Hey everybody. So I have news.
The good is that I now know what exactly I am doing at OdySea Aquarium. Well, for the most part. I will be helping with the shark feeding three times a week. So that will be an incredible and unique experience.
The bad news is that everything I've done until now is basically rendered useless. The coral is out, because the aquarium doesn't have any. Bummer. What's worse is that all of your wonderful comments will now have to take a whole new direction. But hey, sharks are fun.
For the past week I've been in and out of the aquarium getting oriented with things. I got to hang out with a sloth, and some sea lions. Today I learned about a whole lot of marine related artifacts. My favorite was the nautilus. It's an ancient relative of squid and they're pretty. They have a bunch of capsules on the the inside of them that they can fill with water or empty the water out of. This allows them to adjust their buoyancy.
Anyways, I'll be at the aquarium four days a week, mostly helping with the shark feeding and whatever else needs to be done. And I'm very excited to be able to work at the aquarium, especially after having been there.
As far as pictures go, cell phones seem to be generally frowned upon while working, so I don't think pictures are gonna happen, especially anytime soon. But I wish I could show you that sloth.
Till next week - Evan
Wow Evan! They have a sloth in an aquarium? It really is a bummer that they don't have corals, but maybe it is for the best especially since coral is very fragile and delicate, so it might have been more harmful to bring coral to the aquarium. The Nautilus seems super cool i sounds like a living submarine, are they extinct and do you know if any other sea creatures evolved form them?
ReplyDeleteSharks are awesome! Being able to feed the sharks sounds like a great opportunity. It really is unfortunate that there isn't coral. What direction will you be taking your project without being able to test coral? Are you still going to test how marine environments are affected by air pollution? If so, what will you be using to test your hypothesis? Nautilus are probably some of the most interesting species, so get a good look at them while they're there.
ReplyDeleteHi Olivia! Unforunately since there is no coral at the aquarium, I will be moving away from looking at pollution and instead looking at the care and tracking of large fish such as sharks in aquariums.
DeleteSorry about the coral, Evan, but sharks are extremely interesting. Do you have any plans on what your project will be about now? Sharks present a lot of possibilities, and I'm sure you will be able to do great research on them. Also, if you get the chance, maybe after your work at the aquarium is finished for the day, you could take some pictures! I would love to see some of the sharks at the aquarium. Please keep us updated! I hope you enjoy your experience working with sharks.
ReplyDeleteMy project will now be looking at how the behavior and eating habits of these large fish, specifically sharks, are recorded behind the scenes of the aquarium. Basically, how they are taken care of since they obviously require more care than your average fish.
DeleteHey Evan! Wow, that's really cool that you can work with sharks now, but it's a bummer you won't be working with coral. But hey! Sharks could be even cooler to work with! The nautilus seems really cool, and I had no idea what that was when I went to the aquarium earlier. I'm looking forward to your new research question!
ReplyDeleteSharks, I think, are even more interesting than coral! How will you determine a new project that tests the effects of pollution on marine life without actually hurting the sharks? Even if didn't work out, it's really cool that you were able to get a spot in the aquarium and to have the aquarium let you interact with all the animals there. I hope they'll let you do underwater scuba diving in that giant tank! Can't wait to hear news from next week.
ReplyDeleteHi Anuka, so because of my new position and what I'm actually able to be doing at the aquarium. Instead of looking at air pollution, I'll be going into detail how these large fish are cared for and given special consideration. I'll hopefully tie what I find into some larger significance considering the condition of many shark species in the wild.
DeleteHi! I'm a senior at BASIS Phoenix, so you probably don't know me (I more or less 'stumbled' onto this blog), but I think it's awesome that you're working at Odyssey Aquarium. I love marine biology! Hopefully they get more coral soon, or... just a thought... you could possibly set up a BioCube or other marine reef aquarium to take care of your own coral. Like I said, just a thought.
ReplyDeleteHey Evan! Sharks are dope! They have a bunch of teeth and they swim around all muscular and stuff. Do you think that your research will focus on one particular organism or will be more centered around marine ecosystems in general?
ReplyDeleteYo Jack, so basically I'll be looking mostly at sharks and how they are treated and cares for but also I help out with the sea turtles so hopefully I can throw some info and insight into the sea turtles they have at odysea.
DeleteHey Evan, glad to see you are feeding the sharks! Where do you think you will go from your research? Anyway it seems like this path you are taking will end up just as well if not better than the coral because sharks could be better animals to study.
ReplyDeleteNow my research will be leaning towards how the larger and more complex animals at the aquarium are cared for and given special consideration. And yes, the sharks are pretty cool.
DeleteHi Evan!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your change in direction, but hopefully this new turn in your research will be an interesting one! In any case, shark feeding sounds fun, but how exactly do you take to feeding the sharks? Are they in a special environment, or do they have to be kept in a certain way?
The best of luck with your research!
So you will learn more about the shark feeding process in a blog post later tonight, but essentially the sharks are fed at seperate stations around their larger exhibit. They are seperated by species and different species are given different foods. They are fed with giant tongs, which is pretty exciting.
DeleteWoah sharks! I hope you find a new research topic soon but for now, I'm curious about shark feeding. How exactly do you feed the sharks? Are the fish you feed them dead or alive? Do you just drop the fish in the tank or put it at the end of a pole to make sure the sharks eat it? Also, how do shark tanks get cleaned? Does someone go in there?
ReplyDeleteThe fish are all dead, and actually a lot of what I do is prepare the fish before the actual feeding. That means chopping all the fish up and putting vitamins in the pieces I just chopped up after sorting all the pieces by weight. And then the aquarists feed the sharks with tongs at the end of basically a giant pole. I have yet to see a cleaning, though. So I will let you know once I am around for one.
DeletePerhaps this turn of events will lead to a new research direction. Yes, please take some pictures if possible and post.
ReplyDeleteHey Bobby! I'm sad to hear that your coral idea didn't get to go out as planned. However, Sharks sound pretty awesome, and I know you'll do a pretty interesting project. Where do you think the direction of your project is heading? Excited to hear more!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Bobby! My project was thrown into a bit of a limbo with the rejection of coral but now I'm working with a team of aquarists that feed the fish and animals in a set of exhibits. So now I'm looking more into how the larger and more complex organisms are fed and taken care of. It is pretty fun.
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