dshnarw February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 Had the opportunity to visit the New Orleans Aquarium (Audobon Aquarium of the Americas) earlier this week and took a few photos to share... From the aviary: Rockhopper penguin: More traditional aquarium subjects: Rockfish eye: Several seahorse tanks: My favorites...the requisite jellyfish photos: And a cute little dart frog: Overall, a nice aquarium. I had visited many years ago (probably early-mid 90s) when it was topnotch, and it's suffered since then with the new breed of aquariums (Georgia, for example) and with all the losses from Katrina, but they've done a good job of restocking and making it a presentable and educational tour. The jellyfish collection was rather admirable (unfortunately, the lighting was so subdued I could only get photos from one exhibit) and they had a decent collection of seahorses. Cute dartfrog display, and a walk through tunnel aquarium that seems to be a requirement these days. One large tank with some large sharks and a smaller juvenile shark tank, but I only had the macro lens with me. A nice way to spend a few hours.
dbartco February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 this the aquarium that leaked a number of lionfish into the gulf after katrina?
dshnarw February 18, 2011 Author February 18, 2011 this the aquarium that leaked a number of lionfish into the gulf after katrina? I believe those were mostly due to home aquariums. This aquarium had such a good hurricane plan that the building and inhabitants survived fine through the hurricane with no damage and absolutely no escapes. The unfortunate part was afterwards: the aquarium was essentially the only place with power (due to massive generators) in the downtown area and was taken over by FEMA as an operating grounds. FEMA removed the aquarium staff, pulled the plug on the aquariums, and used the power for their own purposes, which caused massive die-off of the inhabitants. The few survivors were the penguins and otters which had been shipped out prior to the hurricane and a few endangered species that were allowed power by FEMA.
gmubeach February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 Who owns the aquarium? I think I've visited it before? Does it have alligator gar=my favorite.
dbartco February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 I didn't mean that these were the only ones. Sound like this is not the one I was thinking about. One aquarium down there was practically under water, and many inhabitants were just washed away. REEF was tracking the genetics of one population in the gulf to those that escaped in New Orleans. Most of the ones that have been tracked in fl and the bahamas can be traced back to the same 6 fish (they say). I have no data to back that up other than Ned DeLoach's talk he gave on the Balt Aquarium Trip.
FearTheTerps February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 (edited) Doug I think you are thinking of Hurricane Andrew of 1992 that hit Florida, at least thats what I recall about the rumors of the lionfish escapees. EDIT: Theres been much debate of whether Andrew was the real cause or not. One ecoligisst states that a lionfish was caught in the Atlantic as early as 1985 http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/04/mystery-of-the-lionfish-dont-bla.html Edited February 18, 2011 by FearTheTerps
Chad February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 Nice pictures. Thank you for sharing! I know what you mean about the "new breed of aquarium" outshining some of the older ones... but there are still some great examples out there of this type. The Waikiki Aquarium was awesome for me even though it doesn't have the awesome presence or massive aquariums that some of the newer ones have, to me there is also beauty in long-term maturity and respect in historical significance.
dshnarw February 18, 2011 Author February 18, 2011 Who owns the aquarium? I think I've visited it before? Does it have alligator gar=my favorite. It's owned by the Audobon Nature Institute - downtown on the river, about a block from the French Quarter. I don't recall any alligator gar, but if you like them, you should check out the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. Gar of a million types there. I didn't mean that these were the only ones. Sound like this is not the one I was thinking about. One aquarium down there was practically under water, and many inhabitants were just washed away. REEF was tracking the genetics of one population in the gulf to those that escaped in New Orleans. Most of the ones that have been tracked in fl and the bahamas can be traced back to the same 6 fish (they say). I have no data to back that up other than Ned DeLoach's talk he gave on the Balt Aquarium Trip. Thats interesting - I didn't know REEF had been tracing the genetics of the fish. Nice pictures. Thank you for sharing! I know what you mean about the "new breed of aquarium" outshining some of the older ones... but there are still some great examples out there of this type. The Waikiki Aquarium was awesome for me even though it doesn't have the awesome presence or massive aquariums that some of the newer ones have, to me there is also beauty in long-term maturity and respect in historical significance. I loved Waikiki for how simple it was and how much effort they put into their small display space (and the price point was more than reasonable...). Plus some genuinely rare fish and they had mini carpets in one of their display tanks before most of us knew they existed. It ranks among my favorite public aquariums.
dbartco February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 Thats interesting - I didn't know REEF had been tracing the genetics of the fish. Part of the collection trip in 09. Ripping out their testicles!
dshnarw February 18, 2011 Author February 18, 2011 neato. did you eat them afterwards? i hear they're great beer-battered...
extreme_tooth_decay February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 neato. did you eat them afterwards? i hear they're great beer-battered... the testicles?
Chad February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 Mariana trench oysters? You would sure need a lot of them to make a meal
arwndsh February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 Nice pictures. Thank you for sharing! I know what you mean about the "new breed of aquarium" outshining some of the older ones... but there are still some great examples out there of this type. The Waikiki Aquarium was awesome for me even though it doesn't have the awesome presence or massive aquariums that some of the newer ones have, to me there is also beauty in long-term maturity and respect in historical significance. Here is a link to pictures from when we visited the Waikiki Aquarium on our honeymoon if you want to check them out. http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t109/arwndsh/hawaii%20-%20waikiki%20aquarium/
Chad February 18, 2011 February 18, 2011 Arwndsh, thanks for that! You are a much better photographer than I am... most of the pics I took serve as blurry memory joggers more than anything else!
arwndsh February 19, 2011 February 19, 2011 Oh I didn't take those photos he did. Dshnarw is my husband if you couldn't tell from the screen names.
Chad February 19, 2011 February 19, 2011 haha, ooooohhh! Nonetheless, awesome pictures and thanks for sharing them! The zero edge clam tank they have outside is AWESOME!!
dbartco February 19, 2011 February 19, 2011 Part of the collection trip in 09. Ripping out their testicles! Remove the t's to collect the genetic material.... Did eat the lionfish as well. And my doughter likes the frog pic best.
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