Mote Magazine Spring 2004 by Mary Ellen Seyle

Volume XXXXIX No. 1

from the president

President and Publisher Dr. Kumar Mahadevan

Executive Editor Susannah Costello Managing Editor Nadine Slimak Art Director Mary Ellen Wagener Magazine Sponsorship Carolyn Haworth Contributing Writers Susannah Costello, Nadine Slimak Photography/Illustration Brian Balmer, Jim Grimes, Faith Keller, Nadine Slimak, Mary Ellen Wagener The Legacy

Tampa native and New York businessman William R. Mote came to Sarasota in 1965, bringing with him his love of the sea and a desire to create a marine laboratory. He found the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory already established by Dr. Eugenie Clark with financial backing William R. Mote from Anne and 1906-2000 William H.Vanderbilt. Mr. Mote was inspired to help the small lab grow into a thriving research facility and the lab’s name was changed in 1967 to reflect his family’s contributions. Mr. Mote’s dreams and ambitions are evident in the world-renowned research that Mote scientists perform today. As it was for Mr. Mote to begin this legacy, it is up to us to see that the research thrives. As Mr. Mote once said: “We have taken from the sea for a long time; it is time to give something back.” Cover Photo by Anja G. Burns A loggerhead turtle glides through the sea. MOTE MARINE LABORATORY 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy. • Sarasota, FL 34236 (941) 388-4441 E-mail: info@mote.org • www.mote.org Mote Magazine is published by Mote Marine Laboratory, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the science of the sea. For membership, subscription information or to change your mailing address, contact Robin Cooper at robin@mote.org or (941)388-4441, ext. 373.

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pace exploration has been at the forefront of news coverage as rovers send pictures of Mars terrain to Earth. But there is much yet to learn here on our own planet — especially in the world’s oceans. As Mote approaches its 50th year of marine science exploration, we’re pleased to offer our supporters and readers expanded coverage of marine science. It’s as much an adventure as it is a discipline and with that in mind, Mote Magazine brings you the stories of how we are advancing the science of the sea. In “Propagating Polyps” (page 4), learn about coral aquaculture and the challenges facing the world’s coral reefs. Coral is dying — in the waters off South Florida and the Keys and in other countries. Without the information that aquaculture research will provide, we are at risk of losing some coral species forever. Economically, the reef that runs the length of the Keys brings nearly $800 million to the state’s bottom line, according to an economic analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Environmentally, the loss of coral reefs is impossible to quantify. Mote is committed to the research that will help us protect coral reefs. Revenue from the new “Protect Our Reefs” license plate — available now to Florida drivers — will help fund coral studies by our Tropical Research Laboratory and other organizations. In this issue, Mote Magazine also invites readers on a different sort of journey. In “Turtle Tales” (page 16), follow a sea turtle as she makes her way from hatchling back to a nest of her own creation. Mote researchers have started new studies to help them understand what happens between the time turtles leave the nest and when these threatened and endangered species return decades later to lay eggs. Mote Marine Laboratory has long been on the cutting edge of marine science and has also consistently demonstrated a commitment to public outreach. With the introduction of a new interactive movie, Mote moves to the cutting edge of education. In “Digital Dolphins” (page 25), you can learn about Mote’s use of new computer animation and technologies that will take Aquarium visitors into the world of wild dolphins and the scientists who study them. As we move forward in 2004, Mote researchers continue to make progress on a variety of fronts, including helping wild dolphin populations (page 8), expanding student opportunities (page 13) and snook breeding (page 14). Our mission remains advancing the science of the sea. Through Mote Magazine, we hope you’ll join us on that journey. We thank you for your support. Best regards,

Kumar Mahadevan

SAVING PLACIDA Scientists ride to the rescue to save an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin in Charlotte Harbor.

UNDERWATER FRONTIER Meet Mote’s new underwater archaeologist, J. “Coz” Cozzi.

GENERATION NEXT A National Science Foundation program helps Mote educate a new generation of scientists.

TURNING THE TABLES ON THE WILY SNOOK Mote Aquaculture Park uses new techniques to “trick” snook into breeding in captivity.

TURTLE TALES It’s a long journey from hatchling to nesting adult for endangered and threatened sea turtles.

SCHOOLING UP FOR SHARK SCIENCE The National Shark Consortium brings together the world’s leading shark scientists to better understand the lives of sharks.

DIGITAL DOLPHINS Mote uses the newest interactive computer technology to animate dolphins and educate the public.

PROFILES IN GENEROSITY Mote members help teach about the sea and conduct offshore research.

FOR MEMBERS ONLY New member benefits offer another reason to join Mote.

Photo by Anja G. Burns

PROPAGATING POLYPS Laboratory aquaculture could help save coral species from extinction.

CLICK> www.motemagazine.org MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

Propagating Polyps by NADINE SLIMAK

High Tide. Low Tide.

Daylight. Darkness. Wind and currents swooshing water back and forth, forth and back. That’s life for the coral polyps that make up the world’s barrier reefs — reefs that are in trouble because of manmade and natural disasters. A new project at the Mote Tropical Research Laboratory in Summerland Key is designed to give researchers a way to study corals in a laboratory setting and offer a way to repair weather and manmade damage to reefs. The Mote project will create a coral genetic bank to help repopulate dead and depleted corals, says Dr. Kevan Main, director of Mote’s Center for Aquaculture Research and Development. It will also serve as a study site for researchers interested in the biology of reef diseases. The first question to answer: How do you replicate nature in an aquarium setting? That’s what Dave Lackland, Mote staff biologist, is working on in 150- and 75-gallon tanks at the Summerland research facility. “You have to be the coral,” says Lackland. “Sit where it sits; sit at a teeny coral head just to see what coral is exposed to — water movement, clouds, hot and cold patches. How do you replicate that in the lab?” It’s an important question, considering: � The Keys coral reef tract is the third longest barrier reef in the world. It runs just south of Fort Lauderdale past Key West and is the only extensive living coral reef in the continental U.S.; � The Keys reef tract is home to at least 50 coral species and more than 150 species of fish;

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DINNER BELL: In nature, the zooxanthellae — animals that live in symbiosis with coral — eat whatever happens to pass them by. Mote is trying to feed the animals in a more targeted fashion, by hand, to help speed coral growth. What s the recipe? Take a little zooplankton — microscopic floating animals — add it to a bunch of phytoplankton — microscopic floating plants — throw in a dash of pureed brine shrimp and some amino acids and voilà, you ve got a goulash that helps corals thrive. “Corals don t eat by taste, but by particle size,” says Staff Biologist Dave Lackland. “By blending the mixture to different sizes, were guaranteed that portions will be identified as a prey item and be consumed. What s not consumed will be taken out of the tank through the filtration system.” � More than 3 million people visit Florida’s reef tract each year, bringing $790 million to the state’s economy, according to studies by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; � The water surrounding the reef accounts for more than 20 million pounds of commercially harvested seafood each year; � Coral is in decline.

A grave situation A report by the Florida Marine Research Institute and the University of Georgia shows a 38 percent decline in stony corals in the reef tract between 1996 and 2002 with a number of problems affecting corals. At least seven diseases have been documented by scientists in the Florida

Keys, and coral bleaching is an issue. Corals also die during natural disasters such as hurricanes or during accidents such as boat groundings. A genetic coral bank could offer a lifeline. “Some stocks could be completely lost if we’re not holding on to some seedling colonies,” Main says. “Say, two years from now there aren’t any more of a certain kind of coral in Key Largo. But if we have some in a coral bank, there’s this potential for seedlings to take hold.” The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is on the front line of any disaster: Scientists do triage of damage, then stabilize or replace larger pieces of coral on the reef. Some of the smaller fragments come to Mote. “There are hundreds of fragments of

numerous coral species that are too small for the initial response team to replant,” says Main. “Mote will use those fragments to develop coral colonies to replant at an impacted site.”

Coming to life in the lab Lackland has already gotten nine coral species from a dredging project near the Florida Keys Naval Air Station. “Mote wants to create a Noah’s Ark of each species,” he says. “My job is to think and implement and devise a way to create all the physical parameters needed to grow coral.” Lackland created a small-scale system that mimics some aspects of nature and is setting up different systems as well. In one raceway — a shallow, long tank — PVC pipes and fixtures more common MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

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PLANT OR ANIMAL?

