S P R I N G
2 0 1 9
Salem, the holiday dolphin Philanthropy leads to new Red Tide Institute, new director
MOT E M
A
G
A
SPRING 2019
INFO: 941-388-4441
Z
•
I
N
E
VOLUME 80
•
MOTE.ORG
Mote Magazine (ISSN 1553-1104) is published by Mote Marine Laboratory, a world-class nonprofit organization devoted to the ocean and its future. Through marine science stories, Mote hopes to enhance ocean literacy among the public and encourage conservation and sustainable use of marine resources.
PRESIDENT & CEO Michael P. Crosby, Ph.D. EDITOR Hayley Rutger GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Alexis Balinski CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Amanda Chandler, Stephannie Kettle, Hayley Rutger CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
City of Sarasota, Conor Goulding, Dan Mele, Miguel Montalvo, Olivia Raney, Robert Snow/OCEARCH
Mote Spring 2019 Events Calendar Spring into the season with Mote events and programs. All events: mote.org/events.
MARC H
MARCH 4, 11, 18, 25 Mote’s Special Lecture Series. Sponsored in-part by Protect our Reefs Specialty License Plate. Register at: mote.org/lecture. 6:30 p.m. WAVE Center at Mote in Sarasota.
APRIL 13 Key West Ocean Fest. Community celebration supporting coral reef conservation, restoration and research. mote.org/oceanfest. 11 a.m. Truman Waterfront Park in Key West. M AY
MARCH 13 Coffee with a Scientist. Dr. Robert Nowicki presents: “Sharks, Seagrass, and Stressors: Diverse Mote Research in the Florida Keys.” mote.org/boca. 9 a.m. Mote’s Boca Grande Outreach Office.
MAY 12 Mother’s Day special. Free Mote Aquarium admission for moms with paid child admission (one paid ticket per free ticket). JUNE
MARCH 15 Party on the Pass. A casual evening of local food and fun to support Mote’s dolphin, whale and sea turtle hospitals. Tickets: mote.org/party. 6:30 p.m. Mote Aquarium in Sarasota. MARCH 18-22 AND MARCH 25-29 Mote Spring Break Camp. Half-day camps for students currently in kindergarten-5th grade, at Mote. Register: mote.org/springbreak.
JUNE 8 World Oceans Day Family Festival. Educational celebration of the oceans, free with Mote Aquarium admission. mote.org/worldoceansday. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Mote Aquarium courtyard. JUNE 16 Father's Day special. Free Mote Aquarium admission for dads with paid child admission (one paid ticket per free ticket).
APRIL J U LY
APRIL 6
Mote Magazine is proud to recognize Sarasota Magazine as its publishing partner. For information on sponsorship, please contact Sarasota Magazine at 941-487-1100.
On the cover Atlantic bottlenose dolphin patient Salem arrives at Mote. Story: Page 10 Photo by: Miguel Montalvo
2
M O TE M A G A Z I N E | S P R IN G 2 0 1 9
Mote’s 33rd Annual Run for the Turtles. Sanctioned 5K run and 1-mile fun run/walk benefiting Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program. Can’t be there in person? Participate in a virtual 1-mile fun run. All details and registration available at: mote.org/run. 6:30 a.m. Siesta Beach.
JULY 12-14 Sarasota Lionfish Derby. Divers are invited to catch this invasive species. mote.org/lionfish. July 12 captains' meeting. July 14 public event: lionfish tasting and awards. Mote in Sarasota. AU G U S T
APRIL 10
AUGUST 4-10
Coffee with a Scientist. Drs. Kevan Main and Ryan Schloesser present “Advances in Snook Aquaculture Technology Development and Stock Enhancement.” mote.org/boca. 9 a.m. Mote’s Boca Grande Outreach Office.
Shark Days at Mote. Mote celebrates its very own shark week with education and entertainment. Watch for the full schedule and details at: mote.org/sharkdays. The week wraps up with the Fins & Fun Family Festival on Saturday, Aug. 10 at Mote Aquarium.
