Penguins At The Florida Aquarium

WOW PENGUINS!

New Florida Aquarium "greeters" have wings!

The Florida Aquarium's latest attraction is interative to say the least. The next time you visit the aquarium, it won't be people greeting you in the lobby. It will be penguins.

A Penguin Promenade has been added to the guest experience, with the penguins appearing to meet and greet guests in the lobby of the Aquarium. The African penguins are new to the Aquarium and provide a unique interaction for our guests.

The penguins made their first official appearance this morning. They rolled into the lobby in the Penguin Mobile and promenade on the red carpet inches away from children and their parents.

The penguins will be meeting twice daily.

These penguins still need names and the Florida Aquarium would like your help. Click here to make suggestions.

[from Tampa Bay's 10]

Whales Can Live To Be 200 Years Old!

Ok, it's not really about the Florida Aquarium, but this is amazing:

Scientists have looked into the eyes of rare bowhead whales and learned that some of them can outlive humans by generations—with at least one male pushing 200 years old.

Click here for the full story: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060713-whale-eyes.html

Dr. Tim

Devil Rays To Pay For It!

According to Michael H. Samuels of TBO.com

The Florida Devil Rays will pay $2,500 for each ball that lands in the new touch tank:

... If you plan to watch the Tampa Bay Devil Rays take on the Baltimore Orioles tonight, there's a chance a home run ball will land in the new aquatic touch tank beyond the outfield.

Based on the number of home runs hit to the tank's location in the past, more than 400 feet from home plate and 13 feet above the right-centerfield playing surface, Rays officials expect about one ball a year will land in the tank, where fans can view and touch cownose rays.

The team will donate $2,500 to The Florida Aquarium for each water shot hit by a Rays player and the same amount to a charity selected by the batter. Rays players have hit 51 home runs at Tropicana Field this year. Include opponents' runs and you have 98 balls that soared over the fences. None this year has hit where the tank was installed last week, team spokesman Rick Vaughn said.

"I wouldn't look for lots of balls to be raining down in that pool," Vaughn said.
The 10,000-gallon touch tank, which is free to fans, contains 30 cownose rays.

"Obviously the health and well-being of the animals is our No. 1 priority," said Florida Aquarium spokesman Tom Wagner. "It would take a freak accident for one of the rays to get injured." ...

From the story by: Reporter Michael H. Samuels can be reached at (813)835-2109 or msamuels@tampatrib.com.

Click here for the full story: http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBWO081WPE.html

So here's hoping for lots of home runs for the rays (both kinds!)

Here's another story about the Touch Tank on MLB: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060721&content_id=1568074&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Fishy News

Well they have been at it again!

A whole bunch of new fish! So next time you visit, take this along as scavenger hunt for you and the kids!

Here's the list courtesy of my buddy Kristine:

Beach Exhibit

• lizardfish 1
• Ocean Surgeonfish 6
• Yellow goatfish 1

Coral Reef Tank
(the shallow side is where you just walk into the Coral Reef side of the Aquarium)
(the deep side is the larger panoramic view)

• porcupine puffer fish 1 (shallow side)
• scrawled filefish 1 (shallow side)
• banded butterfly fish 4 (shallow side)
• four eyed butterfly fish 10 (shallow side)
• midnight parrotfish 1 (deep side)
• stoplight parrotfish 1 (shallow side)
• princess parrotfish 1 (shallow side)
• Bluestripe Grunt 121 (deep side)
• French Grunt 120 (deep side)
• Saucereye porgy 1 (shallow side)
• Yellowtail snapper 8 (deep side)
• Queen Angelfish 3 (shallow side)

Also the Planktivores exhibit in Sea Hunt is back up. It looks great so go check it out.

Thanks to everyone at the Aquarium! You guys do a great job!

Dr. Tim

New @ TampaBayAquarium.com

What's New!

Since I created the site last year, the public response has been wonderful.

I have received dozens of emails tanking me for: creating a way to preview the Florida Aquarium for those that had never visited; teachers who valued the depth of content that they could use for their students; visitors that were able to share their visit with friends and families; and even Aquarium staff who enjoy my quirky snaps of them doing fishy things! The site has also been a boon to the event sales, since it shows off the Aquarium so well.

Thank you all for your great comments!

I have recently added much more to the site. Whole new sections have been added, as well as incremental items. Here is a short list of what's new!

First and formost, you have to check out our EXCLUSIVE ART SHOW called CryptoAquarium featuring the amazing photo-art of my friend 'amon' from the United Kingdom. Trust me, you just have to see it to understand!

A What's New page has been added to help!

Be sure to check our Aquarium Babies page for new babies

Several new pages have been added to the website Behind The Scenes Tour, including: Animal Care (with pix of new animals too), and Animal Quarantine (show new animals before they are added to the exhibits).

A new Florida Aquarium History page has been added.

A new About The Florida Aquarium page has been added, with easy one-click access to MapQuest location and directions.

If you are looking for the list of Upcoming Events at the Florida Aquarium, then see the Official Events Calendar page.

The Bays & Beaches area on our website has been broken into four pages now: Estuaries (the area leaving Wetlands and just before Bays); Bays (including part of Bay Bottoms); Bridges & Bottoms (including sandy, rocky, and oyster bed bottoms); Beaches (and sandy shores)

A Port Of Tampa photo page has also been added.