Coral reefs grow one polyp at a time over thousands of years. How do they do it? Corals aren’t plants. They’re animals called polyps, similar to sea anemones. What they do is this: They secrete guck — really called calcium carbonate — that makes up a skeleton for the living tissue: the polyps. Polyps sit on that guck — on the skeleton — and grow. Dinner for these filter feeders is plankton. But corals aren’t showy. Brilliant reef colors really come from an algae called zooxanthellae (zo-zan-THEL-ee) that live within the coral polyps. Zooxanthellae live in coral tissues and produce oxygen and energy during photosynthesis. Coral eat up that energy and thrive. Scientists call it symbiosis. It’s a love-love relationship.

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in home plumbing help re-create currents and changes in the direction of water flow. In other tanks, Lackland has taken small fragments of staghorn coral and coaxed them to grow. “I fragged them — simply cut them as if I would trim a plant — and used a special adhesive to mount it on substrate,” he says. “And the frags have forked and branched.” In the new tanks, Mote will pit different growth systems against each other to find the best way to grow corals in a lab. For instance, one tank of corals will be exposed to longer periods of light than another; water flow over the corals will be different in different tanks; other changes will mimic high and low tides. “We’ll also have aggressive water movement to see where that gets us,” Lackland says. One theory that Mote will be testing is whether using lower wattage light bulbs over longer periods of time — less energy over more hours — is a less expensive way to grow corals than using high-wattage bulbs over shorter periods.

Another question is whether it’s possible to grow corals rapidly in a lab and then wean them toward a cycle that more closely mimics nature before they are put back on the reef. In addition to restocking the natural coral habitats, the coral bank will be useful for other researchers. “Mote’s coral bank will serve as a potential resource for the coral research community,” says Main.

The science of disease Dr. Kim B. Ritchie, a new staff scientist, came on board at Mote in January as manager of the microbiology program to direct studies of coral diseases. During a 1990s collaboration with researchers from the University of South Carolina and the University of California, Berkeley, Ritchie documented that a fungus called Aspergillus sydowii is responsible for the mass destruction of sea-fan coral. She and researchers from the University of Georgia also identified

Coming soon to a computer near you Mote is working with the Mystic Aquarium and Dr. Robert Ballard to install an underwater camera that will broadcast from the Keys reef tract 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The goal is to give people who don’t or can’t dive a look at life underwater so they can experience and learn about the nation’s watery national parks. A similar camera already installed by Mystic broadcasts images from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The setup in the Keys will be powered with solar cells and cameras will use wireless technology to broadcast to Mote Marine Laboratory’s Tropical Research Laboratory at Summerland Key. From there it will be “beamed” out to Mystic Aquarium, which will send the images across the nation via the internet. The partners in this endeavor are Dr. Ballard’s Institute for Exploration, NOAA, Mystic Aquarium, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and Mote. Viewers should be able to see life on the reef by the end of 2004.

Driving coral home

WHITE OUT: Coral bleaching is when zooxanthellae leave the coral polyps they live in because of environmental stress. Because the zooxanthellae lend their colors to the clear polyps, the polyps are left white, or “bleached” as in the picture at the right. If the stress goes away, the zooxanthellae may return and life on the reef goes on; otherwise, the corals will eventually die.

the cause of white pox disease, a bacterium called Serratia marcescens. Ritchie will continue her research into white pox and other coral diseases. One theory she’ll be looking into is what happens with the bacteria normally living on healthy reefs when coral become stressed or “sick.” The question is whether the bacteria take advantage of the corals’ weakened state and kill them. She also plans to study healthy reefs. “Until we understand what the ingredients are for a healthy coral reef, we won’t know how to fix them,” Ritchie says. Mote is also working with the National Marine Sanctuary and EarthEcho International (formerly the Philippe Cousteau Foundation) in their efforts to

research, restock and rehabilitate corals in the Florida Keys and other coral reef communities. “Absolutely, the coral reefs aren’t hopeless,” says Billy Causey, superintendent of Florida’s marine sanctuary. “The reefs have been around for 400 million years, and they’re under the greatest amount of stress from human activities they’ve ever been under. They’re a lot more vulnerable than we ever realized. But the more we understand them, the closer we study them, the better we’re able to decipher what we need to do to better manage them.” After all, it’s all about getting the reefs healthy again. Even if it’s one polyp at a time.

Florida drivers can help coral reefs by buying a new “Protect Our Reefs” license plate. Tags are available for an additional $25 on top of the annual renewal fee and will help pay for coral reef research, education and conservation. Mote will share the funds with other Florida-based coral research, conservation and education organizations. DeeVon Quirolo, executive director of Reef Relief, which was founded as a grassroots effort in the Keys in 1986, said the money will help strengthen existing research and conservation efforts. Her organization is working to catalogue years worth of photos of Keys coral. “We’re starting to see new coral growth,” Quirolo says. “We want to archive this into a database so researchers can access the ongoing changes at the reef.” Such efforts are an important part of coral research, says Billy Causey, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. “It’s critical to have such grassroots efforts like Reef Relief, the Reef Alliance and R.E.E.F.,” he says. “It’s absolutely critical to have them at the local, national, regional and global level for education, outreach and mitigation.”

MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

Saving Placida

by NADINE SLIMAK

rowing up is hard to do — especially when you’re a 1 1 /2-year-old dolphin wounded by a boat propeller and have fishing line stuck in your wound that keeps it from healing.

Placida, an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, suffered just such a plight sometime in late October or early November when a boat propeller carved a series of parallel gashes into her caudal peduncle — the area just before the fluke. Then, as she swam with her mother around Placida Harbor, near Boca Grande, strands of monofilament fishing line got stuck in the injury and threatened to slice through her tail. The problem was exacerbated when algae attached to the line, causing more drag on the wounds. That’s when scientists from Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program rode to the rescue on two 2002 Aqua Trax F12X personal watercraft provided by American Honda. They used the watercraft to check on Placida’s

condition and determine what kind of help the animal needed.

Scientists to the rescue Alert boaters first spotted Placida in early November trailing the monofilament line. Then they called Mote scientists who have the training and federal permits needed to monitor and help injured dolphins. The stranding team used the watercraft to get close enough to check Placida’s injury. After watching her from the watercraft for a few days to see whether she could get rid of the line on her own, they knew they had to act. A team coordinated by Mote’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, including 20 biologists, veterinary staff and trained

dolphin handlers, was deployed to the harbor to remove the fishing line and treat the wounds before releasing Placida at the site. The team worked quickly to clear the fishing line, remove dead tissue from the wound, give Placida an antibiotic, and release her so she could return to her mother. “This small calf has had to deal with far too many negative human interactions during its short life — the fishing line becoming embedded in the propeller wounds was adding insult to injury, literally,” said Dr. Randall Wells, director of Mote’s Center for Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Research and coordinator of the rescue efforts. “Recreational fishing gear continues to be a serious problem for dolphins on the west coast of Florida, both through entanglement and ingestion. I hope we were able to give this animal the boost it needed to complete its healing.” Because they were able to remove the line, Mote scientists decided it would be better to leave Placida with her mother and monitor her closely in the wild than bring her to Mote’s Dolphin and Whale Hospital. The personal watercraft were essential in monitoring this calf ’s progress, said Dr. Deborah Fauquier, deputy program manager of the stranding investigations team. “This has been a perfect use for the watercraft,” Fauquier said. “They’re much easier to launch and we can use them to reach shallower areas.” TOGETHER AGAIN: Placida and her mother swim together after Placd i a s checkup.

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How to help �

Stay at least 50 yards from wild dolphins while boating or using personal watercraft. It is a federal offense to threaten, harass, touch or feed wild dolphins. Mote scientists were allowed to get close enough to Placida to monitor her with personal watercraft and treat her from boats

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because they have federal permits allowing them to perform those tasks. Check your fishing gear before heading out to wet a line. Make sure your fishing line is in good shape, that way it won’t easily break off and end up in the water. Stow used line. Make sure you collect any lines broken while you’re out on the water and bring them back to

shore. Once on land, the monofilament should be discarded in a secure bin so it doesn’t blow back into the water. It is against Florida law to intentionally discard monofilament into area waters because such lines entangle birds, marine mammals, sea turtles and fish, often killing or injuring them.

CHECKING IT OUT: Gretchen Hurst, (front) and Dr. Deborah Fauquier (rear) use personal watercraft to monitor Placida s condition.

MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

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M ote’s new underwater frontier G

by NADINE SLIMAK

ale force winds, hurricanes, an unexpected iceberg or an unknown coral reef. For as long as men have sailed the seas, ships have sunk. For fame, there is the Titanic in the North Atlantic; for treasure, the Senora de Atocha near the Marqueses in the Gulf of Mexico. But watery hulls remain obscured — fish their only explorers and crabs their only residents — or buried altogether under silt and sand.

Some wreck locations can only be guessed at by researchers who pour through historic shipping records often found in other countries. Other vessels, never recorded, may be lost forever. Charlotte Harbor, which laps at the shores of Lee and Charlotte counties, is Florida’s second largest bay and has one of the state’s deepest natural inlets, Boca Grande. It’s been traveled by seafarers for centuries — from the Calusa, to the Spanish to blockade runners during the Civil War. While sunken vessels have been reported in the harbor, its waters have never been systematically explored. “The possibilities are endless; it’s such a frontier-type place,” says Dr. J. “Coz” Cozzi, Mote’s new nautical archaeologist. Cozzi has requested a $50,000 grant from the state’s Division of Historical Resources for a new Charlotte Harbor project he’s beginning in the spring. Cozzi hopes to seek — and find — shipwrecks in Southwest Florida by surveying the harbor. He hopes to eventually expand his shipwreck search to Tampa Bay and the American Shoal near Mote’s Summerland Key research laboratory.

Why Charlotte Harbor? “Its rich pre-history and history are intimately tied to the waters of the Gulf, the estuary and rivers,” Cozzi says. “It was occupied in prehistoric times, when the Spanish ruled, and throughout the American Period. Their long, rich maritime histories suggest that there are shipwrecks to be found.” Cozzi calls it “neglected history.” Not forgotten, exactly, but poorly understood for lack of detailed record. For instance, historians dispute where Hernando de Soto first made landfall in Florida in 1539. It’s possible that de Soto landed in Tampa Bay or Charlotte Harbor. Records show that de Soto scuttled a boat; finding it would end the historical debate about where he landed.

“We know that de Soto scuttled the boat two leagues from his base camp,” Cozzi says. “Unfortunately, we don’t know where the base camp was. If we can find a 16th century shipwreck and link it to de Soto, then we can help shed light on a murky historical picture.” The real treasure of such finds would be the hard evidence of a ship’s final location or even the knowledge itself of how such a ship was built. Shipwrecks may yield still more simple evidence — information no one would have bothered to record — as to the types of pots or dishes seafarers used or even what kinds of brooms they swept decks with. “A wreck is a window into one day of the past,” Cozzi says. To study Charlotte Harbor, Cozzi will use historic records to find likely sources of wrecks then tow a magnetometer, which can detect metallic objects, from a boat to help him pinpoint possible locations. The goal is to map the harbor’s bottom, the way state researchers looked at the waters around Pensacola a few years ago when they found 45 to 50 wrecks. “Mote is a leader in scientific research,” says State Rep. Jerry Paul (R-Port Charlotte), who supports Cozzi’s state grant request. “There is a great need for professionally directed archaeological investigations to document the rich maritime heritage of our national estuary. It’s exciting to recount our maritime history.”

“Why, yet it lives there uncheck'd that Antonio hath a ship of rich lading wrecked on the narrow seas… a very dangerous flat and fatal, where the carcasses of many a tall ship lie buried.” —The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare

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All roads led to the past Coz Cozzi started off as a high school social studies teacher, moved on to underwater commercial welder, met Dr. Eugenie Clark when he built a launch system for a submersible on one of her research trips, took a sidestep researching cat sharks with Clark’s daughter, Hera Konstantinou, and then ended up a nautical archaeologist. Cozzi was living in Maine in 1980 when he first volunteered with a group of researchers from Texas A&M University that was studying a Revolutionary War shipwreck called the Defence. Cozzi’s find of a discarded treenail — used to attach the ship’s hull planks to the frame — helped researchers determine how such nails were made. “Boat makers were pretty illiterate people — smart about building boats, but they didn’t leave much in the way of historical documents about how boats were made,” Cozzi says. “That you could make a discovery like that treenail that would teach people about things unknown to them was fascinating to me.” In 1987, Cozzi was working as a commercial diver when he built Clark’s

launch system — and then married her daughter a year later. Konstantinou encouraged Cozzi to go back to school. He got his Ph.D. from Texas A&M in 2000. Cozzi has excavated a number of shipwrecks, including the La Belle, which belonged to the famous French explorer, Sieur de La Salle. He was hired as assistant project manager in 1996 when the Texas Historical Commission decided to build a cofferdam around the La Belle in order to excavate the ship. Cofferdams are placed around an object, then water is pumped out. “Site work was tough to accomplish there,” Cozzi says. “The water was so poor — black — that you couldn’t see anything. It’s hard to do archaeology when you can’t read a tape measure.” The cofferdam helped the researchers excavate an otherwise impossible site. “The ship was jammed with everything that LaSalle would have needed to build a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi,” which was LaSalle’s goal, says Cozzi. “The context was key. It was the way things related to one another that told the story.”

NOT JUST HISTORY: Coz Cozzi s work has included the discovery of a new species of sawtail catshark with Hera Konstantinou and studies of the behavior of the sandburrower fish with Dr. Eugenie Clark. The entire hull was eventually raised and rebuilt and is awaiting the completion of conservation at Texas A&M. In Florida, Cozzi directed the team that uncovered the bow of Florida’s oldest shipwreck, the Emanuel Point Ship. The site yielded 5,000 artifacts including a bronze pestle and mortar, copper galley wares, pottery, rat bones and insect remains. In 2003, Cozzi joined Mote to head up nautical archaeology efforts at the lab. He’s excited about exploring an area with such a rich maritime past. “We already know some sites have been lost to development,” Cozzi says. “But without doing the research, we won’t have the full story.”

Visit Florida’s shipwrecks

EXCAVATION: Workers placed a cofferdam around the La Belle. Their work showed that La Salles expedition was well-supplied but poorly managed, leading to death of most of the settlers, including La Salle.

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Nine sites in Florida have been designated as Underwater Archaeological Preserves by the state. The program encourages state and local organizations to work together to protect and interpret Florida’s maritime history. The state system of underwater parks started in 1987 and features shipwrecks and other historic sites popular for scuba and skin divers. The parks are open to the public year-round, free of charge. Visit http:// dhr.dos.state.fl.us/bar/uap/ for more information on the vessels. The preserves are the: � Lofthus, a Spanish galleon off Fort Pierce � Urca de Lima, a Spanish galleon off Fort Pierce � San Pedro, a galleon near Islamorada � City of Hawkinsville, a Suwannee River steamboat at Old Town � USS Massachusetts, the nation’s oldest battleship sunk off Pensacola � Copenhagen, a steamer near Pompano Beach � SS Tarpon, a famous steamship wrecked off Panama City � Half Moon, a racing yacht near Key Biscayne � Vamar, a patrol gun boat, which also served as a support boat for Rear-Admiral Richard E. Byrd’s first expedition to Antarctica, off Mexico Beach.

Generation

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA: Intern Ku ulei Vickery holds up a small bonnethead shark.

by NADINE SLIMAK

u’ulei Vickery of the University of Hawaii studied sharks. Danny Ordonez of Hawaii Pacific University analyzed phytoplankton. Cassie Schwanger of Carthage College learned how manatees use protected habitats. What did these students have in common? They were among the first group to participate in Mote’s new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Science beginners The program, which provides paid internships for students at the top of their classes in their third and fourth years of college, is designed to teach the basics, said Dr. Jim Gelsleichter, program manager. “We want to teach them about the scientific method, about writing proposals, about all the things that go into being a scientist,” he said. During the program, students are mentored by a Mote scientist and are required to complete an independent research project, write a paper about their study and submit a manuscript or present a poster at a professional meeting.