MARINE AQUAPONICS RESEARCH
Southwest Florida’s sea-green delicacy
BY HAYLEY RUTGER
Sea purslane is a special veggie — freshly crisp and tender, pleasantly salty and rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals — but that’s not the only reason it has its very own, new cookbook. This salt-tolerant “sea vegetable” is being grown in an experimental, eco-friendly system by southwest Florida marine scientist Dr. Kevan Main, whose farm-to-table research emphasizes raising sea veggies together with seafood (redfish), using marine aquaponics to turn fish waste into plant fertilizer. Main, a Senior Scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota County, Florida, developed the new “Sea Purslane Cookbook” to help local eaters enjoy this beach-dwelling vegetable and encourage forward-thinking farmers to cultivate it. “Our goal is to help sustainable farms start doing this — farming seafood and sea vegetables in recirculating aquaculture systems that contribute to local food production,” Main said. “Freshwater resources are limited, so one of the only ways to expand food production is through seafood and sea vegetable production — and we need to identify marine plants that can be farmed to provide new sources of vegetables. So far those include seaweeds, sea purslane and sea asparagus, and I hope this new cookbook highlights the exciting potential of sea purslane.” The “Sea Purslane Cookbook” is brimming with recipes for appetizers, soups, salads and entrées for virtually any palate: Purslane chicken curry, black barley, purslane and walnut salad, numerous
delicious purslane-seafood pairings and much more. The recipes show this veggie’s international range — with Italian-style pasta dishes, Chinese-style stir fry, and various other recipes evoking the Middle East to the American Southwest. Sea purslane is sold in Caribbean farmers markets and widely grown in many Asian and European regions. It lives on sand dunes and stabilizes shores in Florida. However, its culinary and agricultural potential is largely untapped in the United States. At Mote Aquaculture Research Park in Sarasota, Florida, Main developed and maintains the prototype aquaponics greenhouse growing rows of sea purslane hydroponically in high-nutrient, brackish (part salt) water, together with the popular sportfish red drum (redfish) and a self-contained circulation and filtration system. Filters clean the water, allowing bacteria to break down harmful ammonia into other nitrogen-rich compounds used to fertilize the purslane roots. Once the water is cleaned, it is returned to the fish. The system recycles 100 percent of its water. Since the system launched in 2014, Main and colleagues have: described its operations in peer-reviewed, scientific literature to help enable others to adopt this local, food production technology; hosted tours for local chefs and seafood distributors; and
MOTE MAG AZI N E | SP RI N G 2 019
3
MARINE AQUAPONICS RESEARCH
continued selling their locally grown sea purslane and red drum through the Sarasota Farmer’s Market, seafood distributors in St. Pete and Tampa, or directly to area chefs. In 2018, Main and colleagues undertook some exciting new steps with support from the Binational Agricultural Research & Development Fund and the Longboat Key Garden Club. In a partnership with the National Center for Mariculture in Eilat, Israel, Mote scientists successfully built 16 experimental systems linked to their marine aquaponics prototype system and began testing a new way to remove nutrients and clean the water. Specifically, they are testing a plant-based biofilter comprising nets covered with “periphyton” — various algae and bacteria — to see if they remove nitrogen-rich waste molecules and produce oxygen better than the systems currently in place. “We’re interested in testing this new biofilter because the periphyton itself may have the potential to be ‘recycled’ as food for fish,” Main said. This year Main and colleagues led tours for current and prospective aquaculture farmers and Main worked with a Charlotte Harbor farm that aims to incorporate edible sea vegetable production into their facility design.
PURCHASE THE “SEA PURSLANE COOKBOOK” The cookbook, as well as fresh sea purslane grown by Main and her team, can be purchased at the Simply Organic booth at the Sarasota Farmer’s Market, which is open 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at 1 North Lemon Ave. in downtown Sarasota. You can also order the book by emailing: kmain@mote.org. Proceeds benefit the Marine & Freshwater Aquaculture Research Program at Mote. Check for updated info and buying options: mote.org/seapurslane Interested in farming sea vegetables? Check out this peerreviewed scientific paper on Mote’s aquaponics system: “Evaluation of water treatment capacity, nutrient cycling, and biomass production in a marine aquaponic system” in the journal Ecological Engineering.
RED QUINOA & PURSLANE Recipe by: Executive Chef Richard Demarse Sandbar Restaurant, Anna Maria, Florida Serving Size: Serves four INGREDIENTS • Pinch salt • Pinch black pepper • 1 cup red quinoa, cooked • 1/2 cup marinated tomatoes • 1 cup corn kernels, raw
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup Dakin Dairy asiago, small dice
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 2 red radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup cucumber, small dice
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup purslane leaves
• 5 leaves basil, chopped
DIRECTIONS
DIRECTIONS Mix everything together. Good for two days or until tomatoes are too soft.
Toss everything together and enjoy.
4
M A R I N AT E D T O M AT O E S :
MO TE M A G A Z I NE | S P R IN G 2 0 1 9
SHARK RESEARCH
From the Great White North to the Sunshine State As white sharks travel from Canada to Florida’s warmer waters, international research and collaboration heat up BY STEPHANNIE KETTLE
I
t’s not just people who find refuge in the warm temperatures of the Southeast U.S. during winter — even some great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are “snowbirds” that travel from as far north as Canada down to Florida.
Six of the seven sharks sampled during the expedition were outfitted with satellite tags, allowing for researchers to continue watching the sharks’ movement and behavior from their laboratories onshore.
