It’s not just the doe-eyed manatees and those nasty sharks swimming in the tanks that make Mote a must-see stop on a visit to Sarasota. There’s also a touch tank to handle turtles, horseshoe crabs, and stingrays; an Immersion Theater that features short films about the sea; and the chance to go out on a boat on the Gulf of Mexico with a naturalist to see sea life in the wild. The research arm of Mote is at the cutting edge of helping seabirds, even creating prosthetic legs for wood storks and other large birds.
Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium
1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, 34236, FL
