World Oceans Day at Mote Marine Lab June 5th

Give three cheers for the seas during World Oceans Day at Mote, which will feature the Dr. Seuss theme "1, 2, 3 and the Seas."

Mote's World Oceans Day Family Festival, on June 5 at Mote Aquarium, is a day of fun and education dedicated to Earth's oceans and the wondrous creatures living there.

World Oceans Day was created in 1992 at the Earth Summit and declared a holiday by the United Nations in 2009. It is an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea.

Mote's World Oceans Day celebration received the Big Fish Award in 2010 for best aquarium World Oceans Day event from Dr. Seuss Enterprises and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The World Oceans Day Family Festival takes place from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 5 in the Mote Aquarium Courtyard, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, Fla. Admission is free with an Aquarium ticket or Mote Membership.

Guests can enjoy games, crafts, prizes, educational activities, a dunk tank, face painting, entertainment and ocean-themed displays by local groups, including: Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, Longboat Key Turtle Watch, Sarasota Audubon Society, Solutions to Avoid Red Tide, Florida Native Plant Society, Save our Seabirds, Mote's hospitals for dolphins, whales and sea turtles, Mote's Education Division and the Monofilament Recovery & Recycling Program, part of Dolphin SMART.

Guests can also enjoy live music by The Garbage-Men, a group of teens who promote recycling by playing music on instruments made from garbage and recycled materials.

Sponsors for Mote's 2011 World Oceans Day Family Festival include: CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, DirectBuy, WUSF Public Media, TrueFlies, Insurance & Benefits Consultants, MetLife, Herald-Tribune Media Group, Brighthouse Networks and SRQ Magazine.