Mote Marine Aquarium
On this Saturday, the morning was covered with fog and mist from 7:00 am and for the rest of the day, and today I ventured to the Mote Marine Aquarium. I have been looking forward to returning to the aquarium. The last time I was there was when I was a freshman at Ringling College of Art & Design. Before classes start, the school planned a dance at the aquarium. So it was nice to come back and see the new changes/additions to the building.
Even on a light rainy day, people young and old filled the building. Most of them were children on a field trip. Lots of the children look like they were in middle school and they had a sheet of questions to be answered. Going to this aquarium was a lot of fun and very informative. I learned that some of the animals like dolphins and manatees can’t be released to the open salt waters of Florida. The reason is because they lived in aquariums for so long, that they wouldn’t know what to do in the wild. Another thing that I learned is that they breed the seahorses. But the best discovery I found out is what they are doing about the Lionfish crisis. It was one of the newest things I saw to be part of the aquarium. In the tank there were about five or six Lionfish and some looked larger than most. From this observation, it tells me that there are trained people (either from the aquarium or hired scuba divers) that go into the ocean and catch as many Lionfish as they can and instead of killing them (like some people do). They return them to their tanks.
The reason why it’s important to come to the aquarium is to discoverer new facts about the fish in Florida and learns how important our waters are, and ways of taking care of it. This is why I saw not only kids on a class trip at the aquarium. But also families with their children and even some grandparents. It’s nice to see a mother and father show their children the fish and see their faces light up with joy and excitement.
Another thing that caught me by surprise was seeing a “Save Our Birds” (or Save Our Seabirds); this exhibit was outside and across the aquarium. This must be new addition because I don’t remember this from the last time I was at the aquarium. Also that while inside the bird exhibit, I saw that they were still working on building some new things. Just like the fish inside the aquarium, the birds also had a sign with the name of the bird and the facts. I was surprised to find other birds that are part of Florida, besides seagulls, pelicans, and flamingos. The birds that I didn’t think would be around Florida are Barn Owls, Great Horned Owl, and swans. There were other birds in there and they all were amazing to look at. I think having this exhibit was a good idea because it showed people like myself the other brids that live in Florida.
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