Posted by Brad on March 02, 2003 at 18:23:28:
In Reply to: Re: Aqarium of the Pacific posted by DougD on March 02, 2003 at 11:25:41:
i suspect that if one doesn't really spend a lot of time in the ocean environment, they will never notice that those fish do indeed have a malaise about them as most all animals in captivity do.
i remember when there were many yellowtail in the main tank in the lobby. They would constantly swim up and down the water column. That is very unnatural behavour for those fish. It was a dramatic indication of the wrong habitat for them. Their noses even took on the classic sunken characteristic of captive fish that yearn to swim, but are not able to fulfil those natural desires. I emailed the aquarium and was told that they were being moved to a more suitable place, for that i was very grateful.
On a little different note, the last time i was there was during the height of the 'war' against the reserves, yet i saw NO material whatsoever about that huge issue! I feel that if the aquarium lives or dies on the publics interest in the fish and their habitat, they have a moral obligation to make the public aware of such significant proposals. IMO, it is equivalent to a lie for them, of all institutions to fail to get involved in that most important public relations issue and i fault them tremendously for it.
The best aquarium i have ever seen was the huge oval one at the old Marineland. That aquarium was big enough to support a much broader range of fish, including the extremely rare Bonito!