Oceans Campaign Piece — Tropical Research Laboratory

The Mote research facilities in the Florida Keys are approximately 50 years old and must be replaced with a planned state-of-the-art and environmentally sustainable LEEDcertified research and education facility. The new facility will more than double research and education space and include:

BUILDING AN OUTSTANDING CAPITAL RESOURCE FOR SCIENCE

Mote Marine Laboratory has a critical need to expand the infrastructure and operations of its Tropical Research Laboratory campus in the Florida Keys. This hotbed of marine science, education and conservation is addressing some of the LL ARCHITECTS mostAA26000923 pressing ocean challenges of our day — particularly the 2014 global threats facing coral reefs — while also hosting scientists • Advanced technology laboratories; andResearch studentsLaboratory, from many nations. Key, FL HALL ARCHITECTS TROPICAL RESEARCH LABORATORY ote Tropical Summerland Marine Tropical Research Laboratory, Summerland Key, FL

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Coral reefs, which support up to 40 percent of marine life s p a c e - n e e d s p r o g r a m on Earth and provide $6.3 billion to Florida’s economy, are NUMBER SIZE ea TOTAL threatened worldwide by ocean acidification and temperature increases, pollution, disease and more. In 2014 alone, 20 coral 1290 declared sf 2,580 sf“threatened” by the federal species2 were newly 1 470 sf 470 sf H— A Lincluding L760AsfR C H 1,520 Ifive T EsfCspecies T S , PAfound in the Florida Keys.

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2 445 sf 890 sf For these reasons, the demand for Mote’s work has never been 1 245 sf 245 sf 1 540 sf 540 sf greater. Our scientists lead groundbreaking studies of ocean 6,505 sf acidification, and coral diseases, and they have developed innovative methods to restore our coral reefs in our lifetime.

With the pivotal challenges facing coral and the global interest in

5001 NORTH LAKEWOOD RANC • Ocean acidification research 941/917-0883 SARASOTA, FL 34240 support infrastructure;

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• Environmental control rooms; • New seawater systems; • Mesocosm experimental tanks and instrumentation to support diverse fields of marine science studies; • Much needed dormitories, offices, classrooms, meeting rooms and full communication connectivity.

ooms (8 beds each) 525 sf sf Mote’s51work, we stand at2,625 a575critical juncture where philanthropic ble Dorm Room 575 sf sf ’s Apartment support 1 matters 525 sf 525ever. sf more than artment 1 525 sf 525 sf tchen 1 540 sf 540 sf / Storage 1 245 sf 245 sf Investing now is 530 a positive toward a healthier ocean. However, as a nonprofit marine laboratory, ical 2 sf 1060step sf

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Mote can only realize our6,145 vision fully with support from our communities. sf __________ 12,600 sf

NORTH ELEVATION

FLORIDA’S NATURAL TREASURE Florida’s coral reef is the third largest on the planet and the foundation of one of the world’s most important marine ecosystems.

The reef system stretches about 350 miles from the east coast of Florida in Martin County through the Florida Keys and out to the Dry Tortugas. More than 65% of Florida’s coral reef tract lies within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary that surrounds the Florida Keys chain of islands

coral fragments in nurseries in the wild using genetic strains that we believe most likely to survive changing ocean conditions.

Our coral nurseries are restoring the reef ecosystem and helping to rebuild a healthy and plentiful population of wild corals that will be able to reproduce on their own.

RESULTS Over the last five years, our research and restoration programs have yielded amazing results:

Sadly, the last 40 years have not been kind to our coral reefs and we’ve witnessed losses of more than 90% of our indigenous coral coverage with some species losing more than 97% of their populations.

• The rate of survival for corals we’ve restored to reefs exceeds 95%;

CORAL RESEARCH

Another exciting breakthrough has been the development of a new coral “re-skinning” process that allows us to restore large areas of reef-building corals in just one to two years — instead of the hundreds or thousands of years it might take nature to build a reef on its own. The cutting-edge technology of re-skinning allows small fragments of brain, boulder and star coral to rapidly fuse back together to form new coral head over the dead skeleton.

Coral reef restoration is a priority of Mote’s worldclass research focused on the conservation and sustainable use of our ocean’s natural resources. As the southernmost marine laboratory in the continental U.S., Mote’s Tropical Research Laboratory, located in Summerland Key, is uniquely positioned to support the combined efforts of Florida and our nation for the study and restoration of coral reef ecosystems.

RESTORATION Not content to watch corals decline, Mote scientists developed cutting-edge processes to bring them back. Today, we are growing thousands of staghorn

• These restored corals have now begun to reproduce on their own.

This gives us hope that full-scale restoration is possible in our lifetime. Yet now, more than ever before, we find ourselves in need of new facilities to continue our work.

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INITIAL – MAY 2013

JUNE 2013

OCTOBER 2013

ival after one year

DECEMBER 2013

APRIL 2014

To learn how you can become a part of Oceans of Opportunity: The Campaign for Mote Marine Laboratory and support the organization’s work in the Florida Keys, please contact Campaign Director Jennifer Vigne at 941-388-4441, ext. 393, or jvigne@mote.org