disseminate more data on migratory species ahead frequent collaborator with Hueter. “That is interesting and I really of big changes — especially in the southern Gulf. want to understand this. Is there a nursery (where young sharks “The majority of our knowledge of species occurrence, ranges, and grow) in Cuban waters? That could be a very important finding.” movements is biased toward the northern Gulf and, specifically, “The Nature Conservancy’s report comes amid increasing the United States,” notes the Conservancy report. Many migratory exchange between the U.S. and Cuba, which we hope can animals don’t share that geographic bias. continue under the new U.S. administration,” says Dan Whittle, In southern Gulf waters off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, Mote senior director for oceans with the Environmental Defense scientists Hueter and Tyminski, with Mexican colleague Rafael de Fund (EDF). “It makes the case for investing more in science, la Parra, have spent years tagging whale sharks that gather by the management and conservation ahead of changes that could affect hundreds at a summer feeding hotspot. natural resources in the region.”
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ATLANTIC TARPON Megalops atlanticus “Highly prized coastal trophy fish facing significant losses to juvenile nursery habitats and its populations.“
STATUS: VULNERABLE
Source: TNC
In June 2017, Hueter and Mote colleagues will join U.S., Cuban and Mexican scientists in Miami in the latest meeting of the Trinational Initiative for Marine Science and Conservation in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean. This group empowers scientists to share information and work together, and some members focus on translating that science to inform policy. “I first met Bob Hueter through the Trinational Initiative in 2007,” said Conservancy scientist Brenner, who turned to Hueter and Mote for data to support the migratory species report. “I am happy to do this kind of work in collaboration with Mote. Sharing data and knowledge — that’s the way to go.”
Cuba has been exploring to potentially drill for oil off its northwestern coast, and with U.S. travel restrictions eased recently, some predict Cuba might be hosting 6.5 million more travelers by 2030. “The migratory species information the Conservancy report provides, and calls for gathering, is critically important to get a baseline sense of these ecosystems now,” Whittle said. Mote scientists and Cuban colleagues are on it. They placed the first satellite tags on sharks in Cuban waters during a 2015 expedition by Mote, Cuba’s Center for Coastal Ecosystems Research, the University of Havana, other Cuban institutions, and EDF. The team tracked a longfin mako shark for five months into U.S., Mexican and Bahamian waters.
BLUE MARLIN Makaira nigricans “Prized offshore trophy fish. Particularly vulnerable to bycatch, believed to be the leading source of mortality in U.S. waters.“ STATUS: VULNERABLE
Source: TNC
STATUS: NOT THREATENED
In addition, EDF, Mote and their Cuban counterparts played substantial roles in translating science into policy to help Cuba prepare its National Plan of Action for Sharks, released in 2015. Nation-to-nation conservation efforts remain a big area of need for protecting migratory species. According to the Conservancy’s report, “Although a number of international and national laws and treaties exist to conserve biodiversity, including those that migrate, the main focus of conservation implementation remains management of national priorities within national boundaries.” Good news on that front: In January 2017 the U.S. and Cuba announced a new pact for the prevention of and response to oil spills in the Gulf. In late 2015, U.S. and Cuban federal government agencies signed an agreement to facilitate joint efforts in science, stewardship, and management related to marine protected areas in both nations.
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BULL SHARK
Carcharhinus leucas
“Large coastal sharks that use estuarine habitats as nursery for their young. They can invade freshwater streams in search for food.“ Source: TNC
CUBA SCIENCE 101: An educational journey In December 2016, Mote Marine Laboratory led an educational expedition to Cuba, introducing travelers to Cuba’s marine ecosystems and the Mote-Cuba partners who study them. Here are photos from their adventures, which included touring Havana, diving in the Gardens of the Queen National Marine Park, and more.
Top Left: From left: Mote Staff Scientist Dr. Erinn Muller, John Gonzales, Mote Trustee Elizabeth Moore, Mote President & CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Mote Senior Scientist Dr. David Vaughan, Mote Trustee Rogan Donelly and Stewart Bennett. Middle Left: Front row from left: Mote Trustees Dean Eisner, John Dart, Susan Gilmore, Elizabeth Moore, Ret. Gen. Howard G. Crowell and Rogan Donelly. Back row from left: Mote Senior Scientist Dr. David Vaughan, Dr. Patricia Gonzalez of University of Havana, Mote President & CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Alexei Ruiz Abierno and Dr. Maickel Armenteros Almanza of University of Havana, and Mote Senior Scientist Dr. Bob Hueter. Bottom Left: From left: Mote Trustee Rogan Donelly and Stewart Bennett collect data during a dive. MOTE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2017
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Photo by: Meaghan Johnson/The Nature Conservancy
Less bleaching but more disease on Florida reefs Florida’s shallow coral reefs in the Dry Tortugas to Martin County experienced mild to moderate bleaching in summer 2016, but some areas had widespread coral disease, according to the Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP).
Students, teachers dive deep into Mote’s Ocean Technology Club
FRRP partners monitored 162 sites in August through October, 2016. Partners included The Nature Conservancy, Mote Marine Laboratory, Broward County, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Miami-Dade County, National Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Nova Southeastern University and University of Miami.
