#113
GADiver - 6/30/2008 12:57 AM
Another perspective:


For those of you less familiar with the Ga Aquarium, a few facts:


- Most of its aquatic residents are rescue or captive born: 75%. Of the rest, none are endangered or restricted. Much of the research done is, in fact, focused on enhancing and perpetuating endangered animals. In fact, it was just announced that one of their leafy sea dragons was carrying eggs. This is a ’blue moon’ event, and the GA is one of the few places equipped to handle it.


- The GA whale sharks were not taken from the wild. In fact, these specific animals were already captive, and slated for someone’s dinner plate, in Taiwan, where up until 2008 Whale Shark harvesting and selling of the meat was legal.


- The exhibit the whale sharks are in (and many others, including hammerheads, sawfish, rays, goliath grouper, etc), is over 6 million gallons largest in the world. The water quality at the aquarium is manually and automatically tested over 1700 times a week. Getting ’behind the scenes’ where you can just see the top of the exhibit, requires stepping through a disinfectant. The care taken to keep from introducing any foreign material is painstaking.


- Two of the belugas, Gasper and Nico were scarred and dying, and rescued from Mexico City where they resided as a side-show, living underneath a roller coaster. Gasper, unfortunately, never fully recovered from his injuries, and ultimately succumbed, however Nico is doing fabulously, and exhibiting mating behavior with Maris, another beluga.


- The feed for all the animals is prepared for four hours the morning it’s dispensed, in a very special anticeptic commissary... over 1100 lbs. of restaurant quality food items. If there is a single abrasion or scratch in any of the items, it is discarded, to minimize the introduction of any bacteria.


- The husbandary/zoological lab is larger by a factor of 10 than the ratio of lab to aquarium in other aquariums. The GA scrub room is larger than the lab in most other facilities.


- Even the live coral is donated by authorities that have confiscated it from illegal coral harvesters. The GA has a huge program to propogate the coral, and do research which will hopefully address some of the plight of coral around the world: bleaching out, and dying due to climatic and intrusion issues.


- This isn’t prepared PR. I’m a volunteer at the GA. I’ve seen all the above.


- As for the dive program. The divers are kept to a small group, and are escorted by specially trained guides, all wearing new, and top of the line gear, that is kept sterile, and that the GA provides. Not only is the introduction of these divers in a 6,300,000 gallon tank hardly noticed by the animals, but those that do notice have simply swam up to take a curious look, and moved on.


There’s much more to talk about. However, I’d recommend if any of you have the opportunity, visit the GA, if you’re in the area. Take the "behind the scenes" tour, and get a glimpse of an amazing facility. I would challenge you to find an operation more dedicated to the care, preservation and continuance of aquatic life.