Students also learn about ethics or ethical reasoning in science and participate in field trips and career workshops. Vickery, 20, said she learned a lot about doing field research during her experience in the summer 2003 program, where she studied shark movement in Charlotte Harbor. “I learned about all the little things related to doing an experiment,” she said. “That you need to be aware of weather conditions and that the whole project can depend on things like lightning storms.”

marine resources for their livelihood, yet only 10 percent of the Pacific Islander population finish college. That’s a pretty slim number. The more we can do to get students into the field, the more we increase the overall pool (of minorities) to choose from.” This program will also measure student success differently. “We’re doing selfassessments about their skills and knowledge before they start the program and at the end of the program,” said Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick, who is the evaluator for the program. “We want the program to have a positive effect, otherwise how will we encourage them to go to grad school or obtain a job in science?” Vickery has decided science is for her. “I’m interested in big animals that you can see and touch,” Vickery said. “That’s much more exciting to me. And I think this program has really opened up the possibilities for what I can do.”

Diversifying the field Another goal of Mote’s REU program is to create a larger field of minority scientists, especially scientists of Native Pacific Islander descent, Gelsleichter said. “The program is open to all students,” he said. “But Native Pacific Islanders are a poorly identified minority group typically lumped in with Asians. This will help us gain more information on how many Pacific Islanders are in science. “Plus, many in that group depend on IN THE FIELD: Interns in Mote s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program studied everything from smalltooth sawfish to sharks and phytoplankton. MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

Turning the tables on the wily snook A

by NADINE SLIMAK

nglers have been trying to trick snook onto hooks for, well, for as long as people have been fishing with hooks. Researchers at Mote Aquaculture Park will soon try some new tricks – but their goal isn’t catching snook. It’s figuring out how to get snook to spawn in captivity. The efforts will support Mote’s studies to determine the most environmentally sound and cost-effective ways to restock snook and other species of fish. “Snook is a keystone species in Florida,” said Dr. Kevan Main, director of Mote’s Center for Aquaculture Research and Development. “They were Mr. Mote’s favorite fish and are a premier game fish.”

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William Mote loved to fish for snook and his concern for the overfished species led him to establish a breeding program at Mote in 1996. Today, those efforts are carried on through the lab’s snook-raising program in the Center for Fisheries Enhancement and at the aquaculture park. But collecting research subjects for the fisheries enhancement program isn’t easy.

Catching an egg Wild snook spawn naturally from May through September only during full and new moons. Groups of males and females release their eggs and sperm into the water column at the same time and the eggs are fertilized. The eggs float on top of the water for about a day, until they hatch into larvae. To get eggs for Mote’s breeding program, researchers have to head out into the field and collect eggs as the fish spawn naturally. “Right now, we have to guess when snook are spawning, then take a boat out into the field and collect,” Main said.

Researchers collect eggs, bring them back to the lab and put them into tanks to hatch. Collecting fertilized eggs would be easier if researchers knew exactly when the fish were going to spawn or could control the water in which the fish were spawning. That’s where new breeding tanks and methods at Mote Aquaculture Park come into play.

Tricking a snook The new 10,000-gallon tanks are housed in rooms inside “barns” at the aquaculture park. The tanks will be filled with brood stock, which will live there until they’re old enough to spawn. The trickery will come into play as researchers adjust the environment inside the rooms and tanks. They’ll be controlling water temperature and lighting to see whether they can make snook think it’s time to spawn. “We want to trick snook into thinking it’s spring — into thinking it’s time to spawn,” said Dave Vaughan, a Mote adjunct scientist at the aquaculture park. “We’ll be able to change the water

temperature to adjust for the difference between winter and spring; plus we’ll be able to simulate a lunar cycle.” When the simulated spring rolls around, the fish should spawn, Vaughan said. If the plan works as researchers hope, they’ll have controlled when the fish spawn and where. Then all they’ll need to do is put all their eggs into one basket.

High-tech collection Since fertilized fish eggs float to the top of the water, collecting them from tanks should be simple enough. Automatic skimmers will glide on top of the water, collecting the eggs. The eggs will then be sent to another tank to hatch. Because of strict state regulations on reproducing game fish, all the studies will be done with wild snook. That way, when the fish are old enough to be released, they can be used for studies being conducted in Mote’s Center for Fisheries Enhancement, Main said. The efforts could help protect one of Florida’s most important recreational fisheries. And that’s no small trick.

A NEW HOME: Mike Nystrom, senior biologist (left), and Jed Haws, technician, catch snook to move them from City Island to Mote Aquaculture Park.

Building the farm There are no wood-slat floors in the barns, nor old rusty pipes for running water. This farm is a high-tech plant where sturgeon, snook and other fish are raised; a state-of-the-art aquaculture facility that uses recirculating water systems and advanced fish-raising techniques. It’s taken thousands of dollars worth of equipment to build Mote Aquaculture Park and it couldn’t have happened without contributions from people like Robert Williams, chairman of Genova Products, Inc. His company, which produces thermoplastic plumbing and building products, donated hundredsof-thousands-of-dollars worth of piping and decking products to Mote. Genova’s decking materials have a unique tongue-and-groove-system that is easy to install and modify — an important consideration for a facility that may change as Mote develops new technology. Williams’ interest in the sea runs deep — 12,500-feet deep to be exact. In 2001, Williams dove the Titanic in a submersible. The trip was a 60th birthday gift from his wife, Jill. “She surprised me,” Williams said. In 2002, Williams made a second Robert Williams deep-water dive to the hydrothermal vents on the mid-Atlantic rift, 280 miles off the Azores. Williams’ interest in underwater archaeology led him back to the Titanic a second time. He plans a return trip in 2005 to investigate his theories about why the ship sank. Williams’ interest in the oceans also convinced him to take a stronger role in helping marine research. He’s now a member of Mote’s board of trustees. “NASA spends billions on space research, but here three quarters of our planet is covered by water and we don’t know much about it,” Williams said. “Mote is creating public awareness of the seas.” MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

Turtle Tales by SUSANNAH COSTELLO

THREATENED, ENDANGERED AND CRITICALLY ENDANGERED: The loggerhead (Caretta caretta) is a threatened species. The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricate) are endangered while the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and Kemp s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) turtles are critically endangered.

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hen she first left the beach, she was only 2 inches long and weighed less than an ounce. Traveling the Loop Current, she moved around the Florida Keys and into the Gulf Stream, which carried her north, then toward Europe and western Africa. Some 30 to 40 years later, the currents carried her south toward the Florida straits and back into the Gulf. Home.

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Photo by Anja G. Burns

Nesting threats In recent years, state and local governments in Florida have been protecting beaches from erosion by bringing in sand to replace that swept to sea. But beach renourishment — if the wrong kind of sand is used — can turn a good beach into unsuitable nesting habitat. The wrong kind of fill can change or block the gas exchange through the sand, which could harm developing embryos. This is a growing regional concern in Southwest Florida. Another threat identified by Dan Evans, an education coordinator with the Caribbean Conservation Corporation in Gainesville, is coastal armoring. Armoring — building seawalls and bulkheads — is reducing available nesting spots. Evans spent the fall of 2003 mapping all the obstacles on Sarasota beaches and found that things such

She’s a survivor. “Probably one of a thousand sea turtle hatchlings will live long enough to mature and reproduce,” says Dr. Tony Tucker, staff scientist with Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program. “For a loggerhead turtle in the Atlantic, that equates to surviving 30 to 40 years before returning to nest the first time.” Last year, there were 1,239 sea turtle nests on the 30 miles of Sarasota beaches monitored by Mote. Based on average nest size, that represents about 127,617 eggs. In an average year, 73 percent of those eggs will actually hatch with about 68 percent of the hatchlings making it to the water. Their numbers drop drastically as the survivors travel the world’s oceans and encounter hungry mouths. Ghost crabs, birds and fish feast on the hatchlings; sharks attack older turtles. Any turtle that makes it back to the beach where it was born — its natal beach — to lay eggs has overcome the odds.

The survivor is a little lean from her journey. As she approaches the shore, she raises her head to find the dark shape of land. At the surf line, she pauses, watching for signs of movement or light and listening for noise that might signal danger. As she labors ashore, she pauses often.

