The South Florida Museum, located in Bradenton, Florida

Bradenton, Florida

Bradenton is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's 2007 population to be 53,471. Bradenton is the largest Principal City of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2007 estimated population of 682,833...

, is a museum specializing in the natural and cultural history of Florida's gulf

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 coast. It houses exhibits highlighting Florida history from the prehistoric to the present period.

The museum includes the Bishop Planetarium and Parker Manatee Aquarium, the home of Snooty

Snooty

Snooty is a Florida Manatee , that resides at the South Florida Museum's Parker Manatee Aquarium in Bradenton, Florida. Born at the Miami Aquarium and Tackle Company on , Snooty was one of the first recorded captive manatee births. Snooty is the oldest manatee in captivity, and likely the oldest...

 the manatee

Manatee

Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows...

(born in 1948, Snooty is the oldest known manatee in captivity, if not anywhere in the world).

The Bishop Planetarium, which was opened in the mid 1960s, has recently been remodeled and received a significant technical upgrading.

External links

• South Florida Museum (official website)