Scientists on a fall 2018 expedition aboard the research vessel OCEARCH, including Mote Senior Scientist and shark researcher for 30-plus years Dr. Robert Hueter, located a hotspot of these apex predators near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. Hueter served as Expedition Chief Scientist for the month-long trek, as 25 scientists from 18 institutions came together to better the collective knowledge of one of the world’s most recognizable, yet still poorly understood, marine predators.
One of the male sharks, “Nova,” tagged on Sept. 24 in the coastal waters of Nova Scotia, quickly traveled south, reaching the Atlantic waters off the Florida Keys in late November. Then Nova made the trek around the Keys into the Gulf of Mexico, and on Dec. 23, his tag “pinged” about 150 miles offshore from Mote’s own Sarasota campus, where Hueter has his laboratory. “It’s as if Nova is following me!” Hueter quipped. Nova has traveled at least 2,225 miles since he was tagged in September. The public can follow Nova and other sharks tagged by OCEARCH on this expedition and on others, at OCEARCH.org.
This expedition was the latest in a series of multi-institutional efforts to study white sharks aboard the OCEARCH vessel in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, begun in 2012. Expedition partners tag, track and collect samples from the North Atlantic white shark population to learn important life-history details needed for management and conservation, including where these sharks migrate, mate and give birth.
PHOTO BY: ROBERT SNOW/OCEARCH
During the trip, seven great white sharks were caught, sampled, measured and released. Each shark only spent about 20 minutes on a specialized platform on the OCEARCH vessel, as researchers buzzed around the shark like worker bees to gather various samples, measure the shark, and attach a location-tracking satellite tag on its dorsal fin. Some samples taken during the expedition will be used to continue important projects — such as blood samples for studies of health, stress physiology and reproductive status, and samples of the bacteria associated with these animals. Other projects served by this expedition are new — for instance, fecal samples for DNA analysis to better understand what prey the sharks consume, and samples of blood, tissue and feces to check for impacts of microplastics, a widespread issue in oceans around the world.
White sharks are ecologically important, widespread top predators in the world’s oceans, but their lives remain largely mysterious and they are listed as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. They are considered a “Species At Risk” in Canada and are fully protected in Canadian waters, and landing them is prohibited in U.S. waters. Human activity has degraded the inshore nursery areas where pups (babies) are born and sheltered, and fishery bycatch has removed pups, growing teenagers and reproductive adults from the population. These losses have sparked growing concern, and ultimately, measures that are rebuilding the Northwest Atlantic population. White shark conservation is increasingly supported by the public, despite media frenzy over humanshark encounters or bites. The work of shark researchers aboard the OCEARCH vessel will prove key to conserving this species, no matter where these sharks spend their summers and winters.
Turn the page to learn more about shark sampling
SHARK RESEARCH
Full-body exam: How OCEARCH scientists learn about white sharks When a shark is caught, examined and released during an OCEARCH expedition, scientists take samples for multiple research projects and attach one or more electronic tracking tags to the shark. Many samples are taken at once, and the whole process takes less than 20 minutes. Blood sampling
Multiple blood samples are used for a number of health studies and to monitor the shark's stress through the process.
1 Parasite collection
15
2
Parasites are collected from multiple places on the shark’s body to learn where the shark has visited.
Weight Determination The shark's weight is estimated using girth and length measurements, or may be measured directly using an onboard electronic scale.
Fecal sampling
13
Fecal samples are collected to study feeding habits and contaminants in the sharks.
*Stretch total length is taken along the side of the shark and up the length of the top portion of the tail.
Stretch total length*
6 
Fin clip
A fin clip is used in genetic studies — vital for population identification and stock management.
14
Total length
MO TE M A G A Z I N E | S P R IN G 2 0 1 9
Length measurements
Four different length measurements are taken for use in different studies.
Fork length
Precaudal length
12 Semen sampling
11
For males, the length and development of their reproductive organs (claspers) are determined to assess maturity, and semen samples are collected for studies of sperm maturity and viability.
SHARK RESEARCH
Pop-up tagging
3 SPOT tagging
A SPOT satellite tag on the top of the fin tracks the shark’s location in real time. Follow along at OCEARCH.org!
A pop-up satellite tag is attached to track shark location, depth and water temperature. The tag detaches on a programmed date and sends its archived Muscle biopsy data to scientists. Small samples of muscle tissue are used to study the shark's diet, 4 contaminant loads and genetics.
6 Girth measurement
Girth is measured around the widest part of the shark. 5
Eye measurement
The eye is measured and photographed for studies of shark eye development and evolution.
