October 31, 2014 – Sarasota, FL – 63 – 91°F    Water temp 79°F       Sunny and Breezy

Sightseeing trip last weekend.  Had to visit Mote Marine laboratory & aquarium.  It is a small aquarium but totally delightful.  It was obvious to us they are actively researching all sorts of sea life.  Notice the jelly fish pictures with the laboratory setup behind the tank.  Lots of equipment to monitor temperature and water chemistry of many of the tanks .

There were a number of displays for sea life around the docks, in the rivers, marshes, and in the sea.  Well done.  The displays had good lighting so you could see the sea life.  There are a couple of interactive displays.  One being the hermit crab display.  With two fingers, you can gently caress the hermit crab.  They feel hard and bumpy.

Sea Turtles – This one, Montego, is mid life right now at about 37 yrs old.  Difficult to see but Montego’s shell was at least 4 feet long.  There were 2 in the tank but Shelley was asleep at the bottom.  We must have just missed feeding time.

I was lucky enough to overhear this question from a visitor.  “I imagine that by the time the turtle gets this large the meat is too tough to eat?” The Volunteer just said. “I really have no idea.”

A volunteer dedicated to preserving sea turtles is asked how flavorful the turtle is when cooked? She was aghast. I thought it was because the gentleman was hungry. It was approaching 5pm dinner hour after all. In many cultures around the world.   Location…location…location.

We found Nemo!

Sea horses –  Mote has a research and breeding program for these lovely creatures.  Many were bound tail to tail.  Were they having sex?  Mote is trying to breed them so it is possible.  No one would say so. Another adult mentioned that the sea horses just like to hang out together holding on to a branch.  Of course they do!

View from the top. Can you see the sea horse?

Just hanging out

Solitary

Dwarf Sea Horse – Another solitary sea horse.  A dwarf seahorse.  About 1/2 inch in size.  Mote Aquarium is researching these delicate little creatures as well.  It looked lonely.

They even had a few Leafy Sea Dragons. Can you see them?  I originally thought the tank was empty with just seagrass growing.  It wasn’t sea grass but Sea Dragons!  When I looked more carefully, I saw these unique creatures.

Manatee Research: there are 2 male manatees in the tank.  The display said these two fellows have volunteered to help humans study them.  I wonder how that happened.  One was asleep on a raised area away from visitors. Since manatees can fall asleep very quickly we weren’t sure if this one was awake or asleep.

Sleeping Manatee?

Are the eyes even open?

This little guy was just floating around in the tank.  Occasionally doing face plants on the observation window. We cringed as its snout got all squashed against the window but the animal just rolled away unaffected.  The Volunteer told us that each manatee gets fed 70 heads of restaurant quality romaine letter, carrots, and other vegetables a day.  Now that’s a salad!

Lobster? Two of them. Pretty big !  This is a picture of the smaller one.  Almost too big.  I wonder if the larger these guys are, are they tougher to eat.  Where is that man who asked about the turtles?  He might know.

Jelly fish. A tank with a bunch in them for their research and breeding program.  The jellyfish I saw in the marina had more color than the ones in the lab. Maybe there are tastier bits in the marina water to give them color.

Interesting Animals that caught my attention…

Ocellated FrogFish – lovely face

Hermit Crabs all in a row – they can make long chains clinging to one another. The big one is the female.

Every Aquarium has a shark tank!

Inside the shark tank were these huge silver fish. They didn’t look real to me since they were not moving. Almost as large as the sharks themselves.

Five-Toothed Sea Cucumber – I didn’t touch this one.

Time for dinner.  Wonder what we should eat.  Seafood??