Mote hosts annual World Ocean Day Family Fest

Mote Aquarium is making a splash for sea life everywhere. The Sarasota facility is hosting the 2009 World Ocean Day Family Festival, a day of fun and education dedicated to Earth's oceans and the wondrous creatures living there. World Ocean Day, created in 1992 at the Earth Summit,

is an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea each year.

The public is welcome to join the celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 7, in the Mote Aquarium Courtyard, 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy., Sarasota. Admission is free with an aquarium ticket or Mote membership. World Ocean Day (June 8) was officially declared a holiday this year by the United Nations, and Mote is going all out.

Visitors can enjoy making crafts, collages, having their faces painted and playing ocean-themed games, including an ocean-themed Simon says. Local environmental and conservation groups will also have information and activity booths throughout the Aquarium's covered courtyard. And — of course — attendees can explore the secrets of the sea at Mote's permanent exhibits where sharks, manatees, turtles and dolphins

swim and cool marine science comes to life. And if strolling the aquarium gives you a shark's appetite, there will be delicious food available from Stonewood Grill & Tavern.

Guests can also learn about oceans from the locals — members of the Sarasota County 4-H Club and Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida will host interactive diplays on the importance of protecting oceans and the local watershed.

For more information, call Hayley Rutger at (941) 388-4441, ext. 365, or (941) 374-0081 or e-mail hrutger@ mote.org.