7
1O Ultrasound
8
Microbiology swabs
These swabs are used to study the types of bacteria living on the shark. These bacteria could prove useful in antibiotic research for human health.
An ultrasound scan is conducted on Acoustic tagging large females to determine 9 An acoustic tag is inserted reproductive condition into the body cavity. For up to and, if she's pregnant, 10 years, this device emits sounds that can count the be detected by receivers throughout the world. pups.
Acoustic tag 3"
Source: OCEARCH; Photos by: Robert Snow/OCEARCH MOTE MA G AZI N E | SP RI N G 2 019 
7
CORAL HEALTH & DISEASE
WEATHERING THE STORM TAKES REEFSILIENCE BY HAYLEY RUTGER
H
urricane Irma caused $50 billion in losses, with more than $500 million in federal recovery funds sent to Monroe County, Florida, alone — and it would have been worse without coral reefs.
When the Category-4 hurricane crossed the Middle and Lower Florida Keys in Monroe County during September 2017, wave energy eroded and fractured parts of the reef framework in the storm’s direct path, sometimes dislodging corals or burying them under sediment. “The waves offshore exceeded 20 feet in some cases — it’s hard to imagine what would have happened if they had hit the Florida Keys with full force; thanks to the Florida Reef Tract, we never found out,” said Dr. Michael P. Crosby, President & CEO of Mote Marine Laboratory. Mote’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration (IC2R3) on Summerland Key was built to resist Category-5 hurricanes; it stood strong, but its outdoor systems required extensive repairs, like many structures in the Keys. “Our staff who rode out the storm at IC2R3 saw the surge washing over the land, boats and debris in the street, damaged homes and businesses left and right. It was difficult for all of Monroe County, but we are all deeply thankful that the reefs attenuated a great deal of wave energy and kept it from being even worse.”
8
M O TE M A G A Z I NE | S P R IN G 2 0 1 9
Unfortunately, Florida’s corals have declined in some areas by more than 90 percent — some species by 97 percent — over the last four decades. Branching elkhorn and staghorn corals have been decimated by white band disease. Warming water temperatures and ocean acidification are increasing stress and die-offs of corals, and the massive reef-building brain, boulder and star corals face an unprecedented outbreak of tissue-loss disease spanning more than 96,000 acres. Florida’s reefs are past a tipping point of being able to fight back on their own. They cannot recover unless researchers and resource managers apply their knowledge to successful interventions — including growing corals in nurseries and restoring them to reefs, using science-based strategies. “Our research has identified genetic strains of staghorn coral resistant to white band disease, and we are studying the mechanism behind this resistance, screening other corals for indicators of resistance, and thoughtfully including this information within our restoration plan,” said Dr. Erinn Muller, Science Director of Mote’s IC2R3. “We anticipate incorporating these disease resistant corals into controlled sexual reproduction efforts to increase both the genetic diversity and disease resistance of our corals used for restoration.” The sexual reproduction efforts will be led by Mote’s visiting German Research Foundation postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Hanna Koch.
Above: Coral growing at Mote's Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration (IC2R3).
The faces of Mote's coral research:
Dr. Erinn Muller
Dr. Hanna Koch
CORAL HEALTH & DISEASE
The Florida Reef Tract is a 360-mile shield, and provides Mother Nature’s “coastal resilience” against storm-driven erosion, wave run-up on shore, and loss of property or even life. The U.S. Geological Survey has reported that a degraded coral reef leads to increased run-up in flooding. Observational and modeling studies indicate that, had coral reefs been less degraded across the Caribbean (including the Florida Reef Tract), wave-driven run-up and coastal flooding of areas fronted by coral reefs would have been less than did occur. Worldwide, losing coral reefs would allow annual flood damages to increase more than twofold, according to the 2018 Nature Communications paper “The global flood protection savings provided by coral reefs.” “In the Florida Keys, coral reefs are our treasure, part of our culture and quality of life, the basis of our economic well-being and our shield — that was abundantly clear during Hurricane Irma,” Crosby said. “The new grant from the National Coastal Resilience Fund will allow for three years of critical work by Mote scientists and our partners, part of a 10-year plan that Mote has developed, to restore self-sustaining coral reefs in the Florida Keys.” Mote’s Florida Keys Coral Disease Response & Restoration Initiative includes the following three-year goals: Above: Outplanted coral grows on a depleted reef.
