Monday, March 08, 1999

Newport aquarium has cast wide net

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BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mark Lewin, aquatic biologist, empties gravel into a tank that will be part of the Australian stream exhibit. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        NEWPORT — The Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium didn't call Dr. Doolittle or Noah, but it's using nearly ever other means to bring about 11,000 creatures to the aquarium on the Ohio River for its May opening.

        Fish from as far as Australia and as near as the Licking River, penguins from Japan, alligators from Florida and Maryland, and sharks from all over the country will find their way to the Newport aquarium in the coming weeks.

        Juan Sabalones, the husbandry director who oversees the collection of animals, and his staff are reaching in all directions to locate the fish and reptiles that will inhabit the five themed areas: World Rivers, The Shore Gallery, The Bizarre and the Beautiful, The Dangerous and Deadly, and The River Bank.

INFOGRAPHIC

Where the fish are coming from

        “Our primary concern is to provide the best possible care for the animals at all times,” said Mr. Sabalones, former head curator at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. “I feel we can do that here, and promote conservation through education.”

        There are three basic paths in getting the animals:

        • Through professional contractors who capture them from the wild.

        • From aquariums and institutions around the country.

        • From private owners and collectors.

        “Our first recourse is to call professional contractors, find

        out what they have available and see if it matches what we need,” said Mr. Sabalones, a native of the Philippines and a graduate of the University of Connecticut's prestigious marine biology program.

        Animal curator Pam Lyons, another Baltimore aquarium expatriate, said distributors who professionally collect fish will provide many of the creatures to be displayed here through outlets in Florida and Los Angeles.

        “We will get fish from the Amazon River regions of Brazil and Peru, and from as far away as Australia and the Philippines,” she said. “In every case, we have distributors who are skilled and experienced in obtaining the fish and transporting them.”

        A prime example of the care necessary in transporting the aquatic life forms is the delicate jellyfish that will be presented in their own exhibit.

        As aquatic biologist and jellyfish expert Dave Mahan points out, jellyfish are about 90 percent water and “very fragile. They can be harmed very easily, so you have to be very careful how you handle them and care for them.”

        The jellyfish will come from Florida and California, traveling in individual water-filled plastic bags. Mr. Mahan, who spent 28 years on staff at the Cincinnati Zoo, emphasized that extreme care is used in transferring jellyfish from tanks to bags, and vice versa.

        “We usually scoop them up in beakers so they are always supported by water,” he said.

        Jellyfish, which float on ocean currents and feed as they float, must be transported and maintained in areas free of rough surfaces, Mr. Mahan explained, because their fragile bodies can be easily torn, which usually results in death.

        Senior aquatic biologist Linda Hanna, like Mr. Sabalones a shark expert, said most of the sharks that will swim in the huge 380,000-gallon shark exhibit will come from places such as Norfolk, Va., Connecticut and Montreal. They are being acquired from various institutions that either have too many or can no longer maintain larger sharks that will be perfectly happy here.

        But sharks can come from some strange places. Mr. Sabalones recalled the contact with a man who had a nurse shark he wanted to give to the Baltimore aquarium.

        “The guy had this shark, about 3 feet long, in a 150-gallon aquarium in his bedroom,” he said. “That seemed like a less than good idea to me.”

        There are people, locally and around the country, who have exotic fish and reptiles that seemed like great pets when they were babies but have since become too much of a burden for their owners.

        “In most cases, they are fish or reptiles that have outgrown their owners,” Ms. Lyons said. “We're very selective about what we accept for our exhibits. If it is something we really want and need for the exhibit, and the animal is in good shape, we take it gladly. They are almost always donations.”

        But that doesn't mean the aquarium will take a donated fish or reptile just because it is exotic or even rare. “We have a strict species list, and we won't deviate from it,” Ms. Lyons said.

        The reptiles such as turtles, snakes and alligators that will make up several exhibits at the aquarium will come almost entirely from other aquariums, zoos and other institutions.

        One of the more interesting acquisitions was a pair of young alligators, about 3¹/₂-feet long, that arrived re cently at the aquarium from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The gators had been removed from pet stores near Baltimore that didn't have the proper permits to sell them.

        “We're getting a lot of the reptiles, like turtles, from the Chattanooga aquarium,” said Rich Terrell, the aquatic biologist who will keep tabs on the aquarium's reptiles.

        The aquarium also is getting a helping hand from the Cincinnati Zoo and its director, Ed Maruska.

        “The staff was given a tour of the zoo and (Mr.) Maruska said his people would help us any way they could,” Mr. Terrell said. “He's giving us some of his Amazon poison dart frogs and tadpoles to start our Amazon exhibit collection.”

        And while fish will come to the aquarium from thousands of miles away, Mr. Terrell will soon be prowling the lowlands of Western Kentucky to collect at least one hellbender and a giant salamander, and the nearby Licking River for darters, a native fish, for the river exhibits.

       

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