Florida Keys Ocean Festival 2015

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2015 Florida Keys Ocean Festival

On Saturday, April 4, MOTE Marine will celebrate the Keys marine environment with the sixth annual Florida Keys Ocean Festival. The event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. is held at the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery center on the Truman Waterfront in Key West. It’s a joyful celebration of the water (on land), including activities and games for kids, educational booths, a 5k “Tuna Trot” and the opportunity to learn a little more about what we do.

At MOTE Marine Laboratory, we consider ourselves scientists, explorers and stewards of the ocean. Driven by research, education and excitement we work to create a better environment for ourselves and our children. The answers are in the ocean. Together, we will find them.

We are an independent marine research institution comprised of world-class marine scientists committed to the belief that the conservation and sustainable use of our oceans begins with research and education.

From our humble beginnings in a tiny shed in a small Florida town, our efforts have expanded to include five facilities. The MOTE research facilities in the Florida Keys are approximately 50 years old and are in desperate need of repair. A new $5.2 million LEED certified research facility with advanced labs and much needed dormitories is set to break ground January of 2016 but the non-profit needs investors. To get involved go to mote.org or call Campaign Director Jennifer Vigne at the Sarasota branch at 941-388-4441.

Originally focused on sharks, our research has expanded to include studies of human cancer using marine models, the effects of man-made and natural toxins on humans and on the environment, the health of wild fisheries, developing sustainable and successful fish restocking techniques and food production technologies and the development of ocean technology to help us better understand the health of the environment. Our research programs also focus on understanding the population dynamics of manatees, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks and coral reefs and on conservation and restoration efforts related to these species and ecosystems.

The ocean is our passion. And science is our catalyst to help our oceans heal, thrive and continue to be havens of sustainable life, life-improving science and life-giving solutions.

— Michael P. Crosby, President and CEO/MOTE Marine Laboratories

Contents 8 10

Do’s and Don’ts Leave the reef better than you found it

Event Map 22 Find your way around

Sea Science MOTE revolutionizes Coral-growing technique

24

12 Remembered Late Dr. Eugenie Clark

Ocean Fest on April 4

26 Celebrity Marine artist Wyland will attend Ocean Festival

founded MOTE institute

14 18

Experience the Exhibits Eco-Discovery Center illustrates Keys’ underwater life Learning Partnership MOTE and local college to work together

Going Forward Agency, scientists write plan to save the corals

28 30

Published MMXV The Weekly Newspapers 11400 Overseas Hwy, Suite 201 Marathon, FL. 33050 P. 305-743-0844 | F. 305-743-0866 Key West office 5450 MacDonald Ave. No. 5 Key West, FL. 33040 P. 305-453-6928 | F. 305-743-0866 www.keysweekly.com About this issue

In the Field Veterans, teens team up to plant coral bed Event Schedule Plan for workshops, art auctions and music

Publisher Jason Koler jason@keysweekly.com Managing Partner Britt Myers britt@keysweekly.com Editor Sara Matthis sara@keysweekly.com

The Weekly would like to extend special thanks to the following for their help on this magazine: Jason Wolf, Roberta DePiero, Rachel Pawlitz, Amber ErnstLeonard and Hayley Rutger.

Director of Sales/ Marketing Lesley Aaron lesley@keysweekly.com Account Executives Rosario Barrett rosario@keysweekly.com Anneke Patterson anneke@keysweekly.com Michael Paulish michael@keysweekly.com

Staff Writers Alex Press alex@keysweekly.com Kristen Livengood kristen@keysweekly.com Art/Design Travis Cready travis@keysweekly.com Javier Reyes javier@keysweekly.com

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Reef Do’s & Dont’s Do’s · Always dive or snorkel with a partner or dive buddy. · Move slowly and look closely; there’s so much life to see if you take your time. · Always look at your navigation charts before you near a coral reef. · Use mooring balls instead of anchoring the boat. · Watch the weather and get a weather or radar report before leaving the dock. · Be aware of currents, tides, and waves when nearing sensitive coral reef areas. · Make sure your dive and snorkel equipment is in good working order. · Pick up floating trash you see in the water; always leave things better than you found them. · Enjoy the natural beauty of our undersea reef environment. It’s truly amazing out there.