Muller continued: “Unfortunately, most corals in another key group, the massive reef building species, appear highly susceptible to the current tissue-loss disease outbreak. However, preliminary laboratory experiments suggest the massive coral species genotypes that Mote has been restoring and will restore may be relatively resilient to waterborne disease exposure, which appears to be the primary way the disease has spread throughout the Florida Keys. Additionally, complete genetic resistance to the current disease outbreak is likely for some of the hundreds of genetic strains Mote uses in restoration, and we are currently working to test this prediction.” Mote scientists have nursery-raised and restored some 43,000 corals to Florida Keys reefs, monitored their progress and led controlled lab studies investigating why some genetic varieties of coral resist threats better than others. Starting in 2019, Mote and partners plan to restore 70,000 coral “seeds” across 130 acres of depleted Florida reefs over three years — prioritizing genetic varieties resilient to disease and climate change impacts — thanks to the combined support of philanthropic giving, State of Florida funding and a grant of nearly $1.5 million awarded recently by the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF), a partnership of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Shell Oil Company and TransRe. “As another active hurricane season comes to an end on November 30th, we are reminded of the critical importance of safeguarding the health of America’s coastline,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in NFWF’s Nov. 9 news release about the grants.
• Plant approximately 70,000 fragments of diverse, endemic coral genetic varieties (genotypes) – emphasizing those that are scientifically demonstrated to be resilient to climate change conditions and/or coral disease; • Conduct necessary research to identify naturally resilient, endemic genotypes of coral species, cross-breed them strategically for healthy genetic diversity, and investigate why they are resilient; • Establish and maintain quality control of life-support systems in a remote, secure, inland-based, living coral gene bank in recirculating seawater infrastructure to ensure the long-term viability, persistence and genetic diversity of threatened coral species; • Establish an isolated, “clean room” laboratory needed for studies of contagious coral diseases; and • Implement multi-year monitoring and analyses to scientifically evaluate ecological impacts and benefits of restoration. Mote’s initiative includes partners from NOAA’s Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Biscayne National Park, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, The Nature Conservancy, Florida Keys community groups and others. It focuses on staghorn and elkhorn corals, along with brain, boulder and star corals, in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary waters in the Lower Keys and Biscayne National Park in the Upper Keys. The NCRF grant challenges Mote to maximize its impact by raising matching funds. Please support this important initiative: Visit mote.org/donate, click “Donations,” and under “Designation,” select “Coral reef research & restoration.”
MOTE MAG AZI N E | SP RI N G 2 019
9
MAMMAL STRANDING & REHABILITATION
SALEM: THE HOLIDAY DOLPHIN Mote Marine Laboratory staff and volunteers spent their holiday season caring 24 hours per day for Salem, a bottlenose dolphin that stranded on Halloween. TEXT BY STEPHANNIE KETTLE; PHOTOS BY CONOR GOULDING AND MIGUEL MONTALVO 1
3
4
2
HALLOWEEN
THANKSGIVING
Arrival
Beating infection and getting better
On Oct. 31, 2018, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials rescued a stranded Atlantic bottlenose dolphin near St. Pete’s Skyway Bridge. The dolphin was brought to Jane’s Refuge: The Hospital for Dolphins and Whales at Mote Marine Laboratory, and nicknamed "Salem" in honor of the date of stranding.
In November, Mote staff worked to get Salem in better condition and attempted to identify her reason for stranding. Diagnostic tests revealed she was likely not suffering from brevetoxicosis (red tide poisoning) or brucellosis (a bacterial disease in bottlenose dolphins). On Thanksgiving, meals at home were skipped or rescheduled as caregivers provided meals for Salem, who was now eating plenty of fish on her own.
Trick-or-treating and costume parties took a backseat as Mote staff and volunteers began 24-hour care for Salem immediately. Entering the hospital in critical condition, she had a shark bite wound, and diagnostics showed that she had some degree of pneumonia and gastritis (stomach inflammation).
1
2
10
FWC personnel, Mote staff including Connie Murk, Courtney Abbs and Jenna Rouse, unload Salem from a transport truck and get ready to put her in a rehab pool at Mote. Mote staff and interns, including Weston Spoon, Courtney Abbs, Jenna Rouse and Connie Murk, assist Salem in the water upon her arrival at Mote.
MO TE M A G A Z I N E | S P R IN G 2 0 1 9
Salem finally cleared her infection and was taken off antibiotics in late November. Other milestones in her rehabilitation included swimming higher in the water and interacting frequently with environmental enrichment devices — toys that provide mental and physical stimulation. 3
Salem in a rehabilitation pool at Mote
4
Salem interacts with an environmental enrichment device in her rehabilitation pool at Mote. These “toys” provide mental and physical stimulation vital to Salem’s wellbeing.
MAMMAL STRANDING & REHABILITATION
5
6
7
8
9
CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY SEASON
NEW YEAR
Gaining weight
Keep gaining weight and get ready for release
Just like many of us, Salem packed on some pounds during the holiday season — but that’s a good thing! In December, Salem was eating up to 28 pounds of fish per day. For Mote staff and volunteers, the most rewarding gift of the season was seeing Salem pass a critical hearing test and gain 22 pounds in just 13 days!
