Volunteering to Serve

Nearly two decades ago, Gerald Dratch visited Mote Marine Laboratory for the first time. During his visit, he overheard a volunteer guide talking about the magnificence of sea life. “I stopped and listened intently,” Gerald recalls.

The guide, he learned, was a retired attorney with no marine biology experience. The experts from Mote had taught him all he needed to know. “I asked if they’d do that for me,” Gerald says. And, a plan for the future began to percolate. Two years later, Gerald retired and moved from New York’s Hudson Valley to Sarasota. The rest, as they say, is history.

Now in his 15th year with Mote Marine, Gerald has accrued more than 10,000 volunteer hours, helping in a variety of capacities. On Sundays, he is a docent in the aquarium, answers questions, shares advice and hosts tours. He also mentors new volunteers. “I have access to some of the world’s greatest marine experts, and I love it,” he says. “The research we’re doing is astounding.”

For the past five years, Gerald has also written a column in Sarasota’s local Pelican Press. Titled “Sea Watch,” the column describes the variety of organisms found in the Gulf of Mexico. “I can’t cover the whole world, but I can cover the Gulf,” he says.

When he’s not volunteering at the lab or writing his column, Gerald enjoys spending time with his wife of four years, Charlotte, whom he describes as “a beautiful woman, both inside and out.”
“Other than all that,” he adds, tongue-in-cheek, “I guess I’m not very busy.”

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