the 941

Mote Marine Laboratory to present first Eugenie Clark Award

The Board of Trustees of Mote Marine Laboratory will be hosting world-renowned oceanographer and explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle – a Mote trustee ? at a special dinner on Tuesday, July 22, at Marina Jacks, 2 Marina Plaza, Sarasota. The evening, organized by the Chairman of Mote’s Board of Trustees, Judy Graham, will begin with cocktails at 6 p.m. followed by a seated dinner at 7 p.m.

The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the inaugural “Eugenie Clark Scientific Explorers Award” to Dr. Earle by Mote President Dr. Kumar Mahadevan and Dr. Eugenie (Genie) Clark, Mote’s founding director, whom the award was named after.

Former chief scientist of NOAA, Dr. Sylvia Earle is president of Deep Search International and chair of the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. She was an Interim Executive Director of Mote Marine Laboratory in 1966 and is currently a member of Mote’s Board of Trustees and chairman of Mote’s Research Committee. Her research concerns marine ecosystems with special reference to exploration and the development and use of new technologies for access and effective operations in the deep sea and other remote environments. Dr. Earle has led more than 60 expeditions and logged more than 6,000 hours underwater, including leading the first team of women aquanauts during the Tektite Project in 1970 and setting a record for solo diving to a depth of 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).

The Eugenie Clark Scientific Explorers Award established for the extraordinary accomplishments, endless passion and exemplary goodwill of Dr. Eugenie Clark, the award is presented only to those who display similar qualities and characteristics in the advancement of science. Founder, first director and resident world-renowned scientist of Mote Marine Laboratory, Genie’s contagious love for life in the sea is continually passed on to people the world over.

In other Mote news:

Cool Shark Tag Return

An acoustic transmitter from a blacktip shark tagged more than seven years ago was recently returned to Mote Marine Laboratory’s Center for Shark Research after the shark was caught by a young fisherman.

The transmitter was surgically implanted in a newborn blacktip shark during a research study of sharks in Terra Ceia Bay on June 4, 2001, by Dr. Michelle Heupel, a former Mote staff scientist (who is now in Australia and an adjunct scientist at Mote). Dr. Heupel’s study looked at the movements and habitat use patterns of young sharks (this work led to some fascinating findings about what sharks do during tropical storms and hurricanes).

As sharks tagged with transmitters swam by underwater acoustic receivers, their movements were recorded and later downloaded and analyzed. The blacktip shark was just over 2 feet long when it was tagged. It measured 5 feet long when it was caught by young Will Flowers, 11, of Shreveport, La., who was fishing near the mouth of the Manatee River with Capt. Gary Huffman, grandfather David Stone, of Bradenton, and other family members.

In addition to the information provided by the shark prior to the battery on the tag running out, this tag return highlights an interesting aspect of shark biology: that some shark species return to the areas where they were born in order to reproduce. The tendency of an animal to return to a specific area or stay in a specific area is called philopatry. Mote’s research on coastal species, like the blacktip, has shown strong philopatric tendencies in many of them ? something previously unknown to scientists. This shark was less than two weeks old when it was tagged. When it was caught by Will, the animal showed signs that it had possibly mated, meaning it had likely returned to its home range to give birth.

Is that cool or what?

The Polyp Post/International Year of the Reef

2008 is the International Year of the Reef, designated to help raise public awareness about the importance of coral reefs to the world’s oceans. Each week, Mote is highlighting reef facts and/or information about current research programs to get the word out about reefs – especially the one here in Florida’s backyard. For more information, or to develop story ideas that your readers and viewers would be interested in, please contact Jamie Tacy at jtacy@mote.org.

The Polyp Post

Next time you wet a line think about this: Even if you’re fishing in the ocean hundreds of miles away from a coral reef, you can still likely thank the reef for supplying your target species.

Coral reefs only cover only a small fraction of the Earth’s ocean floor – just 0.7 percent – yet 25 percent of all marine species call coral reefs home. In fact, coral reefs support 4,000 species of fish at some point during their lives.

Coral reefs matter. Florida anglers can help give reefs a license to survive by purchasing a Protect Our Reefs license plate at www.mote.org/4reef. Reef plate sales support reef research, education and conservation programs.

Bookmark to:

Posted in Current Affairs, Editor's Desk, Environment, Florida, News, Sarasota | Leave a comment