She raises her head to breathe, as if still in the water. Her vision on land is more limited than at sea. She moves cautiously. At the dark front of the sand dune, she begins to dig a pit. Her front flippers scrape away the dry surface sand; it soon dusts her back. Then she uses her rear flippers to dig down and shape the hole. Though the survivor’s body is still, her rear flippers move gracefully, scooping up sand and setting it aside, like flexible shovels. “Genetic research confirms that turtles have natal site fidelity,” says Tucker. “So turtles born in Southwest Florida will generally return to lay eggs in the same region, provided that suitable beaches remain there in the future.” If it takes sea turtles 30 to 40 years to reproduce, the hatchlings leaving Florida beaches today won’t become Florida’s turtle parents until sometime after 2035. Because loggerheads can breed for several decades, those same turtles will be parents long past the midpoint of the century. For turtle researchers and volunteers, the lesson is simple: What happens on beaches today will affect the turtles that their grandchildren will see as adults.

as sea walls and beach furniture are reducing or compromising the quality of Florida’s remaining nesting beaches. Similar concerns were expressed by Dr. Blair Witherington of the Florida Marine Research Institute. “Ninety percent of the U.S. loggerhead nesting is along Florida shores, but the darkened dunes are vanishing to be replaced by developed beachfronts with brilliant lights ablaze or altered shorelines from armoring,” he said. Said Mote’s Jerris Foote: “If we want the same number of turtles in the future, we have to at least maintain the current number of hatchlings.”

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DINOSAUR NEIGHBORS: “When we see a turtle hatchling emerge from i ts shell, we are witnessing an activity that certainly occurred when dinosaurs roamed the earth,” says Jerris Foote. “Turtles survived over 200 million years of global evolution and upheaval. Their armored tank strategy (a shell composed of fused ribs), is so successful that they still resemble their Cretaceous cousins. Sea turtles are survivors. Mote research will help us to understand how we can help them continue to survive in future decades. ”

Fighting the odds Turtles lay large clutches of eggs multiple times in a breeding season to ensure that at least a few of those hatchlings live long enough to reproduce.

When her pit is deep enough, the nesting female becomes still. She places her rear flippers just to the side of the hole and they begin to flex. Eggs drop softly into the moist sand, a few at a time. Five, 10, 50, 100; sometimes, there are more than 150 eggs before the mother’s job is done. “But if only one in 1,000 hatchlings survives to reproduce, saving one hatchling doesn’t do it,” says Tucker. “And if half the hatchlings in a nest are female, that’s a multiplier of two for a female to attain adulthood. In other words, the chances become one in 2,000 for an egg to yield an adult female.” The numbers are challenging. And so are the costs. An economic analysis of the 2002 nesting season shows that it would cost $5.46 to safeguard one egg if only paid staff were used to protect turtle nests. That’s $562 per nest. The cost drops to $1.28 per egg and $132 per nest thanks to the help of Mote’s many volunteers who patrol beaches, mark turtle nests and help turtle hatchlings. “Mote’s success story in beach coverage really relies on these volunteer efforts,” says Paula Clark who, along with Jim Grimes and Sarah Condran, coordinates a coalition of volunteers, interns and students who help sea turtles. Last year, volunteers spent 18,000 hours patrolling beaches. Staff and interns spent 5,800 hours coordinating those efforts. “That’s what it took to walk 30 miles of Sarasota beaches every morning from May through October to record the season’s turtle activities,” Clark says.

Hot mamas, cool daddies Last year, Mote’s Sea Turtle Program contributed to a hatchling sex determination study conducted by Dr. Jeanette Wyneken of Florida Atlantic University, an adjunct scientist at Mote, and Dr. Larry Crowder of Duke University. The goal of the EPA-funded study was to determine sex ratios of hatchlings produced on geographically different beaches of various sand types and with different temperatures. Researchers examined hatchlings from 10 nesting beaches along four southeastern states in what was the first large-scale study of sex ratios. They documented that the sex of the hatchling is determined by the nest environment. Sea turtles do not have chromosomes like human Xs and Ys that determine sex. Cooler temperatures tend to produce males while warmer temperatures produce females. In an initial breakthrough finding, the study determined that there were far more male hatchlings being produced on all Florida beaches than what had been determined previously. There were also far fewer males coming from the northern beaches than expected. Very few males are being produced north of Jacksonville, says Crowder. In fact, a large and recovering adult loggerhead population in South Florida is roughly stable but it’s producing almost 80 percent females. With a northern population still in decline and not producing nearly the percentage of males researchers initially believed, the preliminary results are surprising and even alarming, he says. As both Crowder and Wyneken note, if researchers continue to see such highly skewed sex ratios, it will be alarming. The public will have to start thinking about the implications of global warming and climate change.

MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

Turtles by the numbers

After about 20 minutes, the survivor’s eggs are all dropped. She moves her rear flippers over the sand, scooping it in and pressing.

1,000

Scooping and pressing.

The number of female hatchlings a beach must produce for one to return and nest there

30 to 40

A mound builds, which she compacts with the weight of her shell. Then she crawls down to the water, stopping to rest along the way.

At the edge, she stops, breathes and slowly moves in and sinks. Moments later, the turtle pops up her head for a breath. Then she submerges and disappears from sight.

Current estimate for the number of years it takes for one loggerhead hatchling to return to its natal beach and nest Miles of beach that Mote researchers and volunteers patrol (including Longboat Key, Lido Key, Siesta Key, Casey Key & Venice)

Off the beach Historically, turtle research focused on the beach and not on turtles in the water because of the logistical challenges. But recent advances in technology are enabling scientists to focus on in-water research using tools like acoustic and satellite telemetry to better understand use of local habitats and migratory movements. “If you look at a hospital’s maternity ward, it’s a small but important slice of the larger population,” says Tucker. “That’s analogous to studies of female turtles, eggs and hatchlings on a beach. But the other 99 percent of turtle life is in the water as teens and adults. That reality has generated a re-emphasis for studies of turtles in-water.”

1,239

The number of nests on Motemonitored beaches in 2003

76,358

The number of hatchlings on Mote-monitored beaches in 2003

80.1

Highest percentage of eggs hatched. Marked in 2002 on Longboat Key Lowest percentage of eggs hatched. Marked in 2002 on North Siesta Key

Percent of Florida beaches that have coastal armoring

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Photo by George Ryschkewitsch

30.7

The survivor uses her rear flippers like rudders, with front flippers stroking through the water. At speeds as great as 10 miles per hour, she uses currents and the earth’s magnetic fields to travel the sea. Her journey is not a new one; previous generations have been making similar trips for 200 million years.

Building resources to save a species At the Mote field station in Charlotte Harbor, sea turtle researchers are working

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: When it s time to nest, turtles generally come back to the coast they were born on, in what scientists call natal site fidelity. to combine the standard methods of capturing, tagging and releasing turtles with the new tracking technologies. Mote doesn’t have high tech turtle tracking gear — yet. It’s a question of cost: $5,000 to outfit one sea turtle with the newest tracking technologies. But the research is important because satellite tagging is a more efficient way to get a detailed picture of how a turtle migrates across space and over time. “By attaching satellite transmitters on three to five turtles over several of the coming years, we can learn exactly where they’re going and when,” Tucker says. “It’s the right tool to address hypotheses about how turtles respond to seasonal changes of water temperature: Will they stay put, or move north to south along the coastline, or travel from near shore to offshore? And although they visit Sarasota nesting beaches, where do they migrate to for their home feeding grounds?” Dr. Wallace Nichols, of Wildcoast, tracked a loggerhead nicknamed Adelita from Mexican feeding grounds across the Pacific Ocean to Japan, only to find it taken by a fishing fleet near its nesting beach.

Long-term commitment

International help Because turtles have long life spans and are international travelers for extended periods, protection along U.S. beaches and coastal waters alone is not enough. But without the science — the knowledge of where turtles live, what they eat and what all the threats to their survival are — there can be no reasonable guidelines for all the countries that turtles pass through. “To unravel the remaining unanswered questions requires special tools,” Tucker says. “Technology tools enable the researchers to probe for answers to the tough questions that remain in sea turtle biology. That newfound information will guide governments to provide wiser management.” Acoustic tags can offer insight on turtles in specific areas; satellite tags can help researchers track turtles around the globe. And geneticists can tell much about populations by looking at genetic markers: global movement, local movement, genetic patterns of animals. “Impacts that affect turtles at sea, like long-line mortality, are difficult to track by surveying the nesting beach populations,” Tucker says.

