BRACELETS TO BRACE CORALS

MOTE & OPAL COLLECTION PARTNER IN RESTORATION CAUSE

Mote Marine Laboratory is expanding what it says is an already transformative partnership with Opal Collection, a premier assortment of luxury hotels and resorts.

In honor of World Ocean Day on Thursday, June 8, Opal is giving 3,000 Coral Legend bracelets to guests across all of its Florida properties. Each bracelet, produced and sold by Follow Your Legend, a corporate partner with Mote, provides financial support to Mote’s Coral Restoration Program and is filled with sand from the area where corals have been planted because of that support.

“Florida’s Coral Reef is on the brink of functional extinction and Mote, through our innovative Coral Restoration Initiative, is committed to reversing that course,” said Michael P. Crosby, Mote president & CEO. “To accomplish that, we need the support of visionary philanthropy from exceptional partners like Opal Collection and Follow Your Legend. It is critical to couple science-based coral reef restoration with public outreach and education on the importance of conservation and sustainable use of our marine resources, which is what this partnership achieves.”

Alongside the bracelet, guests will also receive a handout with information that will educate them about the challenges facing coral reefs with details about Mote’s diverse research programs and its efforts to develop science-based solutions to those challenges.

“If coral reefs were above the water and all of the public,

JIM McCARTHY/ not just divers and snorkelers, could see them dwindling away and going extinct before their eyes, everyone would want to help restore these rainforests of the sea,” said Mark Walsh, vice president of Opal Collection. “We are proud to work with Mote in meaningful ways to both support their critical research and broaden awareness around it.”

In addition to the World Ocean Day promotion, Opal Collection also houses Mote’s Key Largo Coral Nursery at Opal’s Reefhouse Resort & Marina. The nursery includes 20 seawater raceways, which can hold more than 10,000 fragments of coral at any given time and will produce between 6,000 and 10,000 coral fragments per year for outplanting efforts. In addition, like the promotion, it furthers the mission of Mote to translate and transfer the outcomes of research to help increase broader ocean literacy and public awareness.

— Contributed

Save The Date

June 7-11

• Key West celebrates Pride and diversity while marking the 20th “birthday” of Key West’s famed 1.25-mile sea-to-sea rainbow flag with a three-night laser light show during Key West Pride 2023. Presented by the Key West Business Guild, Pride salutes the Florida Keys’ all-accepting “One Human Family” mindset on the subtropical island internationally known as a top LGBTQ vacation spot.

Wednesday, June 7

• Kick off Pride in Key West with the 20th anniversary of the Sea-to-Sea Rainbow Flag Bash at Hard Rock Cafe, 313 Duval St.

June 9, 10 & 11

• Key West Pride 20th Anniversary Sea-to-Sea Diversity Flag Laser Light Show on the entire length of Duval Street. All ages welcome. 8 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, June 15

• Walk on White art stroll in the White Street gallery district now includes the Golden Heron House and the studios of Violet and H.E. Jangraw, 1106 Georgia St. 5-8 p.m.

• Key West City Commissioner Clayton Lopez hosts a quarterly District VI Community Meeting at 6 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Pool at the corner of Catherine and Thomas streets. The agenda includes a welcome from City Manager Al Childress and several updates on issues regarding the Bahama Village community.

Saturday, June 17

• Native plant sale at the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden, 9 a.m. to noon on College Road, Stock Island.

• The Key West chapter of NOW hosts a petition-signing event to protect the freedoms of Ameicans and Floridians in an attempt to overturn Florida’s and other states’ abortion bans. 10:30 a.m. to noon at Bayview Park.

• The Rotary Club of Key West presents ‘Hippie Go Lucky’ Casino Night fundraiser from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Marriott Beachside Hotel. $100 per person benefits Take Stock in Children. Visit the club’s Facebook page for information and to buy tickets.