Explore the World from your Home Series

Join us every month for a free online lecture featuring Road Scholar instructors from around the world. You can attend this program at the library or the comfort of your home.

November is Florida’s Gentle Giants — Protecting Manatees Above & Below. Join us this Manatee Awareness Month for a program delivered from atop the 150,000-gallon manatee habitat at the new Mote Science Education Aquarium. Jason Robertshaw, certified Florida Master Naturalist and Program Manager at Mote Marine Laboratory, will share more than 30 years of groundbreaking manatee research, exploring how scientists use aerial surveys, drones and photo-identification to track populations, monitor migration patterns and identify critical habitats. Learn how researchers catalog individual manatees by their unique scars and markings, creating decades-long records that help shape state and federal conservation efforts. At a critical time for the species, you’ll gain insight into the threats manatees face — including seagrass loss, harmful algal blooms, cold stress and human impact — and how science is guiding conservation efforts. This lecture offers a compelling look at how data and discovery come together to protect one of Florida’s most iconic animals.