Sea turtle science is a relatively young science with its roots in the late 1950s. At most, there have been about two academic generations of sea turtle biologists studying what is possibly still the same generation of turtles. “There are turtles nesting today that were already laying eggs when Mote began its turtle efforts in 1982 and probably for many years before Mote began tagging them,” says Jerris Foote, program manager for the conservation and research program’s beach efforts. If it takes more than one generation of sea turtle biologists to study a single turtle from hatchling to a natural death from age, how do you study an animal that lives longer than your career? An animal that takes 30 to 40 years to mature and decades to breed? Studying a long-lived species requires a long-term commitment. “Unless you’re committed to more than a decade of work, you have no business tagging turtles,” says Tucker. “After a decade or more, the information begins to increase in value. Since Mote has historical data going back to 1982, that long-term commitment begins to pay dividends. ”

Beaches, bays and bootstraps Mote’s turtle research focuses on beaches, bays and bootstraps, developing studies that can better inform and advise local coastal management and conservation efforts. “In studies of the nesting stages, we focus attention to what happens on the index beaches around the state (including Siesta Key) so we can understand issues that affect the future turtles returning to these shores,” Tucker says. That’s beaches. “We need to study the in-water stage to identify critical habitats that young turtles use as they survive and journey on their breeding migrations,” he says. That’s bays. And the bootstraps? “We need desperately to pull together

funding support for the research so that Mote’s studies address the tough questions that are measured across large scales of time and space,” Tucker says, “time measured in decades of turtle generations and space as vast as the Atlantic Ocean.”

You can help Mote s sea turtle research has been a shoestring operation since the beginning, succeeding because of volunteer support. Now with the need to add technology, the sea turtle program is reaching out for donations of money and time. To make a personal contribution to sea turtle research, call 941-388-4441, ext. 373 and ask that your donation be ear-marked for sea turtles. Register your interest in beach patrols or contribute donations earmarked for turtle research and conservation.

MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

Schooling up for shark science I

f you were looking for an easy research subject, large coastal sharks probably wouldn’t be your first choice.

by NADINE SLIMAK

After all, they aren’t the easiest predators to find, the easiest to catch, or the easiest to handle. “They’re not like goldfish that you can grab and put in a bowl and take to a lab to study,” says Dr. Robert E. Hueter, director of Mote’s Center for Shark Research. “They’re long-lived, they travel long distances, and they are a large elusive animal that doesn’t travel on the surface. Plus, once you find them, they’re not easily handled.” To get a better handle on sharks, and all elasmobranchs, Mote has spearheaded a drive to combine the efforts of leading national shark research organizations. The group, called the National Shark Research Consortium, pools resources so scientists can better gather data on the biology, ecology and behavior of sharks, and their relatives, the skates and rays.The consortium will also educate the public and policy HOLDING ON: One researcher holds on to a shark fin as a second prepares it for the tag.

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makers about their findings. One thing researchers’ data will do is create a bigger knowledge base for fisheries managers. It will also help the United States take a lead role in the worldwide conservation and management of shark populations. Consortium members include Mote, the University of Florida in Gainesville, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in California and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point, Virginia. The studies are supported by federal funding from Congress through the National Marine Fisheries Service, which has funded consortium activities since 2002. “We’re basically focusing our studies to determine the status of fisheries-relevant sharks,” Hueter says. That means studying sharks such as sandbar, blacktip and bull, as well as other interesting species such as whale and bonnethead sharks, to promote wise use of a limited resource. The National Shark Research Consortium is collecting information on: � Sharks’ life history — where sharks spend each part of their lives � Migration patterns of large coastal sharks on the East and West coasts of the U.S. � Size and distribution of shark populations � Shark taxonomy � Shark genetics � Shark attacks

The need for the science To manage shark fisheries and conserve shark populations, policy makers need to know as much as they can about the lives of sharks; you can’t make good policy without good science, Hueter and others say. That means a birth-to-death record of each species of shark — there are 375 described species already, with new species still being discovered. That also means finding essential shark habitats. “We need to know where sharks are spending their lives and what are the

TAGGED: Researchers pull a shark into the boat during a trip to catch and tag large coastal sharks. The goal is to collect data on the places large coastal sharks spend their lives. vulnerable stages of their life history,” Hueter says. Shark tagging plays a large part in those studies. Mote researchers conduct quarterly tagging surveys to determine the composition and abundance of shark species in the Gulf of Mexico. Moss Landing’s Pacific Shark Research Center in California is tagging and tracking leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) in Elkhorn Slough in Monterey Bay and is doing research into the age and growth of many different species of sharks. They’re also studying the reproductive biology of skates and rays. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s Shark Research Program is catching and tagging sharks in coastal Virginia and Chesapeake Bay waters, and in the seaside bays of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. And the University of Florida’s Program for Shark Research is sampling bull sharks in the Indian River Lagoon. Researchers there also keep the International Shark Attack File, a

compilation of shark attacks worldwide, and try to educate the public about the realities of shark and human interactions. “The real advantage of the consortium is in collaboration rather than competition among shark researchers, and in the high technology we can develop and use together,” Hueter says.

High-tech tags In traditional tagging, researchers capture a shark, measure its size and attach a 60-cent orange tag to a shark’s fin. Typically it contains information about where to send the tag or whom the finder can call with information on where the shark was caught and when, should a fisherman ever see that same shark again. In that instance, researchers might get data on beginning and ending locations and possibly how much the shark grew, but that’s about it. Now shark tagging is going high-tech. Pop-up archival tags (PAT), which cost about $4,000 apiece, can be attached to larger sharks and help researchers gain a wealth of knowledge, Hueter says.

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TEAM EFFORT: Because sharks are large, powerful animals, it takes lots of hands to collect data. It’s supposed to work like this: A scientist catches a shark, collects basic data on its species, size and sex, and then attaches a 6-inch-long PAT, which looks similar to a microphone and has an antenna on the end of it. Then the shark is released to resume its normal routine — albeit sporting a new electronic device that collects information on depths the shark swims in, light levels (which help indicate the shark’s location) and water temperatures. At a pre-programmed time, the device shoots an electrical current through the metal pin that holds the tag onto the shark’s dorsal fin. The connection breaks and the tag floats to the surface to

transmit its data to a satellite. “It can tell us everywhere a shark has been since it was released,” Hueter says. But the PATs haven’t always been successful. “In some cases, the tags have not been staying on the animal,” Hueter says. Tags that release too early don’t collect enough data to be very useful for research. That’s where the National Shark Research Consortium comes in.

Collaboration is key In December, Mote and the consortium hosted an international workshop in Sarasota that brought together researchers and manufacturers to discuss the problems and find ways to help solve them. “We want to find ways to make the tags work better,” says Dr. Michelle Heupel, Mote staff scientist, who organized the workshop. “The tags were originally designed for tunas and other pelagic teleosts (bony fishes), so we’re wondering if a different shape might be better.” The long, streamlined shape of the tags may work for tunas because their backs stay rigid as those fish swim. Sharks

undulate as they swim and that may make it harder for the tags to stay in place, Heupel says. “Would a different shape be better? We don’t know.” Collaboration is key to finding the answers. “The power of the consortium is to combine our efforts,” Hueter said. “The result is that this consortium has stimulated a new level of activity in basic and applied shark research to find solutions.” To help find a solution to the PAT questions, Mote and the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology will test the tags on sharks in captivity this year, Heupel said. At Mote, the sharks will be placed in new research tanks that will allow researchers to study how the tags work in a controlled setting. Paid for by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Georgia Aquarium, the new research area includes a whopper of a tank that is 55 feet long, 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep and holds 66,000 gallons of seawater. Now that’s some fishbowl.

HIGH-TECH TRANSMITTER: This pop-up archival tag is designed to collect information about how deep a fish swims, light levels and temperatures in the water where the fish is swimming. The transmitter detaches itself at a pre-programmed time then beams its data to researchers via satellite.