What’s Salem’s New Year’s resolution? It’s not to lose weight, but to keep gaining more! By January, Mote staff had begun discussing her status with wildlife officials, who indicated that more weight gain was needed to consider Salem a candidate for release.
Mote staff weighs Salem. She came in at 145 kg (319 pounds) on Dec. 3, 2018.
5
6
7
Mote staff conducts a hearing test with Salem on Dec. 12, 2018. Dolphins utilize echolocation to hunt prey and navigate the ocean environment, so ensuring that Salem’s hearing is at normal levels is critical to determining if she will be a candidate for release.
8
9
Mote staff takes blood samples from Salem’s fluke during a medical exam on Jan. 16, 2019. A variety of indicators in these blood samples are used as benchmarks throughout Salem’s recovery. Mote staff measures Salem’s girth, an indicator of her body condition, during a medical exam on Jan. 16, 2019.
VALENTINE'S DAY? At time of press in late January, Salem continued to make strides in her condition, while Mote staff continued discussing her potential release with wildlife officials. Visit mote.org/hospital or facebook.com/motemarinelab to see other updates.
MOTE MAG AZI N E | SP RI N G 20 19
11
RED TIDE RESEARCH
Reckoning with red tide Q&A with Dr. Cynthia Heil D I R E C TO R O F T H E R E D T I D E I N S T I T U T E AT M OT E
BY HAYLEY RUTGER
Q&A
The science of Florida red tide (Karenia brevis) has come a long way — what have been some important advances?
W
ith Florida red tide lingering on the Gulf of Mexico coast for nearly 16 months, Dr. Cynthia Heil arrived at Mote Marine Laboratory in January 2019 and hit the ground running. As a Senior Scientist, Harmful Algal Bloom Research Program Manager and Director of the new Red Tide Institute at Mote — founded with support from the Andrew & Judith Economos Charitable Foundation — Heil is complementing Mote’s existing team of top-notch scientists and renewing focus on finding targeted tools to fight, or mitigate, red tide and its impacts. Heil previously served as Senior Research Scientist & Administrator and Harmful Algal Bloom Group Leader for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) and most recently studied harmful algae at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine.
12
M O TE M A G A Z I NE | S P R IN G 2 0 1 9
Red tide monitoring has gotten much better over time. Mote, FWRI and others have contributed to that. FWRI has a long-standing volunteer monitoring program that allows the public to collect water samples for scientists to analyze. That’s critical for monitoring coverage, especially offshore. Funding from NOAA’s ECOHAB and MERHAB programs in the past 20 years has helped expand monitoring. For example, one of those research grants allowed us to sample water by boat from 81 stations monthly for four years. The repetition felt a little like “Groundhog Day,” but the data we collected allowed us to identify the chemical and physical conditions promoting red tide off west Florida. We’ve learned a lot about how Karenia’s toxins impact the environment and human health through Dr. Rich Pierce’s research here at Mote and former Mote researcher Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick’s collaboration with the University of Miami. We also gain an understanding of how blooms develop offshore and are transported to and maintained nearshore, identifying more than 12 different nutrient sources that can maintain blooms nearshore. However, we still know next to nothing about what ends a bloom. This is critical for predicting and managing red tide, and it’s a focus of my research.
RED TIDE RESEARCH
What are your initial goals in leading the Red Tide Institute at Mote Marine Laboratory?
entry, validation and map making — requiring impressive effort, knowledge and coordination.
The Institute’s main goal is to identify and assess potential methods for mitigating Florida red tide. Many methods have been developed globally to mitigate other harmful algal blooms. We will investigate which of these methods are suitable for Karenia brevis blooms, test and develop new methods and transition promising ones from benchtop experiments to field testing, and work with Mote scientists who are already testing methods such as ozonation and clay application.
I would also like to give people a better understanding of how challenging it is to tease out long-term trends in red tide in Florida. While we have documented red tides since 1878, sample collection hasn’t been consistent enough over a long enough period to answer some big questions about changes in frequency with confidence. Today FWRI and Mote have consistent sampling stations, but a lot of the consistency has been established in just the past 20 years.
Another goal is to continue my own research on developing a method to mitigate red tide toxin aerosolization (toxins entering the air) to lessen its human health impacts. A colleague and I have been conducting laboratory tests with natural organic compounds produced from the degradation of plants that can potentially alter the amount of toxins that are transferred to sea spray and cause the “red tide” tickle in people’s throats when they breathe in these aerosols at the beach.
In 2018, public discussion (particularly on social media) focused a lot on whether the Florida red tide bloom might have been exacerbated by freshwater cyanobacteria flowing from Lake Okeechobee through the Caloosahatchee River to Charlotte Harbor. What do you think?
