Sarasota's Mote Marine to open 'Otters & Their Waters' exhibit in 2016

SARASOTA -- One of nature's most playful animals is coming to Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in early 2016 as the latest in a successful line of special exhibits.

The "Otters & Their Waterways" exhibit will feature a group of otters that were orphaned too young and unable to care for themselves in the wild. According to Evan Barniskis, assistant vice president of the Mote Aquarium, the otters will arrive "sometime in the near future from various rehabilitation facilities. We'd like them here well before the exhibit opens to give our staff time to work with and get to know them."

Barniskis said aquarium staff began planning the latest special exhibit about a year ago "and otters came to mind and everybody jumped on it. They've never been displayed here, and it's a great opportunity to educate the public not only the otters but the importance of the watersheds."

Watersheds are the lands that drain water toward rivers, estuaries, the ocean and other important bodies of water that are both critical to humans and wildlife.

"The wonderful thing about this exhibit is that visitors will get to experience an underwater view as the otters swim, as well as their land environment," said Barniskis. "It will be a great experience throughout the exhibit for our visitors to better understand their environment and what it takes to care for that environment because it leads to our oceans, which is an important issue for us at Mote in maintaining healthy waterways. This will really open the door to enter into a whole new area of education."

The official date of the exhibit will be released later, but enthusiastic visitors are encouraged to monitor Mote's website at mote.org for updates. When it does open, it will run seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. in the Ann and Alfred Goldstein Marine Mammal Research and Rehabilitation Center at 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway in Sarasota.

The "Otters & Their Waterways" exhibit is made possible through the sponsorship of Tourist Development Tax, PGT Custom Windows + Doors, BMO Harris Bank and PNG Wealth Management.

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter@urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Sarasota's Mote Marine to open 'Otters & Their Waters' exhibit in 2016 ."