SARASOTA, Fla. — The Sarasota campus of Mote Marine Lab and Aquarium reopens Friday ahead of the holiday tourist season.
This would be the first time the center would welcome tourists in nearly two months due to the devastation caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The doors at Mote Marine Lab have been closed for exactly 8 weeks to make way for repairs which cost around $10 million.
"The first one tried to wash us away. The second one tried to blow us away and all of us that live in this community have been impacted one way or another," Dr. Michael P. Crosby, the president and CEO of MOTE, said.
The storms ground operations at the facility to a complete halt.
"This island that we're on, the city island, experienced anywhere between 2 to 4 feet of storm surge during Helene, and when Milton came in, we had not yet fully recovered from that," Dr Crosby explained.
While the city island aquarium and research complex, one of 8 campuses belonging to Mote Marine lab, reopens, the center on Anna Maria Island remains inaccessible except by boat.
"The challenge there is that the walkway pier out to the center is not there so until the city is able to restore that pier from the shore out to the center, we will be unable to reopen that," he said.
Around a dozen marine animals, including manatees, had to be moved further inland to other locations away from the impact of the hurricanes with help from around 300 staff and several volunteers.
Unfortunately, two otters died from the stress of the temporary displacement from their aquarium habitat, according to officials.
As the center has now undergone extensive repairs, the animals are back and ready for the tourists to return.
"Our goal was that we really need to, number one, protect the lives, health and safety of our staff and our animals, but number two was to get back open for our community," Dr Crosby said.
With the return of tourists, officials are hoping to recoup the $2 million revenue that was lost from the closure.
"We are hoping to be able to bounce back from that lost revenue, but we're confident that we're back stronger than ever and it's through the support of our community that we're able to do that," he said.
When the aquarium reopens at 9 a.m. on Friday, visitors will get to meet the newest manatee. Lou, a rescued adult male Florida manatee who weighs around 2,100 pounds, has joined Buffet. Officials say the two are adjusting very well.