Dont’s · Never touch corals with your hands, dive fins, or anything else. · Do not actively seek out interaction with dolphins, sharks or sea turtles. · Do not stand on a coral reef or coral head as you will damage it or kill the corals. · Never anchor your boat on or too near coral reefs or coral heads as you can easily cause damage. · Don’t fish or spearfish in marine special protected reef areas. · Never attempt to feed fish or marine animals. · Do not stray too far from your boat while snorkeling or diving. · Never litter in the ocean or leave anything behind that may harm the marine environment.

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MOTE is growing CORAL to save marine habitat

By Alex Press

New lab method is faster than natural growth Dr. David Vaughan is saving the reef one piece of coral at a time. He and his colleagues have developed a way to make corals grow 20-45 times faster than they do in nature.

“When I explain what we are doing here at MOTE to other scientists they don’t believe me. They have to come and see for themselves,” Dr. Vaughan said.

Most recently Vaughan and his team discovered that cutting brain coral will make it grow faster. In addition, by spacing the slivers of coral, they will grow together, like skin repairing itself after a wound. Forty years of natural growth in the wild can be replicated in one year at MOTE Marine Laboratory on Summerland Key. Vaughan became involved with saving coral through Philippe Cousteau, grandson of marine activist and star Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Prior to splicing coral with MOTE Vaughan was cultivating coral for a business called Ocean, Reefs and Aquariums (ORA), which produces aquaculture saltwater fish, invertebrates, plants and live aquarium foods for the marine aquarium hobby.

When I explain what we are doing here at MOTE to other scientists they don’t believe me.

He and Philippe started the coral restoration initiative shortly after that in Harbor Branch, Florida.

Unfortunately Hurricane Francis and Hurricane Jeanne destroyed all their coral spores in 2004, but Vaughan did not give up.

Philippe moved to Washington D.C. to start EarthEcho International, a leading non-profit environmental education organization that leverages the power of adventure to reignite STEM education for a new generation. Meanwhile Vaughan got a gig with MOTE to figure out how to save the reef.

First he discovered how to farm elkhorn and staghorn coral off of PVC trees underwater; then found a way to grow brain and mountain corals, the foundation for the reef. Now there is an educational reef in Newfound Harbor Key Sanctuary Preservation Area (off Little Palm Island) made of coral grown by MOTE. Within the next few years Vaughan hopes to spread his knowledge of cultivating coral across the globe. Currently MOTE is the only organization growing coral to be replanted according to Vaughan.

“Philippe shook his head and said, ‘If you can do this with coral in an aquarium, why don’t you do this for the reef?’ A light went on in my head,” Vaughan said.

Above At MOTE’s laboratories Dr. Vaughan has developed techniques to grow coral 25-40 times faster.

10 2015 Florida Keys Ocean Festival

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Remembering the Shark Lady

By Haley Rutger

Dr. Eugenie Clark left her mark Blazing trails for women in science; inspiring generations of people from ocean experts to school children; swimming with sharks to learn about them; and founding a world-class marine laboratory that turned 60 in 2015 — this is a snapshot of the life and legacy of Dr. Eugenie Clark.

“Genie” Clark — the famous “Shark Lady” who founded MOTE Marine Laboratory in Southwest Florida — died at age 92 on Feb. 25, in the company of family at her home in Sarasota, due to complications from the lung cancer she had battled for years. She undertook her last ocean dives in 2014, and her latest research was in review for publication when she passed away.

Clark, an ichthyologist, was a world authority on fishes — particularly sharks and tropical sand fishes. A courageous diver and explorer, Clark conducted 72 submersible dives as deep as 12,000 feet and led over 200 field research expeditions to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba, Caribbean, Mexico, Japan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, Indonesia and Borneo to study sand fishes, whale sharks, deep sea sharks and spotted oceanic triggerfish. She wrote three books and more than 175 articles, including research publications in leading peer-reviewed journals such as Science and a dozen popular stories in National Geographic magazine.

