The Oceans Need Our Help. This is Your Opportunity. The leaders of one of Southwest Florida’s most beloved nonprofit organizations are embarking on a major new initiative: an ambitious $50-million campaign that will secure its future and allow it to continue to benefit the world’s oceans for generations to come. Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium launched its first major campaign during a celebration of the organization’s 60th anniversary. The campaign’s success will allow Mote’s scientists to continue to address threats to our oceans, expand the frontiers of science, provide the intellectual fuel that drives the region’s economy and improve the quality of life for us all. Under the leadership of Bob Essner, a Lido Shores resident and retired pharmaceutical executive, Oceans of Opportunity: The Campaign for Mote Marine Laboratory has already reached 60 percent of its goal.
‘Everyone Depends on the Oceans’ When Bob Essner moved to SouthwestFlorida, he first visited Mote Aquarium with his granddaughters. He thought it a simple diversion — a neat place to meet the manatees, see some sharks and learn about sea turtles. And then… he toured Mote’s 200-acre Aquaculture Park in eastern Sarasota County, he learned how Mote scientists are developing cancer-fighting and wound-healing therapies based on models of shark immune systems and he even saw first-hand how Mote scientists are restoring Florida’s coral reefs. “I had no idea when I first visited the scope of the work that Mote scientists were doing. I was very impressed when I learned that Mote scientists are working worldwide — in the oceans on every continent. “Most of the Earth is water — everyone depends on the oceans. But they’re particularly important for us here in Sarasota. If you care about the fish, if you care about the water quality, if you care about the manatees, then you should support what Mote is doing. “I do. That’s why I’m leading this campaign.”