Georgia Aquarium Alternative Assignment
Georgia Aquarium overview
Walk through an acrylic tunnel or stand in front of a gigantic acrylic viewing window, and you will feel like a SCUBA diver in an endless blue sea, mesmerized by thousands of fish swimming overhead. Ocean Voyager, built by The Home Depot, is home to the gentle giants of the sea, including whale sharks and four manta rays. They are the only manta rays in a U.S. aquarium, ever. Learn more about our first manta ray Nandi's journey to the Georgia Aquarium from South Africa.This exhibit was specially designed to house whale sharks, the largest fish species in the world. Schools of predatory trevally jacks, squadrons of small and large stingrays, enormous goliath grouper and several sharks all ply the waters of this ocean habitat containing more than six million gallons of saltwater. With 4,574 square feet of viewing windows, a 100-foot-long underwater tunnel, 185 tons of acrylic windows and the second largest viewing window in the world at 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and 2 feet thick, visitors will have multiple opportunities to view all of these magnificent animals. No other aquarium in the world has ever attempted to manage the variety and size of fish in this major exhibit.
Beluga Whales
Two juvenile beluga whales, Grayson and Qinu, join adult beluga whale, Maris, in the Georgia-Pacific Cold Water Quest gallery. The two whales, which were born at SeaWorld San Antonio, are smaller than Maris. Qinu (pronounced Kee-nu), a two-year-old female, and Grayson, a three-year-old male, are light gray in color, a trait seen in this species before they mature into adults. Adult beluga whales are easily distinguished by their often pure white skin, their small size and their lack of dorsal fin. Belugas have a broad, rounded head and a large forehead.Unlike other cetaceans, belugas can move their head up, down, and side-to-side because their cervical vertebrae are not fused. This adaptation is believed to help them maneuver and catch prey in silt-laden or ice-covered areas.
They are well adapted to their arctic and sub-arctic environment, with a five-inch-thick layer of blubber and a tough dorsal ridge that helps them travel through sea ice waters. Belugas are toothed whales. They have broad, paddle-like flippers and notched tails.Beluga whales are distributed throughout seasonally ice-covered arctic and subarctic waters. They inhabit waters off the shores of Russia, Greenland, Canada, Norway and the United States (Alaska). Genetic research has determined that there are five beluga whales stocks within U.S. waters: Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay, eastern Bering Sea, eastern Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea
Beluga whales are opportunistic feeders. They feed on salmon, eulachon, tomcod, smelt, char, rainbow sole, whitefish, saffron and arctic cod, herring, shrimp, mussels, octopus, crabs, clams, mussels, snails and sandworms. Beluga whales need to be fed proper diet to be healthy. The whales are given few carbohydrates because their digestive system can’t process them very well. They are fed mostly fish, needing 3.5 kg of protein and 1.7 kg of fat per day. Herring costs $3.50, squid is $8.00, and capelin is $2.00 per kg.Belugas use sound to find their prey. They also use sound to communicate and navigate by producing a variety of clicks, chirps and whistles.Young belugas are usually dark grey in color. The grey steadily lightens as they grow up - reaching their permanent color by the age of seven for females and nine for males. Calves nurse for about two years.Mating Season: Late winter - early spring. Gestation: 15 months. Number of offspring: 1 calf
The African penguin
This exhibit features more than 25 nesting areas integrated into naturalistic rockwork and comes equipped with a state-of-the-art lighting system that mimics the natural light cycle from twilight to moonlight. Acrylic tunnels and pop-up windows, built into the exhibit, allow guests to come face-to-face with their feathered favorites. The African penguin averages about 60 cm (2 ft.) tall and weighs up to 3.6 kg (8 lb.). Their short tails and flipper-like wings help them navigate in the water, while their webbed feet help propel them through the ocean.
To keep dry and insulated in cold water, African penguins are covered in dense, water-proof feathers. These feathers are white on the belly and black on the back, which aids in camouflage. Their white belly will blend with the light when predators look up at them from below, and their black backs meld with the darker seas when predators look down on them from above. African penguins breed within their colonies; they do not travel to give birth. The penguins nest in burrows they dig out of their own excrement, called guano, or in areas under boulders or bushes.Recent removal of the guano for fertilizer has forced the penguins to change their habits and nest primarily under bushes and boulders. Their nests protect eggs and chicks from the sun and from predators like cats and seagulls. Eggs are laid in pairs and both parents help incubate them. Both parents also feed the newly-born chicks. After 2-4 years, the chicks will mature and lay their own eggs. GEORGIA AQUARIUM WELCOMES FIRST AFRICAN PENGUIN CHICKS
The world’s most magical aquarium is thrilled to announce the birth of two African penguin chicks. The young sea birds hatched within two weeks of each other in early January and have been hand-reared behind-the-scenes by Aquarium animal training and veterinary staff members since hatching.
Southern Sea Otter
The gallery's Southern sea otter exhibit has doubled in size and has been modified to include additional deck space for trainer-animal interactions. New to the exhibit, a sneak peek window has been added, giving guests a look into the behind-the-scenes area for the sea otters. The sea otter is a small marine mammal native to the north and eastern coasts of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the fact that sea otters are the largest members of the weasel family, sea otters are among the smallest mammals in the marine world.The sea otter is known to have one of the thickest, warmest coats of fur in the animal kingdom which helps to keep the sea otter warm in the cold waters of the North Pacific. Like their smaller river otter cousins, the sea otter is able to walk and live on the land but it is not uncommon for sea otters to spend their lives exclusively in the water.
