From its humble beginnings in tiny shed in a small Florida town, Mote Marine Laboratory has expanded to include a 10.5-acre campus in Sarasota, Fla., with field stations and public exhibits in Key West and field stations in Summerland Key and Charlotte Harbor. Florida's extensive coastline and marine and estuarine environments have enabled Mote scientists to build a platform of marine research conducted in the nearshore environment.

Mote Marine Laboratory is also one of the world’s few remaining private marine research laboratories and, as a nonprofit organization, is funded through federal, state and local grants and through the generosity of individual donors and foundations. Over the last five decades, the world has learned many things about its oceans. One lesson has remained constant: There is still much to discover.

Activities relate to marine research, oceonographic educational activities including public education (aquarium), mariculture, coastal and wetlands ecology and other activities. Mote Aquarium was expressly designed for the purpose of educating the public about the marine environment and its fauna and flora.