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Digital Dolphins by SUSANNAH COSTELLO

nimator Matt Goldblatt sees the world as an assemblage of polygons, multi-sided geometric forms — mostly triangles and squares — that can be combined to replicate reality. That’s because Goldblatt’s job is building worlds out of polygons. Digitally. His newest realm is the aquamarine world of Sarasota Bay and its wild bottlenose dolphin inhabitants. Goldblatt is the lead animator on “Saving Dolphin Bay,” a computer interactive movie being produced for Mote by Immersion Studios of Canada. Sometime this fall, the movie will

debut at Mote’s new Immersion Cinema where 85 computer consoles will allow an audience of 170 to experience the unique combination of movie linked to video games. Based on the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, a joint project of Mote Marine Laboratory and the Chicago Zoological Society, the innovative entertainment experience relies on state-of-the-art computer animation to bring the underwater life of Sarasota dolphins to Mote visitors. Animating dolphins and the watery world they inhabit is no small challenge – especially when the goal is not fantasy but photo realism. Today’s animation process is very different than the classic cell animation that Disney made famous in the 1930s and 40s. “With 2-D animation, an artist paints a picture,” Goldblatt said. “With 3-D

animation, an artist sculpts the picture.” Before starting, Goldblatt studied hundreds of bottlenose dolphins to understand their three-dimensional shapes. Then, using a 3-D program that is 20 to 30 times more powerful than 2-D programs commonly available to graphic designers, Goldblatt “sculpts” a dolphin out of polygons and paints the sculpture with a skin texture. Once a dolphin model has been created, then it can be animated. As important as the dolphin, is the environment around it. “Sarasota Bay has a very distinct water quality,” Goldblatt said. “There’s a fogginess underwater. Your vision is clouded over distance. There are unique patterns like the light shining through water onto the moving dolphins. There’s plankton, zooplankton and dinoflagellates constantly moving across your field of vision.” MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

The movie The opening 20-second scene of “Saving Dolphin Bay” is created from a shifting stream of about 11/2-million polygons. Each piece of plankton that drifts across the screen is created with a single polygon. But hundreds of thousands of plankton polygons form and dissipate within those 20 seconds. The high-tech underwater lab that juts out of rock takes about a half million polygons. Each bolt on the window takes about 10 polygons. How many polygons does it take to make a dolphin look real? The magic number in Dolphin Bay is 16,268. Any time viewers see movie animation, they’re watching what experts call “pre-rendered animation” — a computer produces the animation before it appears on screen. By contrast, animation that you see while playing a video game is being created as it’s played — in real time. The dolphins in Dolphin Bay are both pre-rendered and real-time models. How many polygons does it take to make a video game dolphin that will move well? A low 298. Games use real-time models made of low numbers of polygons because computers can create or “draw” the

The science and the script Rays of filtered sunlight glint off the occasional piece of plankton that drifts in front of the camera and moves on. A bottlenose dolphin glides into the frame and looks right at the camera then glides by. The dolphin swims to an industriallooking structure that is the fictional underwater lab of Mote Control Center. Two scientists observe the dolphin from their unique vantage point inside the lab. So begins “Saving Dolphin Bay,” a story that will take the audience on a quest to save dolphin Claire and her newborn calf. Part science fiction, part science fact, the story is based on the longest-running wild dolphin research images faster. A game dolphin can be rendered in about one-thirtieth of a second or faster. By contrast, a pre-rendered dolphin in its “environment” takes about 300 seconds to draw. That means it takes a computer 150 minutes to create a highpolygon dolphin image that would last only one second.

program in the world — a program run by Mote Senior Scientist, Dr. Randall Wells. Wells first began observing Sarasota’s wild dolphins as a high school volunteer in the 1970s when relatively little was known about the behavior of wild dolphin individuals and family groups. Now, after hundreds-of-thousands-of hours of observation by hundreds of volunteers, students and professionals, the researchers with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program have compiled the most complete record of Atlantic bottlenose family groups in the world. But communicating that research process and its results to the general The video game modules that will be used in “Saving Dolphin Bay” will render the low polygon dolphin models in a fraction of second. “If we tried using high polygon models for game play, it would take a supercomputer which hasn’t been invented yet,” Goldblatt said.

PAINT BY NUMBERS: It may look real, but Mote s fictional underwater lab actually exists as a collection of numbers stored in a computer.

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public is a challenge. “When visitors go to aquariums, museums, or zoos, they have a level of expectation that’s a lot higher than what it was even 10 or 15 years ago,” said Dan Bebak, vice president of Mote Aquarium. Bebak said the Aquarium has to compete for the attention of 7 to 15year-olds against play stations, films, the internet and high-definition television. “You have to compete at that level of quality or you’re not going to grab them,” he said. By combining the beauty of film and the fun of games with the science of Mote, Wells and Bebak hope that “Saving Dolphin Bay” will provide an experience visitors won’t forget.

Creating “cartoons” Animators traditionally use three kinds of tools: keyframing, motion capture and simulation. The classic Disney animation process created keyframes and “tween animators” drew the movement between those keyframes. Today, computers generate tween frames. Motion capture uses a computer to register the track of actual movements and translate that movement onto computer-generated characters. With simulation, a model is created by the computer and then software is written that gives the computer rules for moving the object in a way that mirrors physical reality. The computer generates the reality, but the animators tell the computer what the parameters of that reality can be. Dolphin Bay uses both key frame and simulation techniques. In fact, most of the animation in the program will be keyframed. But some of the most interesting animation will be achieved with simulation techniques. “There are elements we are able to do now because of recent software advances, that I don’t think we at Immersion could

BEAUTY THAT IS ONLY SKIN DEEP: “We sculpt the dolphin wire frame out of polygons like building blocks and then put a texture, or a skin, on it,” says animator Matt Goldblatt. Like reality in the Matrix movies, Mote s photo realistic dolphins are essentially hollow — a collection of numbers that simulate reality. have done five years ago,” Goldblatt said. “Before, animating a school of fish would have been a very complicated task. I would have had to animate each fish’s action individually.” Now, Goldblatt can give the computer rules for the fish, such as “stick close to each other, but don’t touch; chase each other; flee from bigger fish.” Instead of drawing each movement of each fish, an animator tells all the fish how to behave and the software makes it so. “Mickey Mouse didn’t strive to be realistic, so science had less of a role in his animation,” Golblatt said. As animation gets more realistic, real science becomes increasingly important. Today’s animation process leverages the knowledge of mathematics, most importantly 3-D geometry, physics, dynamics, fluid dynamics, physiology, anatomy and — of course — classical animation.

Invisible art “The best special effect,” said Goldblatt, “is the special effect you don’t notice. I want people to notice the dolphin, not the quality of the graphics. If it’s well done, animation is an invisible art.”

What’s possible now is a marriage between creativity and realism. “You can’t tell a real dolphin how to play a scene,” Goldblatt said. “But I can make an animated dolphin come up to the camera and wink at me.” Aquarium Vice President Dan Bebak does not want the audience to think about what it took to animate a dolphin or tape the movie or program the video game. He just wants the audience to experience the reality. “ ‘Saving Dolphin Bay’ is based on real events and real places,” Bebak said. “Even though the movie is hypothetical, the situations could happen and have happened, just not on the same day. I don’t know of any other interactive program that’s like that.” After all, how can a non-scientist experience the challenges of studying dolphins in the wild? Observe a dolphin in its underwater adventures? Make difficult decisions that face researchers, rescuers and policy makers — and see the impact of those choices? Only in a digital world, one flying polygon after another.

MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

Profiles in Generosity W

hether it’s walking the beaches looking for sea turtle nests or volunteering boat

time or the dollars needed to fund an exhibit, Mote Marine Laboratory depends on individuals and organizations to help advance the science of the sea. Through these

Profiles in Generosity, Mote offers a special thanks to the individuals, families, businesses and organizations that contribute their time, talent and treasure to help

IN TOUCH: Virginia Miller (left) and her sister, Carol Miller, have provided financial support to Mote for many educational projects. At the touch tank “Contact Cove,” visitors can touch lightning whelks, horseshoe crabs and other small marine animals.

us do the research needed to understand Florida’s marine environment.

Volunteer captains Thirty nautical miles out into the Gulf of Mexico, boat owners from the Bird Key and Sarasota Yacht clubs brave sun, wind and stormy seas to help Mote researchers survey and track Atlantic bottlenose and spotted dolphins. “We could not operate the program without them,” says Dr. Robert Griffin, manager for the Offshore Cetacean Ecology Project. The project seeks to understand the abundance, distribution and ecological relationship of cetaceans (dolphins and whales). Captains who donate their vessels, fuel, time and expertise are essential in reducing the costs of the program as well providing more eyes and ears on the water during the program’s field work.

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“It’s a great excuse to get out on the boat and do something that contributes to science,” says volunteer Capt. Doug Elder. The other volunteers who work with Dr. Griffin are Joe Berkely, Bill Cogbill, Beau Davison, Buzz Gross, Gavin Litwiller and George Minnig.

