One of the permanently injured resident loggerhead turtles at Mote Marine laboratory in Sarasota. He kept coming up for air and looking at me. I think we had a connection.
One of the resident manatees eating a snack.
A pantropical spotted dolphin that was stranded off the keys years ago is now a permanent resident. Luckily there were no other sick dolphins there while we visited.
Creepy eel looking at me.
Cute little puffer.
Fish that were in the shark tank.
It wouldn’t be an aquarium without Nemo.
New Year’s day was sunny and warm. Hubby and I decided to play tourists and drive down to Sarasota for the day which is a little over an hour from our house. Our first stop was Mote Marine laboratory. They have two buildings, one for fish and sharks and the other for manatees, dolphins and turtles. The manatees, dolphins and turtles that are permanent residents are all permanently injured and cannot be released back into the wild. They also rehabilitate and release injured animals. The laboratory does a lot of work and study on red tide and how it affects the bay and gulf. It’s a little bit of old Florida and we spent a little less than two hours there.
Next stop was Save Our Seabirds. More on that later.
I always think birds are amazing creatures until I see fish! Weird and wonderful. The eel cracked me up. Wonderful shots!
awesome shots. love the eel!
Cool pics of these amazing creatures!
Mote is a really interesting place to visit and they do a lot of good work. Looks like it was a good day.
i remember being at the Miami Seaquarium when I was about 9 years old, a Moray eel just like that one totally creeped me out, I had nightmares afterwards. My siblings and I remember it very clearly, it was in 1959! Obviously made an impression.
)
I like the friendly looking puffer much better
we are fascinated by these images
wow these are great!
~Linda
Wow, it sounds like a super place, Dina. Certainly a place for super photos!
K
Thanks for sharing! I didn’t know about Mote. Will put it on my list of places I must visit!
Great shots!
Beautiful shots.
Frozen Choco Balls
What an amazing collection of creatures! Beautifully photographed! And Nemo is just perfect for MoM! Thank you for sharing it on Mandarin Orange Monday:)