People often asked if Clark had ever been attacked by a shark, and she reported that it has happened only once but that the accident did not take place in the water. She was driving to a school to talk about sharks and had the dried, mounted jaw of a 12-foot tiger shark beside her on the front seat. Stopping abruptly at a traffic light, she stretched out her arm to keep the shark jaw from nicking the dashboard. It fell against her arm, the teeth sank in, and Clark had a half circle of tooth-marks

12 2015 Florida Keys Ocean Festival

Dr. Eugenie has written three books: “Lady with a Spear” (1951), which describes her adventures in Micronesia and the Red Sea; “The Lady and the Sharks” (1969), which describes the start of the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory; and “The Desert Beneath the Sea” (1991), a children’s book written with Ann McGovern.

In 1955, Clark started the one-room Cape Haze Marine Laboratory in Placida, FL., with her fisherman assistant and with philanthropic support and hearty encouragement from the Vanderbilt family. The Lab thrived in partnership with its community and became Mote Marine Laboratory in 1967 to honor major benefactor William R. Mote. Today the Lab is based on City Island, Sarasota, and it hosts 24 diverse marine research and conservation programs, education programs for all ages and a major public Aquarium. The Lab has six campuses in Florida and more than 200 staff, including scientists who work in oceans surrounding all seven continents.

Clark joined the Zoology faculty at the University of Maryland in 1968, and she officially retired in 1992. She returned to MOTE in 2000 as Senior Scientist and Director Emerita and later became a Trustee. There, she continued to build upon and champion the groundbreaking research that she started 60 years ago.

After carrying out a distinguished career spanning almost 75 years, raising four children and inspiring countless scientists, students and others, Clark will be remembered for her legacy of amazing discoveries and their ripple effects around the world.

“There was absolutely no one like Genie Clark,” said Dr. Michael P. Crosby, President and CEO of MOTE. “Her fascination with fishes and dedication to research changed marine science forever.”

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Take a trip to Eco-Discovery Center

By Alex Press

A trip to the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center at Truman Annex takes visitors on an enchanting journey through different ecosystems of the Keys. The island environment is vividly recreated and displayed with scientific and expert notations to make the whole experience educational.

Register at

www.smokintunasaloon.com Proceeds go to coral reef restoration programs at Mote Marine Lab.

The $6.5 million, 6,400-square-foot facility opened in 2007 to educate locals and tourists about protecting and preserving the ecosystem. Guests learn about the delicate environment of the Keys and all its plants and animals. A stroll through the center takes guests from exhibits on the mangrove shoreline to shallowwater sea grass flats, plus hard bottom, coral reef, and deep-shelf communities. And the exhibits are constantly updated, so there is something new every time.

A visit to the center is also an opportunity to see a special show.

Bob Talbot, the creator of “Free Willy” and “Flipper” filmed a movie played exclusively at the Eco-Discovery Center’s theater called “Reflections of the Florida Keys.” It tells the story of a girl growing up in the Keys and is based on the true story of artist Lee Bailley.

One of the young guests’ favorite parts of the center is the detailed map near the entrance. Little fingers push buttons to light up areas denoting known shipwrecks in the Florida Keys.

Aside from the great displays, the center offers a multitude of programs. Every third Saturday of the month is devoted to seminars for kids on marine-related topics. Most recently, students learned the meaning of different nautical flags.

School trips, colleges and road scholars come to the center weekly. Three thousand students from schools in town make their way to the center every year and people have visited it from 86 foreign countries. Of particular interest is the exhibit that explains the state of the reef and what activists are doing to save it.

14 2015 Florida Keys Ocean Festival

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MOTE partners with FKCC College students receive accelerated experience MOTE Marine Laboratory and Florida Keys Community College (FKCC) forged a new educationfocused partnership at the beginning of 2015 that will benefit students, faculty and scientists while enhancing Keys-based research and restoration of marine resources such as coral reefs.

