To wrap up Taste of UTC Restaurant week, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium is hosting a SEAsonal tasting at Nathan Benderson Park. The event is Thursday, April 13th from 6-8pm.
“This is a really an opportunity for us to meet our neighbors out at the UTC area, said Stephannie Kettle, Public Relations Manager.
Construction is underway for the new mote science education aquarium located at Nathan Benderson park. The tasting tomorrow will be a chance for people to get a sneak peak at the new location.
“Guests will get the opportunity to go up the finish tower at Nathan Benderson Park and see the site, see all of our plans, and learn more about the new aquarium,” said Kettle.
The new state of the art aquarium hopes to improve access to marine education and inspire the next generation of scientists.
“This is a really exciting project for us as its going to be a rebirth of our aquarium,” said Kettle.
Evan Barniskis, Associate Vice President of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium said, “The greatest thing about this new location is that its going to be so much more accessible to everybody being that it’s right off the interstate”.
The existing campus on City Island will not be going anywhere, Mote plans to transform the current location into a research facility.
“We’ve essentially run out of room here on our City Island campus, we’ve turned old bathrooms into new lab spaces,” said Kettle.
This expansion will allow space for updated technology to help Mote’s researchers continue to do what they do best.
“Our research spans everything from sea turtle nesting to sea turtle rehab, we do research w manatees…we have over 25 different research programs and 250 staff members,” said Kettle.
All of this work is extremely important for preserving the local marine environment and wildlife.
“Its really important of us here at mote to do all of that research because it benefits the entire community here at Sarasota and Manatee counties,” said Barniskis.
If you would like to check the progress on the new aquarium or see a virtual tour you can visit moteoceansforall.org by clicking here.
If you are interested in attending the SEAsonal tasting, you can find out more by clicking here. Tonight is the last night to purchase tickets.