Day 13 - Aquarium Behind the Scenes

Today we viewed the aquarium...from the other side of the tanks. Brandy took me and Cole by subway to the New England Aquarium, where we were met by a friendly tour guide named Jo. She led us through a set of doors labeled with the warning "Staff Only." Inside the doors was a long hallway lined on both sides by fish tanks - not nearly as glamorous as they appear from the outside. Water covered the floor and pipes ran across the ceiling and the walkway. Diving gear hung at intervals along the hall. Jo told us that here they kept newly captured animals in quarantine, bred fishes until they were large enough to go on exhibit, and fed and cleaned tanks. Whereas aquarium visitors usually see the front of a tank, at this level, we looked upon the surface of the water.

Jo led us first to the jellyfish tanks, where they stowed extra jellyfish not on exhibit. We were allowed to touch a species of jellyfish whose sting was harmless. We passed the seadragon tanks, where newly captured seadragon are kept until they grow accustomed to their surroundings enough to go on exhibit. Seadragons are elaborate creatures resembling seahorses, except with leaf-like or branch-like structures emerging from their bodies. They swim with a delicate, transparent dorsal fin on their backs, as if they were hovering or floating around the tank. Shipped directly from Australia, seadragons are incredibly sensitive to changes in their environment. They require a certain amount of light and are easily disturbed when transported. The workers in the aquarium constantly monitor the conditions in the three back-room seadragon tanks. Each seadragon costs several thousand dollars.

Another tank housed massive groupers that weighed 120 lbs and several huge spiny lobsters. A diver had just gotten out of the water, likely to clean or feed. We also saw an Asian bonytongue, which is considered good feng shui in southeast Asia. A man had brought the fish to the U.S. illegally several years ago, and when he was caught, the fish was sent over to the aquarium for keeping.

Jo opened the back doors to two mini-ecosystems, and the visitors on the other side were able to see us. One exhibit was a salt marsh filled with grass, while the other was filled with branches and leaves. Two turtles kept crawling up and trying to escape from the open door.

We spent a couple of hours in the visitor area of the aquarium, enjoying the view from the front. I examined African penguins, weedy and leafy seadragons on exhibit, schooling fish, all sorts of jellies, a Pacific octopus, sea turtles, scorpionfish, electric eels, and more. The electric eels from South America were several feet long and could produce electricity up to 600 volts. When catching prey, the voltage is especially high. The tank has a sensor that would make tapping noises whenever it detects electric currents from the eels. As I gazed at the tank, I could hear a wild, continuous tapping noise - clearly the eels were hungry and looking for prey. When they are resting, no noise is produced.

At 40 ft wide and 23 feet deep, the Big Ocean Tank was the center of attention in the aquarium. It is structured as a large column going up and down the middle of the building. At each level, visitors could stop and look through the windows to see sharks, sea turtles, fish, sting rays, and occasionally divers swim by. I once waited at a window for a giant green sea turtle at least 5 ft long to swim by mere inches from my face. I could see every detail on the turtle, from the patterns on its shell to the wrinkles on its neck. On the top level of the Giant Ocean Tank, one could look down on the surface of the water and see everything going on below.

At 5:30, we joined the eight OEX students and headed to dinner at Faneuil Hall Marketplace. We all ate at Cheers, and I got to know several of the campers. I think the best part about the OEX camp is that it unites students from all over the country who are interested in the same field - ocean engineering.