MOTE President and CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby and FKCC President and CEO Dr. Jonathan Gueverra, signed a memorandum of understanding. The MOU lays the foundation for collaborations in marine research and education serving the common missions and goals of both institutions.

Above An FKCC student plants staghorn coral.

18 2015 Florida Keys Ocean Festival

We’ve already been collaborating at a small scale; this is a chance to do much more.

— Dr. David Vaughn

Under this agreement, MOTE and FKCC explore exciting opportunities to partner in teaching, introduce more undergraduate students to the cutting-edge marine science at MOTE’s research facility on Summerland Key and share research and education facilities and infrastructure.

MOTE, an independent nonprofit marine science institution established in 1955, has six campuses stretching from its home base in Sarasota to its research facility on Summerland Key. There, MOTE scientists study the grand challenges facing corals reefs — including climate change and ocean acidification — and they have raised and planted thousands of coral fragments onto Florida’s depleted reefs. The Keys facility also serves as a base of operations for hundreds of other researchers from more than 60 different institutions around the world and numerous students.

About 20 miles away is FKCC, the southernmost college of the “Great 48” in the Florida College System. Established in 1965, FKCC is an openaccess, educational institution dedicated to serving the intellectual, diverse, cultural and occupational needs of the Florida Keys as well as the global community. The college is committed to studentcentric academic programs and services, workforce development, continuing education, diverse partnerships, electronically delivered instruction and sustainable practices that prepare students for personal success and responsible citizenship.

As leaders of learning in the Keys, MOTE, and FKCC staff have naturally teamed up in recent years — for example, partnering to receive a National Science Foundation grant for a tropical mariculture course.

Mote scientists have taught a small number of FKCC courses and allowed two students to intern at MOTE’s research facility in summer 2014.

“This agreement is really a natural for us,” said Dr. David Vaughan, Manager of MOTE’s Coral Restoration Program, who oversees the Lab’s Summerland Key facility. “Our campuses are in close proximity, we have a lot of common goals and we’ve already been collaborating at a small scale; this is a chance to do much more. For example, it would be ideal to arrange an opportunity for students to get college credit for volunteering or interning at our lab. We now have a framework for investigating these possibilities.”

FKCC has a booth at Ocean Fest highlighting its summer camps for children ages 10-12 in which they are also partnering with MOTE. Students go on field trips to the Dry Tortugas, shipwreck museum, Key West Aquarium and MOTE Marine Lab and get lessons from college professors while staying eight days, seven nights at the FKCC residence hall.

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2015 Florida Keys Ocean Festival

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NOAA publishes recovery plan for threatened corals, Mote contributes

By Hayley Rutger

THEN

NOW

NOAA Fisheries recently released its recovery plan for elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) and staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), identifying criteria that must be met for these branching corals to be removed from the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Photo: BILL HARRIGAN Top South Craysford Reef was full of vibrant elkhorn and staghorn coral when this photo was shot in 1980.

24 2015 Florida Keys Ocean Festival

Photo: DAVID ARNOLD Bottom Now South Craysford Reef has dead corals and is in need of restoration.

Coral reefs are critical to the health of marine ecosystems and economically valuable to coastal communities around the world. They provide food and shelter for more than 25 percent of marine fish and up to two million marine species, protection for shorelines against effects of major storms and hundreds of millions, if not billions, annually to the local, regional and state economy through tourism and recreation, NOAA said.

The new plan contains two dozen actions needed to recover the species, and it addresses research and monitoring, ways to reduce threats and enhance populations by growing corals in nurseries and putting them back onto the reef.

Scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory — an independent, nonprofit marine science institution with six Florida campuses from Sarasota to Key West — wrote portions of the staghorn and elkhorn coral recovery plan and conducted research that helped inform its recommendations. Mote, which announced exciting plans for expansion this year, is carrying out innovative coral science and restoration projects at its research facility

on Summerland Key that are relevant to the recovery plan.

Mote Senior Scientist Dr. Kim Ritchie is one of 19 expert authors for the recovery plan.

Authors hail from government agencies, academic institutions and nongovernment organizations.

