a day at sea

On our first visit to the Mote Museum we had not noticed their Sea Cruise offering so when we discovered it we circled back to take advantage.  It's advertised as a chance to see dolphins and manatees. We saw 2 or 3 of the former but none of the latter, which I suppose is not unexpected.

Exploring a Blowfish

It was a beautiful day and the marine biologist who was our tour director/docent was an excellent teacher.  Jennifer did a netting to pull up numerous species including 2 puffer fish and a sponge-like tunica that is being researched for a possible cancer cure.

The youngsters on board were enthralled with what she found and all the background information she provided to us.

The other half of our plan for this beautiful day was lunch at Sharky's in Venice.  I had been told to walk the beaches and pick up shark teeth there, but we didn't.  The food was good there and I purchased one of their nifty shirts.