Mote Marine Aquarium has a new home — and an updated name.
The 146,000 square foot facility is now called Mote SEA, which is an acronym for Mote Science Education Aquarium.
It is twice the size of the former aquarium.
Plans for the move began in 2018, when Mote first announced it would relocate the aquarium from City Island in Sarasota, where it's been welcoming visitors for 50 years.
The transition was not without obstacles.
The destructive hurricane season in 2024 delayed construction by nearly a year.
In July, Mote closed the original facility to prepare for the transition. And in August, crews started moving the animals to the new facility.
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Many of the creatures were transported at night, when there was less traffic.
The manatees were moved in air-conditioned trucks that are specifically designed for manatee relocations. Mote has a team devoted to picking up stranded manatees and to rehabilitating them.
It took some time to ensure the habitats at the new Mote SEA facility had the appropriate water chemistry and microbial communities before the animals arrived.
Richelle Wilson of Bradenton was among the first to check out the new site beside Nathan Benderson Park — also in Sarasota.
"I felt like a little girl in there,” she said. “I love the new tank where you go underneath and the fish are swimming over you — where the sharks are — that was really cool. The three levels are awesome. It's like every time you turn the corner, the element of surprise was just wonderful."
The largest tank at Mote SEA stands two stories tall and holds 400,000 gallons of saltwater.
The Florida Waters gallery on the third floor contains animals like otters and manatees.
Guests willing to crawl on their knees can access a special viewing window that puts them right next to the penguin enclosure.
They can also try out a virtual reality experience for an additional fee.
The facility features three state-of-the-art STEM teaching labs and will offer free lessons for K-12 students across Tampa Bay.
Patrick Di Pinto, 7, of Sarasota, liked the stingray touch tank and the technology tools scattered across all three floors of the facility.
"I like those little like I-Pads that you can see which animals and if they're extinct or not," he said.
His friend, Preston Ebling, also 7, can now tell you all about what could happen to vulnerable shark species without conservation.
"There would be no more sandbar sharks in the world,” he said.” And they can sometimes be aggressive, but mostly they're peaceful."
Now that Mote SEA is open, the nonprofit will focus on renovating the original location to better focus on marine research.
The organization, founded in 1955 by shark expert Dr. Eugenie Clark, also operates coral nurseries in the Florida Keys that are helping restore damaged reefs.
