Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay and Sheriff’s Office members received a tour of the Mote Marine Laboratory’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration campus recently on
Johnny Morris presented plans for the oceanfront Valhalla Island Resort development before an audience that included Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and key leaders of the Florida Keys recreational fishing and conservation communities. Valhalla Island is the largest resort property anywhere in the Florida Keys. It includes more than 175 acres and more than a mile of breathtaking beachfront property, located just 15 minutes from the Marathon International Airport, a two-hour drive from Miami and just over an hour from Key West. Plans for the resort involve maintaining over 50% of the property’s green space.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Bass Pro Shops founder and developer Johnny Morris came to Marathon on Friday for a ceremony celebrating the construction of what will be one of the
A couple hours after midnight, one to seven nights after the August full moon, Florida coral are in the mood.
With a swimmer’s synchronicity, they release their eggs and sperm, which stream toward the starlit surface, “like reverse snow happening in the water,” as described by frequent coral spawning observer Allison Delashmit, the director of operations for Mote Marine Lab’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration on Summerland Key, on the south side of the Keys’ famous Seven Mile Bridge.
From Delashmit’s perspective, amid a flotilla of “scientists, volunteers, and anyone with a boat that was willing to sit out in the middle of the night and wait for this event to happen,” the annual phenomenon is beautiful, but incredibly inefficient. When the bundles of eggs and sperm detonate on the surface, the latter has 20 minutes to reach and fertilize the former. Chances of a fertilized egg reaching maturity is about one in a million. Ever
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and one local dive operator are helping to educate tourists and residents on the fragile world of coral reef ecosystems.
This month, Captain Hooks Dive Center and Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium unveiled a program called Mote on the Boat, an unique reef experience with leading experts in coral science, Mote spokeswoman Allison Delashmit said.
Every Tuesday, a marine scientist from Mote will come aboard a Captain Hooks Looe Key snorkel and dive trip to talk to visitors and locals alike about the Florida Reef Tract and coral restoration s role in conserving and protecting this national treasure, Delashmit said.