Ritchie, Mote Research Program Manager for Marine Microbiology, studies the microscopic life associated with coral reefs, including beneficial bacteria that are part of the corals’ immune systems and the microscopic algae that give corals energy and color. She has worked with staghorn and elkhorn corals since 1992, studying the factors that can make them healthy or sick.

“We know elkhorn and staghorn corals are highly sensitive to environmental stress, and that makes them the perfect species to focus on for a recovery plan,” Ritchie said. “If you enable changes that help these sensitive corals recover, it will also result in the recovery of other threatened corals that are less sensitive.”

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Renowned marine life artist Wyland changed the way people think about our environment when he started painting life-size whales on the sides of buildings in the 1980s. Wyland always thought big.

And he never stopped.

Wyland has inspired a generation about the importance of marine life conservation.

Today, the Wyland name has become synonymous with the new generation of awareness about environmental conservation. Through his unique marine life paintings, sculptures, and photography, Wyland has inspired a generation about the importance of marine life conservation. His life – like his art – can find him anywhere around the world, at any time, from the Antarctic ice shelf on a photo expedition to document climate change to a grassroots journey down the Mississippi River on a mission of conservation.

Wyland will lend his presence to the Florida Keys Ocean Festival on April 4. He will lead a group painting workshop with kids from 1 to 3 p.m. And he is also creating paintings onsite to auction off to help MOTE’s conservation efforts and mission of preserving and protecting the world’s delicate marine environoment. The auction is set for 5:15 p.m. and hosted by Bill Hoebee.

“The beauty that I see in the Florida Keys, one of the premiere dive destinations on the planet, is reflected in all my paintings, sculptures and murals,” he said.

The multi-faceted artist, SCUBA diver, educator, and explorer has hosted several television programs, including, “Wyland’s Ocean World” series on the Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet Network, “Wyland: A Brush With Giants” and “Wyland’s Art Studio,” a series for national public television. His mission of engaging people through nature-themed art and a more environmentally friendly lifestyle has led to strategic alliances with such notable organizations as the United States Olympic Team, United Nation Environment Programme, and Walt Disney Studios, to name a few.

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TEENS, VETERANS REBUILDING CORAL REEFS AS A MEMORIAL Contributed

Over the last two years, veterans wounded in combat and youth interested in learning leadership skills through scuba have been volunteering at MOTE Marine Laboratory’s underwater coral nursery in the Florida Keys.

Not only do these combat wounded and youth volunteers provide important support to MOTE — accelerating the coral reef restoration work undertaken since 2006 — they also inspire and challenge one another in a way that only the undersea community can provide.

Thanks to this ongoing partnership, MOTE will be setting aside an area in our coral restoration site to honor American servicemen and women. In July, members of the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge, SCUBAnauts International and the Gold Star Teen Adventures will be coming together with scientists to work at this underwater site for the first time.

Top A combat wounded veteran restores staghorn coral.

Oposite Three groups­—Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge, SCUBAnauts International and the Gold Star Teen Adventures—unite to restore the reefs.

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“Our mission with this project is multi-faceted,” said Dr. Michael P. Crosby, President & CEO of MOTE Marine Laboratory.

“Because we have the southernmost marine research laboratory in the nation, we’re dedicated to restoring the only barrier reef in the continental U.S.” More than seven years ago, MOTE established an underwater coral nursery where scientists grow colonies of the threatened staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) for replanting on decimated or damaged sections of reef within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. When the colonies reach a suitable size, small fragments nearly two inches long are snipped off and used to create a new colony — similar to the way new plants are grown from cuttings of existing plants. Today, they have about 15,000 coral colonies — some 250,000 fragments — growing in the nursery.

Members of SCUBAnauts International and the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge have been with MOTE working in the nursery since 2012, coming out to help propagate coral and replant fragments in our transplant area near Looe Key. “We are very grateful to MOTE for providing this exceptional opportunity for combat wounded and injured veterans to show by example to our youth that their limitations are what they place on themselves,” said retired U.S. Navy Capt. David Olson, who founded SCUBAnauts and the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge.

