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Artificial Coral - Can You Tell? |
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Looks like real Coral
but is made from cement! |
© Photo By: Florida Aquarium
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Looks like a natural sponge - but is made from cement! |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Rubber Coral Looks Real |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Realistic Looking Stag Horn Coral Made Of Cement |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Chart Of Rubber Coral Used In Exhibit |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Rubber Sponges Looks Real |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Rubber Coral Removed For Cleaning |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Colorful
Coral In The Coral Reef Tanks Before It Is Added - Made From Plastic! |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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How Thick Is The Coral
Reef Panoramic Window |
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The Coral
Reef Window Is 11 inches Thick Of Layered Acrylic Welded Together On Site! |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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How The Aquarium Filters The
Water |
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Freshwater Filtration Plant |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness
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Ozonation Tower - Used To Kill Harmful Bacteria In Filtered Freshwater |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Can You Spot The Air Conditioning
Ducks In Wetlands? |
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A/C Duct
Artificial Trees |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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They Look
Like Real Trees - But They Air Conditioning Ducts Blowing Air Into The Dome |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Simulated cypress trees
They're actually a/c ducts! |
© Photo By: Florida
Aquarium |
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Artificial
Cypress Trees Look Very Real |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness
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Florida Aquarium 10th Year Anniversary
Honor |
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Waterford
Crystal Tranquility |
© Photo By: Florida Aquarium |
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Aquarium Coke? |
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Florida
Aquarium Special Edition Coke |
© Photo By: Florida Aquarium
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Florida
Aquarium Special Edition Coke |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Made From
Real Fish! Not Really! |
© Photo By: Florida Aquarium |
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Collecting Orbicular Batfish - New Fish -
Invasive Species |
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Did you know that Florida has more invasive species
than any other state except Hawaii?
That’s why we do everything we can to educate people
about non-native species here at The Florida Aquarium. Our Invaders
exhibit has over 20 invasive species to teach you what invasive
species are, how they got here and what you can do about invasives
that are already here. But our most recent Invaders story involves
two orbicular batfish, an exciting capture and lesson about the
importance of doing your homework before bringing a pet into your
life.
This species of Batfish is native to Indo-Pacific
waters, but was recently spotted on Molasses Reef in the Keys.
If left in our oceans to breed, the species may cause harm to our
local ecosystem. Anytime a non-native species is introduced, either
on purpose or by accident, there can be problems. The species could
compete with our native animals for food and shelter.
The Reef Environmental Education Foundation and The
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary contacted The Florida
Aquarium to help them remove the two batfish. The capture involved
as many as 20 divers including Aquarium staff. Divers tried to catch
them four times using barrier nets, but eventually they decided it
would be easier to catch them with hand nets.
Now that we have them here at The Florida Aquarium,
the two fish are making themselves at home in our quarantine area
for at least 40 days. After that, they will most likely be placed in
our 500,000-gallon Coral Reef tank where they will help to educate
our guests about invasive species. These batfish, like many other
species, most likely belonged to home aquarium enthusiasts and were
put into the ocean when they became too big for their tank.
So the lesson learned here is…DO YOUR HOMEWORK!
You do research before adopting a cat or a dog, do the same for
animals for your aquarium. Find out how big the animal will
get, how long it will live and where it came from. There is a great
web site to help answer some of your aquatic animal questions,
www.fishbase.org. You just might be surprised to
find out that the cute little turtle you purchased will grow to the
size of a dinner plate.
Oddly enough, the “batfish capture” happened on
World Ocean Day, June 8. We were joined in celebrating this day
by other organizations including Lowry Park Zoo, The Ocean
Conservancy, The Pier in St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay Estuary
Program. Representatives from each of these organizations were on
hand throughout the day at the Aquarium. They provided information
about their aquatic education and conservation programs. World Ocean
Day was created in 1992 at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro to help draw attention to our connection with the ocean and
how we can positively affect these waters. |
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Source: Florida Aquarium
Watercolors |
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Batfish In
Quarentine |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Capturing
The Batfish In The Keys |
© Photo By: Florida Aquarium |
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A Theme Ride? |
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Go Behind The Scenes For The Ride |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Aquarium Administration
Past & Present |
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Thomas Stork
Current Executive Director
of the Florida
Aquarium |
© Photo By: Florida Aquarium |
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Jeffrey Swanagan, past executive director of the Florida
Aquarium, was named executive director of the Georgia Aquarium being built
in midtown Atlanta in 2005. photo-1998.
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© Photo By: Florida Aquarium |
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The Original Director John
Racanelli
Signs A Topping Off Beam |
© Photo By: Florida Aquarium |
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Kudos |
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Congratulations From The Staff Of MOSI On Opening In 1995 |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Thanks To Our
Contributors On This Page:
Tim McGuinness •
Florida Aquarium • Tampa Tribune |
Behind The Scenes
