Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium transports guests to the future

This year’s Oceanic Evening took guests into the future and celebrated the vision Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium is working toward.

Mote is looking forward to the transition of its City Island campus, which will become the International Marine Science, Technology and Innovation Park. The gala also celebrated the organization’s plans to build a Science Education Aquarium at Nathan Benderson Park and the SEA donors who have helped raise $28 million of the $130 million needed for the project.

Upon arriving to Oceanic Evening on Oct. 27 at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, guests were greeted by women on stilts with a neon blue costume fit for a spaceship. Sponsors also received a pair of futurist glasses, thanking them for their support of the gala and its theme of “looking into the future.”

During the program, guests were able to get the first look at the renderings for the campus.