These compounds are especially promising as they are naturally occurring. As with any mitigation technique, though, we need to be careful that we do no further harm to the environment.
What do you wish more people understood about Florida red tide? I wish more people understood the physical, chemical and biological complexity of Florida red tides. Some things about these blooms are consistent — the fact that they start offshore and can be sustained nearshore, for instance. However, each bloom is different from year to year as environmental conditions vary, such as the nearshore winds and currents, rainfall amounts and the composition of the phytoplankton community. I wish people were aware too of the huge efforts scientists with Mote and FWRI put into studying and monitoring red tide. Each dot point on a red tide monitoring map represents someone collecting a water sample, a taxonomist sitting at a microscope counting that sample for an hour and additional time for data
Recently I’ve been collaborating with the Everglades Foundation to try to assess whether there are connections between these two blooms. Karenia brevis red tide (a saltwater species) and the freshwater cyanobacteria Microcystis that blooms in Lake Okeechobee have different salinity tolerances, so they normally don’t co-occur. But when Microcystis is transported down the Caloosahatchee River and then decays, we want to know if it may provide a potential 13th nutrient source for Karenia blooms. To date though, the largest known nutrient sources for red tide are dead fish, followed by benthic flux (nutrients moving from sediments into the water column), and the grazing and excretion by zooplankton (small, drifting animals) — which, according to my young son, are eating cells and “peeing out nutrients.” During this 2018 bloom, it’s interesting how the social media discussions has focused so much on Lake Okeechobee and river outflow, while in the last severe bloom (2005) there was more concern about the impact of coastal runoff from lawns and golf courses. In general, social media seems to have added a whole new level of complication to communicating this already complex topic of red tides. I think I could write a paper just about harmful algal blooms hitting social media!
MOTE MA G AZI N E | SP RI N G 20 19
13
PHOTO BY: CITY OF SARASOTA
MOTE MILESTONES
temperature and the height and frequency of waves; and soil structure, which helps shape the bottom-dwelling community of animals and plants. They’ll also sample other habitat types for comparison.
Living seawall, livelier bay?
The living seawall was created through the City of Sarasota’s collaboration with local company Reef Innovations and with settlement funding from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
BY HAYLEY RUTGER Seawalls are built to protect coastal communities against erosion, but their flattened surfaces aren’t ideal for marine animals that feed and shelter in nature’s nooks and crannies. Increasingly, ocean-conscious communities are installing “living seawalls” designed to mimic natural habitat. In Sarasota Bay, Florida, Mote Marine Laboratory scientists are monitoring the living seawall installed by the City of Sarasota in October 2018 along 262 feet of Bayfront Park. The living seawall comprises naturalistic concrete, rock and shell structures full of cavities designed to attract fish, oysters and other living things, and absorb wave energy without causing erosion. “Living shorelines and living seawalls have been touted as environmentally friendly methods of erosion control, but more scientific studies are needed to document any beneficial changes in animal and plant species’ diversity or abundance, along with any related chemical, physical and sediment structure change that can influence the composition of species living there,” said Jim Culter, Benthic Ecology Program Manager at Mote. Mote scientists gathered baseline data on site before the living seawall installation, and they’ll sample periodically for two years, focusing on: abundance and diversity of marine life; water chemistry features such as nutrients and pH; physical characteristics such as water
14
MO TE M A G A Z I N E | S P R IN G 2 0 1 9
Sharper test for spiny lobster virus BY HAYLEY RUTGER New research led by Mote Marine Laboratory Staff Biologist Dr. Abigail Clark is improving diagnostic testing for a virus that can sicken or kill young Caribbean spiny lobsters. Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1) is known to affect only the economically valuable Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus). It can be carried by lobsters at most stages of development but usually sickens and kills juveniles. Detecting PaV1 can be difficult. Observable signs may be absent in older lobsters or juveniles with lower viral loads (concentration of the virus in an organism).
“real-time qPCR” (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) to detect and measure viral DNA copies. Clark and partners found that qPCR yielded results faster, more quantitatively (successfully determining viral loads), more accurately, and more precisely than previous techniques used in Caribbean spiny lobster research. Also, the sensitive qPCR method could detect fewer copies of the viral DNA than previously tested methods. Clark hopes her research will help the scientific community assess the prevalence, distribution and progression of PaV1, useful knowledge for resource managers: “Even if PaV1 is not damaging the Caribbean spiny lobster fisheries now, we need to keep an eye on it to understand what conditions have the potential to change that.”
