'Shark Lady,' Mote Marine founder dies in Florida
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SARASOTA (CBSMiami/AP) — Eugenie Clark, the founder of the Mote Marine Laboratory, has died in southwest Florida at age 92.
A release on the Sarasota research organization's website says Clark passed away at her family home Wednesday after battling lung cancer for years.
Nicknamed the "Shark Lady," Clark routinely swam and went scuba diving with the ocean predators. She conducted 71 submersible dives and led over 200 field research expeditions. She also wrote three books and more than 175 articles.
Clark started the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory in 1955. After moving several times over the past 60 years and changing its name in 1967 to honor benefactor William R. Mote, the lab today has six campuses in Florida and more than 200 staff.
Clark was a professor at the University of Maryland from 1968-1992 and then returned to Mote in 2000.
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