Sea otters are omnivores as they do eat seaweed and other aquatic plants. Despite this though, most sea otter individuals have a primarily carnivorous diet with sea otters known to eat more than 40 different species of marine animals. The sea otter mainly hunts sea urchins, clams, crabs, snails and small fish in the water. The sea otter is one of the few animals in the world that has the remarkable trait of using tools, such as rocks, in order to get at its prey. Sea otters have few natural predators in the sea due to their large size. Those sea otters that live further south are mainly preyed upon by the great white shark and those sea otters that inhabit more northern regions of the Pacific, are preyed upon by killer whales. Humans are one of the sea otters main predators as sea otters are hunted mainly for their incredibly dense fur. Sea otters are today considered to be an endangered species are they were extensively hunted for their fur in the 18th century which meant that sea otter populations took a devastating plunge and sea otters became rarer and rarer. There are estimated to be less than 2,000 sea otter individuals left in the wild today.
There are three different species of sea otterthat are recognized by science today. The common sea otter (also known as the Asian sea otter) is the largest of the tree sea otter subspecies and is found around the islands in the Western Pacific. The southern sea otter (also known as the Californian sea otter) is found off the coast of California and is known to have a narrow head and small teeth. The northern sea otter is native to Alaska and the North West of the Pacific. The northern sea otter was wiped out from the coast of British Columbia due to over hunting but has been recently reintroduced to Vancouver Island.Unlike other marine mammals, the sea otter does not have a layer of blubber to keep it warm, so the sea otter has to rely on its dense fur to keep the cold out. The fur of the sea otter is so thick that no water actually touches the skin of the sea otter. The sea otter's fur also consists of two layers, a waterproof layer of long guard hairs with a layer of short thick fur underneath.Although sea otter hunt and forage for food on their own, sea otters are often seen resting together in large single-sex groups known as rafts. Typically, the average sea otter raft consists of between 10 to 100 sea otter individuals, with the largest recorded sea otter raft containing nearly 2,000 sea otter individuals.Sea otters are known to mate all year round, but the southern sea otter is known to mate every year, which is twice as often as the northern sea otter. After a gestation period of up to a year, the mother sea otter gives birth to a single sea otter although twins are known to occur. Mother sea otters are known to nurse their pups for up to a year, by which time, the sea otter pups are able to hunt and forage for food by themselves.
Whale Sharks
The whale shark is the largest fish in the world; with its vast size it resembles the whales from which its common name is derived. The head is flattened and the wide mouth, positioned at the tip of the snout, stretches almost as wide as the body. The dorsal fin is particularly large and the tail has a half-moon shape. The patterning of the body is very distinctive with its dark greyish-blue color on the back and sides, and array of pale yellow blotches; the undersurface is pale. Stout ridges travel the length of the body, ending at the tail shaft. Five massive gill slits occur on the side of the head and within these there is a sieve like structure of cartilage. Curiously, the mouth contains around 300 tiny teeth although the function of these is unknown
These sharks are usually solitary, but loose groups of up to 100 individuals have been sighted, often when they are feeding. Whale sharks appear to be highly migratory, and have been tracked for thousands of kilometers. Individuals who regularly visit the Ningaloo Reef in Australia, between March and May every year, appear to be mainly immature male whale sharks. It is not clear whether movements across deep ocean basins follow prey routes or are undertaken for other reasons. Very little is known about the reproduction of the world's largest fish, but in 1995, one pregnant female was captured who contained nearly 300 fetuses. Thewhale sharkis ovoviviparous; the young hatch from eggs retained within the mother so that she then gives birth to live young.
Whale sharks are fairly docile creatures and feed on planktonic organisms and small fish by suction filter-feeding. This species is thought to be a more dynamic filter-feeder than, for example, the basking shark, actively sucking food in through their vast mouths and passing the water over the gill arches, where prey are retained and then swallowed.Basking sharkshave also been observed actively swimming through shoals of fish with their mouth agape or hanging vertically in the water and drawing food into their mouths.
GA Aquarium Alternative AssignmentName______
1.What is the size of the viewing window at the Georgia Aquarium? ______
2.How thick is the window? ______
3.What are the names of the 4 beluga whales? ______
4.How thick is the insulating blubber of the beluga? ______
5.Where do beluga whales live? ______
6.What do belugas eat? ______
7.Why can belugas move their heads up, down and sideways? ______
8.How tall is an African Penguin? ______
9.What color are these penguins? ______
10.How many eggs are laid each season? ______
11.Where do penguins lay their eggs? ______
12.What are penguins covered with? ______
13.What is penguin excrement called? ______
14.What does omnivore mean? ______
15.What do the otters eat? ______
16.What do otters use as a tool? ______What for? ______
17.How do otters keep warm? ______
18.What is unusual about sea otter fur? ______
19.How many sea otter pups in a litter? ______
20.What are sea otter predators? ______
21.Why are sea otters endangered? ______
22.How many sea otters are there estimated to be left in the wild today? ______
23.What family are sea otters in? ______
24.How many fetuses can a female whale shark carry? ______
25.How do whale sharks eat? ______
26.What color are whale sharks? ______
27.How many gill slits do whale sharks have? ______
28.How many teeth does a whale shark have? ______Their function? ______
29.Is a whale shark a mammal or a fish? ______