Meet Mote’s new vet BY STEPHANNIE KETTLE In December 2018, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium welcomed Dr. Whitney Greene as its new veterinarian. Greene provides medical care and treatment for all resident animals at Mote Aquarium and rehabilitation patients at Mote’s hospitals for sea turtles and cetaceans (dolphins and whales). More than 100 marine animal species reside at Mote Aquarium.
Clark began the new study to improve diagnostics while at the University of Florida (UF), with partners from UF and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and grants from Florida Sea Grant Scholars, UF Opportunity Seed Fund, and the National Science Foundation. The peer-reviewed study is published in Diseases of Aquatic Organisms.
Greene joins Mote after serving as Staff Veterinarian at Buttonwood Park Zoo in Massachusetts. There, she provided care for various species, including elephants, marine mammals, reptiles, fish and more. In addition to veterinary care, Greene developed a new nutrition program, standard operating procedures for several aspects of the zoo’s accreditation application for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, and new internship and teaching programs for undergraduate and veterinary students.
The study describes a diagnostic test using a state-of-the art technique called
Greene also has experience with research and teaching. She earned her Master
MOTE MILESTONES
of Science in Marine Biology while conducting research on comparative immunology, and she is the first author on several research papers in peer-reviewed journals. “I’m very excited to join Mote’s team of passionate Aquarium biologists, marine scientists and animal rehabilitators,” Greene said upon arrival in December. “I look forward to ensuring the continuation of excellent care for the Aquarium collection, as well as the opportunity to assist our local marine life by providing emergency care for stranded sea turtles and cetaceans in Mote’s hospitals.”
Raise a glass to Mote research BY STEPHANNIE KETTLE Did you know that you could support research at Mote Marine Laboratory while toasting at one of your favorite local restaurants? Next time you visit a Gecko’s Hospitality Group restaurant, order “The Shark Lady,” a delicious rum drink complete with a gummy shark garnish, and $1 from each drink purchase will be donated to Mote! Named after Mote’s Founding Director, Dr. Eugenie Clark (nicknamed Shark Lady), this tropical drink premiered in fall 2018. Due to its smashing popularity, it became a permanent menu item at all six Gecko’s locations, Dry Dock Waterfront Grill and Dockside Waterfront Grill.
Please drink responsibly and reduce marine debris: #skipthestraw!
LEGACY SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT
Peter Horton
Leaving a Legacy in the Florida Keys BY AMANDA CHANDLER When his wife passed away three years ago, retired Monroe County Director of Airports Peter Horton was looking to give back and get involved. He had recently bought a boat and read a local newspaper ad about volunteering for Mote Marine Laboratory’s BleachWatch Program, an opportunity he quickly jumped at. For the last three years, Peter has joined Mote Staff Scientist Cory Walter to collect video of coral reefs for comparison reports. These efforts help track changes to the reefs and monitor the success of Mote’s coral reef research and restoration programs. Peter began his aviation career as a private pilot right out of high school. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, he became a General Construction Contractor in Denver, Colorado, doing much of his work at the Stapleton International Airport. Although he loved the lifestyle and spirit of Colorado, the state sadly had no ocean. In 1981, Peter relocated to the Florida Keys, where he could swim and dive in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Before retiring in 2014, Peter served 31 years in local government, including City of Key West Acting City Manager, Monroe County Assistant County Administrator, and Director of Airports. Last year, Peter became a member of Mote’s Legacy Society. Describing his decision to leave his estate to Mote, he said, “I wanted to make sure the funds would be used to make a significant impact, and as
a diver and boater, I’ve seen firsthand the threats facing our coral reefs. Leaving Mote in my estate plans ensures that my legacy will make a difference for the future of Florida’s coral reefs.” Peter recently joined Mote’s Keys Advisory Council, where he will help raise awareness of the Lab’s work. He reminds people that Mote is a nonprofit that survives on grants and philanthropic support, “making it so important to leave your legacy to an organization that can make the most good.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT: } Mote's Legacy Society (941) 388-4441 ext. 352 } Mote's BleachWatch Program mote.org/bleachwatch
MOTE MAG AZI N E | SP RI N G 20 19
15
1600 Ken Thompson Parkway Sarasota, FL 34236-1004 (941) 388-4441 www.mote.org
NON Profit org. U.S. Postage PAID Lebanon Junction, KY Permit #698
ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT MOTE MARINE LABORATORY’S SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH PROGRAM
APRIL 6, 2019 • 1 MILE @ 7:30 AM • 5K @ 8 AM SIESTA KEY PUBLIC BEACH • 948 BEACH ROAD
CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE BEACH? PARTICIPATE IN OUR FIRST
VIRTUAL RUN FOR THE TURTLES! MARCH 12 - APRIL 6, 2019 1 MILE • ENTER TIMES ONLINE
REGISTER ONLINE AT
MOTE.ORG/TURTLERUN
