An Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin in Sarasota Bay. (photo by author) The Mote Aquarium is a highlight of visiting Sarasota. We visited this past July and went on a boat tour of the bay. The bay has a bed of seagrass which is the foundation for the sea life around it. When the area started developing, seagrass was dredged and built on and of course caused havoc to the surrounding life, which includes Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins, urchins, rock-fish, and countless others. We were treated to views of the dolphins and the marine biologist onboard brought up a series of animals (all put back in to their environments of course) highlighting the diversity of the bay. You can read more about attempts to aid in the recovery of the seagrass habitat at the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.
Manatees can also be found in Sarasota Bay but we didn't see any. They are an endangered species — boats hit the slow-moving sea mammals, they get caught in fishing nets, and fertilizer run-off has been responsible for contaminating the seagrass they consume. According to the the Smithsonian's Ocean Portal site, Christopher Columbus is responsible for the first recorded sighting of the manatees, which he mistook for a mermaid!
Manatees can also be found in Sarasota Bay but we didn't see any. They are an endangered species — boats hit the slow-moving sea mammals, they get caught in fishing nets, and fertilizer run-off has been responsible for contaminating the seagrass they consume. According to the the Smithsonian's Ocean Portal site, Christopher Columbus is responsible for the first recorded sighting of the manatees, which he mistook for a mermaid!
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