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Your Two Sea Fans are back—just in time to talk about tiny turtles! In this episode, Joe and Hayley catch up with Dr. Jake Lasala of Mote's Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program in this midst of his busy fieldwork season, when he spends nights on the beach collecting and releasing sea turtle hatchlings various studies. One study is helping to investigate whether climate change might affect hatchlings' sex ratio—the number of males vs. females. Scientists know that cooler nests produce more male turtles and warmer ones produce more females. Will our changing climate make females more p ..read more

In May and September 2019, Mote scientists and partners undertook their deepest explorations to-date into the Gulf of Mexico's blue holes, underwater caves, springs and sinkholes that attract diverse marine life. The team deployed a “benthic lander”—a framework holding multiple scientific instruments collectively weighing more than 600 pounds—into the offshore Amberjack Hole, whose bottom extends deeper than 350 feet. In this episode of Two Sea Fans, Mote scientists Dr. Emily Hall and Jim Culter share what the team discovered inside this deep, dark and fascinating blue hole. Tune in to hear wh ..read more

After red tide caused serious fish kills along the Gulf of Mexico in 2018, three fish-friendly organizations joined forces in a science-based effort to help the popular sportfish common snook rebound faster in certain hard-hit areas. Mote Marine Laboratory, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) launched the Adopt-A-Snook program allowing the public to donate toward raising and releasing juvenile snook in a fisheries enhancement effort based on more than two decades of research. In this episode of “Two Sea Fans,” Mote Staff Scien ..read more

Mote Aquarium Biologist II Veronica Garcia just returned from an adventure in Argentina, where she assisted the program Proyecto Yacaré in their conservation and research efforts with broad-snouted caimans — reptiles related to alligators and crocodiles. Garcia tells hosts Joe and Hayley what it was like to visit Argentina, help incubate caiman eggs and care for the hatched caimans, visit nest sites in the field with a local guide and participate in Proyecto Yacaré’s student research projects. Many thanks to the Florida Association of Zoos & Aquariums for the competitive grant that allowed ..read more

Since 1968, passionate ocean educators have been joining the Florida Marine Science Educators Association (FMSEA). This episode features two of our favorite FMSEA friends — Jason Robertshaw of Mote’s Virtual Learning Program and Kasey Gaylord-Opalewski of EarthEcho International — sharing how they train teachers in safe, legal collection of aquatic organisms and lead multiple efforts focused on conservation and ocean literacy. What is ocean literacy anyway? What ocean topics are “hot” among educators right now? Why is Joe so good at answering ocean trivia questions? Do FMSEA educators really h ..read more

The world's third-largest barrier coral reef is losing its battle with an unprecedented coral disease outbreak, and Mote Marine Laboratory scientists are determined to do something about it. Dr. Erinn Muller, Science Director of Mote’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration, is on the front lines of the response to the stony coral tissue loss disease outbreak on the Florida Reef Tract. She updates hosts Hayley and Joe on the intensive efforts by Mote and numerous partners to study the disease and investigate how coral restoration can help the reef bounce ..read more

Today we meet Dr. Lee Fuiman, who investigates how fish "make a living" during the early parts of their lives. He is especially interested in how the diets of adult fish can influence their babies, or larvae. Dr. Fuiman was recently selected as the new William R. and Lenore Mote Eminent Scholar Chair in Fisheries Ecology and Enhancement, an award from Florida State University and Mote that will support his collaboration with Mote scientists studying sportfishes and aquaculture (fish farming). Dr. Fuiman, Director of the Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory at the Marine Science Institute of th ..read more