Dr. Jordon Beckler, Mote staff scientist, wants to spark young people’s interest in ocean technology in a fun, engaging way. In collaboration with Mote’s Education Department, Beckler started Mote’s Ocean Technology Club – a program that allows Sarasota- and Manatee-county high school students and teachers to learn and apply science and technology skills through the mentorship of marine researchers at Mote.
Severe bleaching — when more than half the hard coral colonies at a site bleach fully or partially (known as paling) — occurred in a few Upper Keys sites, and moderate bleaching occurred in some areas of South Palm Beach, Broward-Miami, Upper Keys, Lower Keys and Dry Tortugas sites. Overall, bleaching and paling were much lower than in the past two summers.
Together with Mote scientists and educators, the selected student and teacher members are starting to explore oceanography, physics, chemistry, electronic circuitry and computer programming through real-world examples and applications — from deploying monitoring devices in local environments to working closely with Mote scientists using robotic gliders to monitor for harmful algae.
The mass coral bleaching of 2014 and 2015 caused lingering stress that might have increased corals’ vulnerability to disease. In 2016, multiple FRRP-monitoring sites had prevalent disease, with half the worst-affected sites in the Upper Keys.
The club kicked off with an initial meeting on Jan. 10 when students were introduced to electronic breadboards, one of the most fundamental pieces for learning to build circuits, and the software they will be using to design and manufacture kits for building digital devices that can measure water temperature and other physical factors in real time.
Scientists in Mote’s Coral Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program covered the Lower Keys sites, equipped with early alerts of reef conditions from volunteers in the Keys-wide, Mote-led programs BleachWatch and C-OCEAN. All sources suggested that summer 2016 generally spared Lower Keys corals. “Staghorn corals, along with nearly a dozen other species being grown in our offshore nursery in the Lower Keys, did not appear stressed at all this year, resulting in much better growth,” said Erich Bartels, manager of the Coral Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program. “As a result, we expect to have significantly more staghorn coral to outplant for our reef restoration projects this year.” Mote Senior Biologist Cory Walter will begin distributing volunteerdriven BleachWatch reports in June. Look for BleachWatch trainings during May in the Florida Keys and learn how to help year-round at: www.mote.org/bleachwatch
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Club members learned how these skills will help them in their first project: building fully functional temperature sensors that they will later deploy along Phillippi Creek to enhance an ongoing Mote study investigating how juvenile common snook — a popular sport fish — use habitats in the creek. “The goal of this club is to motivate students to take an interest in and maybe pursue science and technology careers, while encouraging them to appreciate the value of the marine ecosystems in our own backyard,” Beckler said. “Members will be given hands-on experience that will actually contribute to research projects conducted here at Mote.” The club is scheduled to meet every other week until April 18. Learn more about Mote’s Ocean Technology Program by visiting: www.mote.org/oceantechnology
Photo by: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Field notes from a 95-whale stranding
Teens: Clean up our coast with Mote interns!
In January, Mote scientists rolled up their sleeves and plunged into the largest marine mammal stranding response of their careers.
Mote Marine Laboratory, which hosts 100 teen interns and volunteers on average each year, is proud that its high school interns make a difference at the Lab and in the Sarasota-Manatee community. Mote’s Education Department interns organize and invite fellow teen ocean enthusiasts for a clean-up a few times a year on City Island, Sarasota.
Ninety-five false killer whales stranded along mangrove-dense beaches of the Florida Everglades. This called for a huge, team response effort from scientists and wildlife managers who mobilized immediately to learn all they could and ensure humane treatment for the whales. Partners included NOAA Fisheries, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the National Park Service, Mote Marine Laboratory, Chicago Zoological Society, Dolphins Plus Oceanside Marine Mammal Responders, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Marine Animal Rescue Society, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, the University of Florida, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Geological Survey. Rescuers tried to herd several animals back into deeper waters but they re-stranded. Seventy-two whales died on their own, 10 were humanely euthanized, and 13 were unaccounted for. Members of FWC, Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program and the University of Florida performed complete necropsies (animal autopsies) on eight of the animals. Samples for genetics were collected from all known animals. In the coming months biologists will try to determine why the whales stranded. Even with lab results, a cause of stranding is not guaranteed. According to NOAA, this was the largest mass stranding of false killer whales documented in the United States. Mote staff are extremely grateful for stranding response support from NOAA’s John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program. While Prescott Grants provide partial support, demands for Mote’s response, rehabilitation and research with marine mammals and sea turtles cannot be met without philanthropic giving.
Teens can RSVP now for the next coastal clean-up on April 15. Participants will help Mote’s high school interns rid City Island of marine debris. Bring a water bottle, friendly attitude and a willingness to help our coastal ecosystems! Students can earn community service hours. Check-in will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the whale fountain in front of Mote Aquarium. “Mote’s interns are extraordinary — not only do they excel in their daily activities here at Mote, but they work as a team to organize these coastal clean-ups,” said Kasey Gaylord-Opalewski, Senior Coordinator for Digital Programs at Mote. “It’s wonderful to see youth inspire youth and take it upon themselves to get involved with the community.” Pre-registration and signed waivers are required. Sign up via: www.mote.org/events What: City Island Coastal Clean-up Who: Students ages 14-18 When: 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. Saturday, April 15, 2017 Where: Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236
Support these critical efforts: www.mote.org/support MOTE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2017
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School all year long? Not a bad thing in our book.
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