All in the family When sisters Virginia Miller and Carol Miller aren’t working their weekly shifts welcoming visitors to Mote Aquarium, they’re guiding groups on behind-thescenes laboratory tours, training new volunteers or on the road with Mote’s mobile exhibit. Virginia started volunteering seven years ago, then recruited Carol in 2000. In addition to thousands of volunteer

hours, both have contributed financial support to a broad range of Mote projects, from animal care to sea turtle and biomedical research. They’ve also provided school supplies for education, shirts for interns and Virginia sponsored the popular touch tank, Contact Cove, that children and adults find so fascinating in the Aquarium. “Mote has such a family atmosphere,” Virginia says. “Volunteers feel wanted and needed. Scientists and staff take the time to talk to us, so we understand what they need. It made me want to get even more involved.” Both sisters retired after teaching careers and are “not wealthy by any means,” they say. But when they see something that needs to be done, they do it. “It’s nice to know that you can make a difference,” Virginia says.

Mote membership has new privileges In Chicago for a few days? Want to catch a popular exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium? Just show your Mote membership card and you’re in, free of charge, no waiting in line. Being a Mote member now means even more than helping researchers advance the science of the sea. In 2004, for the first time, Mote members can take advantage of reciprocal privileges — including free and discounted admission — at a variety of aquariums, zoos and other attractions throughout Florida and the U.S. “We asked our members what additional benefits they’d enjoy the most,” says Robin Cooper, the lab’s membership officer. “Most said that special access to other institutions dedicated to discovery and learning was at the top of the list.” Other new benefits that have made a Mote membership even more valuable include members-only research charters and special invitation-only events. For more information, call Cooper at (941) 388-4441, ext. 373 or e-mail robin@mote.org. Join online or check out the latest member privileges at www.mote.org.

Free ticket admissions Bramble Park Zoo Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Clearwater Aquarium Florida Aquarium Key West Aquarium Lowry Park Zoo Mel Fischer Maritime Museum Museum of Science & Industry John G. Shedd Aquarium

Watertown, SD San Pedro, CA Clearwater, FL Tampa, FL Key West, FL Tampa, FL Key West, FL Tampa, FL Chicago, IL

Free all year Free all year Free all year Free in June, July, Aug., Sept. Free all year Free all year Free all year Free in March Free 2 adults & 2 children

Discounted admissions Atlantis Marine World Capron Park Zoo Columbus Zoo Conservancy of SWFL Crowley Museum Harbor Branch Houston Zoo Jacksonville Zoo Jungle Gardens Memphis Zoo Mystic Aquarium The Wilds Zoo Atlanta

Riverhead, NY Attleboro, MA Powell, OH Naples, FL Sarasota, FL Ft. Pierce, FL Houston, TX Jacksonville, FL Sarasota, FL Memphis, TN Mystic, CT Cumberland, OH Atlanta, GA

50% off admission 50% off admission 50% off admission 50% off 2 adults & 2 children 25% off admission tickets 25% off admission tickets 50% off admission tickets 50% off admission tickets $2 off adults, $1 off children 50% off admission tickets 25% off admission tickets 50% off admission tickets 50% off admission tickets

Sarasota, FL Sarasota, FL

10% off membership $25 off $75 membership during Feb., March, April

Members-only research charters It’s not just any boat trip. Mote members can participate in research or see marine life on and in the water with Capt. Chuck MacTavish. Mote members can arrange a trip with lab scientists, schedule a wildlife excursion or customize their own research adventures. Half-day and full-day charters are available. Take a trip aboard: Ono IV 28-foot Trembly Flats Skiff (custom-designed back country and beach boat) Party of six or fewer Half day, $300/Full day, $400 Jezebel 27-foot Trembly Catamaran (custom designed for offshore and beach) Party of six or fewer Half day, $450/Full day, $550 RV Eugenie Clark 46-foot Newton. This research vessel has A/C, bathroom, Twin 3208 Cat Diesel, and can go offshore Party of 10 or fewer Half day, $650/Full day, $1,100 For more information and reservations, contact Capt. Chuck MacTavish at (941) 388-4441, ext. 110.

Membership discounts G-WIZ Ringling Museum of Art

MOTE MAGAZINE/SPRING 2004

World leader in the development of sustainable aquaculture production technologies for marine and freshwater species. Research initiated: 1996 Center established: 2001

Center for Coastal Ecology

Provide the scientific basis for the management of unique natural resources, from the sea bottom to rivers and estuaries. Research initiated: 1966 Center established: 1998

Center for Coral Reef Research

Focuses on coral biology which includes physiology, diseases, ecology and the development of innovative methods to repair reefs damaged by human activities. Center established: 1995 Renamed: 2003

For nearly half a century, Mote scientists have studied the sea, focusing on the nearshore issues that are closest to our human hearts and world. At Mote, we look for the answers using science and share what we discover at our aquarium and in our education programs.

Center for Ecotoxicology

Studies toxic impacts from harmful algal blooms and contaminants from pesticides and oil on marine ecosystems. Research initiated: 1972 Center established: 1998

Center for Fisheries Enhancement

Mission is to increase the knowledge needed to preserve, enhance and manage coastal fish populations. Research initiated: 1986 Center established: 1998

Center for Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Research

Dedicated to acquiring the knowledge required for conservation of dolphins, manatees, whales and sea turtles. Research initiated: 1970 Center established: 1998

Over the years, Mote science has evolved into seven research centers. Each center specializes in its own area, but is able to partner with other Mote researchers in an integrated effort. This has enabled us to achieve results that have made Mote a global leader in many areas of marine science.

Mote Education

The Education Division leverages the resources of the Aquarium and the research lab to teach the public through summer programs, high school and college internships, pioneering distance learning programs, and formal and informal programs for K-12 and college students.

Mote Aquarium One of Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique attractions. The Aquarium offers marine life

exhibits and interactive experiences to approximately 400,000 visitors a year. A 135,000-gallon shark exhibit, manatees and sea turtles, numerous touch tanks and the largest preserved squid specimen in the U.S. enable visitors to explore the science of the sea. MAR

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The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest research center dedicated to the scientific study of sharks, skates and rays focusing on biomedical research, shark behavior and ecology and fisheries science. Research initiated: 1955 Center established: 1991

In the last few decades we have learned many things about our ocean. One thing we now know beyond any doubt: there is much yet to discover.

Center for Shark Research

Small World. Big Ocean. Huge Challenge.

Center for Aquaculture Research and Development

Mote Research

O R AT O

Advancing the Science of the Sea

arasota. Venice. Englewood. Bradenton. Palmetto. On the Southwest Coast of Florida, we have what other communities covet: a world with a view. At Michael Saunders & Company, we know our view is a treasure worth protecting. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we support the work of Mote Marine Laboratory. For nearly half a century, Mote has been learning what it takes to protect our ocean world and the creatures in it. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no place like home when home has a view like ours.

Michael Saunders & Company and Mote Marine Laboratory Partners for our Coast

Michael Saunders & Company Licensed Real Estate Broker

Executive Offices: 100 South Washington Boulevard, Sarasota, Florida 34236

941.953.7900

www.michaelsaunders.com

Board of Trustees Myra Monfort Runyan Chairman

Mike B. McKee Vice-Chairman

Kumar Mahadevan President

J. Robert Long Secretary

Robert R. Nelson Treasurer

Vernon G. Buchanan Ronald D. Ciaravella Frederick M. Derr Chairman Emeritus

Richard O. Donegan Jerome Dupree Sylvia Earle Jefferson Flanders Hon. William S. Galvano Susan C. Gilmore Alfred Goldstein Chairman Emeritus

Judy Graham Elaine M. Keating Melville R. Levi Michael T. Martin Chairman Emeritus

Raymond E. Mason, Jr. Michael Saunders Howard Seider, Jr. J. Ronald Skipper Sylvia J. Taylor Robert M. Williams Trustees Emeriti Donald G.C. Clark Eugenie Clark Hon. Dan Miller Honorary Members David S. Allen, Sr. Richard H. Angelotti Chairman Emeritus

Charles R. Baumann Steve Belack Howard Cobin Howard G. Crowell, Jr. Peter T. Hull Hon. Andy Ireland Hon. Bob Johnson Chairman Emeritus

Ronald A. Johnson G. Lowe Morrison John E. Pether Helen L. Pratt William Ritchie Peter Rosasco Beth G. Waskom William R. Mote â&#x20AC;˘ 1906-2000 Perry W. Gilbert â&#x20AC;˘ 1912-2000