You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Pacific Aquarium’ category.
One of the live specimen components of the new water gallery is the Pacific Aquarium. It will be located right at the entrance to the new gallery, and those of you who have visited the museum in the past few years might think that it looks familiar. The aquarium used to be in our animal care centre in the old lunchroom (insert bug-eating joke of choice here – we’ve heard them all!) and has now been relocated to the new gallery space. Unfortunately, the process of moving an aquarium like this isn’t as simple as rolling the tank upstairs into its new home and plugging it in. First of all, the aquarium is too heavy to move in one piece when it’s full of water and specimens – our elevator couldn’t handle it! Also, because the aquarium was already thriving and healthy, the biological system which is already in place is fragile, and must be treated delicately so none of the specimens are harmed or damaged in the move.
Star Fish in the Pacific Aquarium
Staff handled the move by filling coolers full of salt water from the existing aquarium as well as a few specimens and carefully transported them from the basement up to the 2nd floor on the east side of the building. The existing aquarium will be set up in the mechanical support room as a back up (along with a big drum of salt water!), and then some of the remaining aquarium contents will be moved into a brand new aquarium. Staff started the move into the new aquarium with some of the heartier specimens like sea urchins and sea stars. They chose these particular specimens because they are the best candidates to maintain the existing aquarium environment, and then start up the new biological cycle in the new aquarium. As one staff member put it to me, they are the best at eating, pooping and living; important qualities to have for a sea creature in a new home! The move ended up going quite smoothly, with no damage to the specimens and only a minimal temperature change in the water. Let’s hope the specimens continue to be transferred successfully and everyone is happy in their new home!
The Pacific Aquarium will be a prominent feature of the Water Gallery–the first thing visitors will see upon entering the gallery. CMN’s exhibition technicians have been caring for and grooming the amazing and beautiful creatures for years, while the gallery and aquarium were being prepared.
Some of my favourites are:
grunt sculpins don't swim; they use their pectoral fins to "walk" along the sea floor
The evolutionarily-challenged Grunt Sculpin. In nature, this hopping and scooting fish would inhabit tide pools and rocky areas up to 165m deep. These amazing little fish don’t swim; they crawl around on the ocean floor, using enlarged pectoral fins as limbs. The elongated rays of the pectoral fins have almost no webbing, enhancing the spiny appearance of this fish.
Sea anemone: a beautiful an graceful predator
The graceful-yet-predatory Sea Anemone. These beautiful polyps attach to the sea floor by an adhesive foot, at the bottom of their soft, cylindrical bodies. The top of the column is a ring of stinging tentacles, surrounding the mouth. When prey is stung by the tentacles, it becomes paralyzed, allowing the meal to be moved into the gastrovascular cavity for digestion.
Sea Urchins are the spiky cousins of starfish
The spiny-yet-docile Sea Urchin. It is amazing to think that these prickly, globe-shaped urchins are actually in the same class as starfish! That is due to the Echinoderm’s five-fold symmetry (five arms on the Starfish, five segments in the dome of the Urchin). These spiky sweeties feed mostly on algae, but they are an easy and delicious meal for sea otters, eels and even humans – who harvest urchins for roe.
We tend to associate exotic underwater species with warm climates. But you don’t have to go snorkeling in the Caribbean to see some gorgeous, brightly coloured sea creatures. The cool waters off the coast of British Columbia are home to vibrant animals, some of which will be featured in the water exhibit’s new Pacific Habitat.
Anemones, starfish, sea urchins and other residents of the Pacific habitat hang out as their tank gets its weekly cleaning.
During the Pacific tank’s weekly cleaning, I had a chance to get a closer look at the habitat’s residents, including a variety of anemones in shades of crimson and blue-green. There were also a number of starfish, including a blood starfish that is the most amazing shade of deep red. I witnessed a large pink starfish snacking on a mussel. To feed, it bores a hole through the mussel’s shell with the mouth on the underside of its body, then protrudes its stomach into the shell to digest the fleshy part of the mussel. The tank is also home to purple and red sea urchins, distant relatives of the starfish. If you hold an urchin in your hand and watch closely, you can see the long spines on its body waving gently. The spines are a form of protection, but also help the urchin move and feed.
A starfish dines on a mussel.
At first glance, the Pacific habitat may appear tranquil, but take a closer look and you’ll see a beautiful group of aquatic animals that are always active.
Recently, I had the chance to observe as Stacey Tidman in the Animal Care Facility vacuumed, sorted and scrubbed the Pacific tank.
A suction tube removes waste from the gravel in the Pacific tank.
The process starts with emptying some of the dirty water from the tank. The Pacific Habitat is a saltwater tank, so white crusts of salt build up everywhere. These have to be wiped away. Then Stacey fires up a large suction apparatus that pulls the detritus (waste and uneaten food) from the gravel bed at the bottom of the tank. This sucking tube is equipped with a screen so that no valuable sea creatures (like the worms that live in the gravel bed) end up going down the drain.
The next step is to remove any empty mussel shells. The starfish and sea urchins that live in the Pacific habitat love to snack on mussels, and the Museum staff provide them with a steady supply. The staff leave a few mussel shells in the tank as a source of calcium.
Finally, Stacey scrubs the algae growth off the inside of the tank. There are snails in the habitat that help keep the tank clean by eating algae, but sometimes they need a bit of assistance. Stacey uses a special fibrous mitt to remove the algae from the tank without damaging the Plexiglass.
Scrubbing a week’s worth of algae from the Pacific tank.
But bath time isn’t just a chore; it’s also a chance to get hands-on experience with some really beautiful and fascinating creatures. In my next post, I’ll introduce you to the colourful residents of the Pacific tank.
The Fresh Water aquarium isn’t the only aquarium in the water exhibit! The Pacific aquarium holds 120 gallons of water and will be the first thing visitors see when they walk in. Since this aquarium will be situated right at the front, exhibit designers decided that the visitor’s first impression of the gallery would ideally be Zen-like, and really shouldn’t include the loud buzzing and noises made by the aquariums mechanical support. To avoid this, parts of the mechanical set up will actually be installed above the washrooms just outside the exhibit! The aquarium and its mechanical support system have just been unpacked and therefore it isn’t installed yet, but once it is up and running it will have specimens like anemones, star fish and urchins amongst many others and will act as a wall between the doors and the blue whale. Once visitors walk around the pacific tank they will see the blue whale for the first time, and hopefully experience the “Wow” factor that comes along with displaying a specimen that is 65 feet long. Stay tuned for progress on the Pacific aquarium!
The Pacific Aquarium in the Gallery Entrance
Recent Comments