This trip also provides SCUBAnauts with an opportunity to truly understand the meaning of overcoming challenges, said Jim Cassick, Executive Director of SCUBAnauts International. As part of this Challenge Expedition, Combat Wounded Veteran amputees will collect information and medical data in a partnership with St. Petersburg College of Orthotics and Prosthetics to contribute to the science of human performance, rehabilitation and recreation in extreme aquatic environments. Amputee veterans not already certified will be receiving their SCUBA certification from Divers 4 Heroes, a non-profit organization with the mission to introduce a gravity free environment, our underwater world, to all warriors who have been injured.... mind, body, or spirit.

Yacht Towing and Assistance Salvage Launch Charter Marine Construction Spill Response Commercial Diving Services

Proud supporters of Coral Reef Restoration programs at Mote Marine Lab in the Keys.

24 hours service available 7281 Shrimp Rd. • Key West Fl, 33040 305.454.3121 • Info@kwharborservices.com

To Help 2014 marks the third year that Mote Marine Laboratory has partnered with the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge, SCUBAnauts International and the first year that Gold Star Teen Adventures participants are joining us.

We are seeking funding that will allow us to expand our partnerships and provide additional opportunities for members of these groups to work with us in our underwater coral nursery.

For information on how you can help, please contact Development Officer Jason Wolf at 305- 393-6022 or jwolf@mote.org.

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Ocean Fest Event Schedule Please join us on April 4, 2015 at the Truman Waterfront All Day Activities • Free ‘sky rides’ on Keys Energy bucket trucks

• Rock climbing, bounce house, bungees, sky slide and more

• Shopping with great local art, clothing, crafts and jewelry

• Educational and interactive games and activities at 30-plus booths

• Enjoy great local food, ice cream, confections, plus cool cocktails and drinks from the Smokin’ Tuna and Bombora Vodka

• Kids treasure hunt with prizes: Pick up the form at the event Info Booth and receive an entry into a drawing for one of two great prizes once the treasure hunt is complete.

• Touch tanks and live animals on display

• Prizes and chance drawing/ raffle prizes; winners do not need to be present

• Passport to the Ocean Game: Pick up form at the event Info Booth and receive a prize when passport is completed.

Event Schedule :45-7:45 a.m. 5k race check-in 6

2 p.m. second group kids’ fishing class

8 a.m. 3rd annual Smokin’ Tuna Trot 5K Race for the Reef! (same meeting point)

11 a.m. live music

2 p.m. live music

11 a.m. silent auction opens

4 p.m.

Howard Livingston & MM24 band!

11:30 a.m. first group kids’ fishing class (meet at conference 5:15 p.m.

Wyland art auction “live” with Bill Hoebee

room inside Eco-Discovery Center)

5:30 p.m. silent auction ends 12:30 p.m. live music

5:45 p.m.

Woodyboard paddleboard drawing &

1–3 p.m. kids paint with Wyland

fishing/diving gear raffle drawing

6:30 p.m. after party at the Smokin’ Tuna and Bombora Vodka

drinks and food specials and more live music

Brought to you by Mote Marine Laboratory and The Protect Our Reefs License Plate Coral Reef Restoration Partners Fury Water Adventures Smokin Tuna Sallon Wyland Foundation Galleon Resort & Marina Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center Stock Island Marina Village NOAA Key West Harbor Services Monroe County Tourist Development Council Reef Safe Suncare the Weekly Newspapers

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Protect Our Reefs Sponsors Ocean Key Resort & Spa Westin Key West - Resort & Marina Little Palm Island Resort & Spa Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association Bombora & Cooranbong Vodka First State Bank Keys Energy Services Lower Keys Tackle Centennial Bank

Reef Community Sponsors Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation Blue Heaven Pier House Resort & Spa Keys Federal Credit Union Ocean Walk Apartments Coca-Cola Okuma Fishing Tackle Anglers For Conservation

Ocean Festival Sponsor Shark Bites United States Coast Guard Auxilary Tavern & Town Restaurant & Bar

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