Did you know that The Florida Aquarium has its own ISLAND? It's called Fantasy Island and you can see it here!

I have added a new Video Archive section on the website, containing a variety of videos, from The Florida Aquarium's new TV commercial, to the Animal Planet's special on the top aquariums in the world featuring The Florida Aquarium, to video clips of animals at the Aquarium. See it here!

Also, a new FREE Greeting Card service has been added (just because I could!), so enjoy!

And lastly, tons of new photos have been added. I'll let you explore for yourself! Remember that your FREE Photo Tour of the Florida Aquarium starts right here!

I hope you enjoy my site! And please feel free to share your experiences!

Dr. Tim

Wow

Just a small note.

On June 13th, the Florida Aquarium received its 7 millionth visitor!

Regardless of what_ever_illionth visitor you may be, we would love to hear about your experience! Please leave a comment!

Dr. Tim

Florida Aquarium Parking Lot Alert

From The Florida Aquarium Management:

Please note that The Florida Aquarium is adding a “members only” lane to our parking lot entrance in early July. The lane will include an automated bar that will raise and lower when you enter your member ID number on a keypad.

Since you will need this member ID number to utilize this system, please be sure to bring your member card with you for each visit to the Aquarium.

We are adding this member’s only parking lane to make it more convenient for our members to enter the lot. Once the new parking system is in place, members will no longer have to wait in line for paying customers in queue at the manned booth.

As always, members will have access to the parking lot during regular business hours and on members’ only nights.

• To find the member ID number on your membership card, please locate the three-, four-, or five-digit number located to the right of the “member:” heading in the middle of your card.
• Please enter only the number; the symbol at the end (a “u” with two dots over it which looks like a smiley face) is not part of the member ID and should be ignored when you are using the keypad.

If you have any questions, please call the membership hotline at 813-273-4030. Thank you for your support!

More New Critters!

Well, the Aquarium Staff have been busy as, well, um - Otters! lately! They have added a whole boatload of new critters! We told you about the gators and the porcupine puffers already. But wait there are more...

Some new birds have been added to the wetlands. There are two common moorhens, and new wood ducks (2 males, 2 females total), and one new whistling duck (making 4 total - good thing there were four Marx brothers, so we don't have to change their names: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and now Zepo!).

Lots of new fish were added to different tanks too. Of course the new barracudas in the Estuary tank. A few spiny lobsters were added to the lobster tank in the Bays and Beaches area. (Including the HUGE one). 2 spiny lobsters were added to the Squirrel Fish tank in the Coral Reef Caves; plus a Spanish lobster and a slipper lobster were added to the concave tank, also in the Caves. Many different small fish, including: a sharpnose puffer, a sea star, and a baby porkfish were also added in the small reef fish tank next to the small nurse sharks also in the Caves.

A bat crab was added to the last Estuaries tank (This tank is one of the last tanks on your left walking out of the wetlands.) Also a scrawled filefish was added to the shallow side of the Coral Reef tank (just as you enter the Coral Reef galleries).

Besure to check them out on your next visit! We will try to add photos to the Photo Tour website as soon as possible.

Dr. Tim

Gator Swap Meet

After Jose Blanco, the white Gator on loan until May 2006, went back to New Orleans, 50 new baby gators were added. However, cute as they were, they were not a good fit for the Aquarium. So they were sent packing back to the Gator Farm!

Now, there are nine larger gators in the wetlands exhibit. These larger gators are a lot easier to see in the exhibit, and look more ferocious! So be sure to stop by and offer a hand out!

Dr. Tim

Happy 4th Of July - America's Birthday

To all of you, especially my fellow Veterans, Have a Happy Fourth of July!

Let us never forget what this day stands for, and how hard won our freedoms are! Never forget, that we, Americans, more than any people in the history of our species, are responsible for the freedoms the world now enjoys! Without America, there would be no freedom ANYWHERE!

So on this day, after the fireworks have ended, give a moment of silence in remembrance of those who died for this freedom, and for those who fight this very moment so that we and others around the world can enjoy what we so take for granted!.

Did I mention the best place to see fireworks this 4th is the Florida Aquarium!!! Open till 10pm today! See you there!

Dr. Tim

P.S. if you ever need a reminder of why we fight: click here

TampaBayAquarium.com

Over the last few months, our website has grown by leaps and bounds.

Massive new areas have been added to allow you to see nearly every part of the Aquarium - public and behind the scenes. We have also been witness to some amazing events: baby rays, new fish, new otters, new gators, the opening of new exhibits, and so much more.

If you haven't thoroughly explored www.TampaBayAquarium.com take a look NOW! And see what you've never seen by just visiting the Aquarium itself!

Dr. Tim

Baby Update!

Over the last couple of months, several new critters have come to the Aquarium. Take a peek here on our Babies Page

Welcome IVAN! The New Baby River Otter! Ivan is terribly cute, and will make his appearance in the next few months. So be sure to keep an eye out for him! (that's Ivan in the photo at right)

Amazingly, several new Cow Nosed Ray babies have been born. This is the first year where baby rays have been born at the aquarium, so the husbandry and veterinary staff have been learning about their care first hand. Caring for baby stingrays in captivity is a major scientific challenge, but the staff have been up to the task! While you can't see them on display at the Aquarium, we have photos of them here on our Baby Ray page

We have also had baby fish and baby birds too! Check out our Babies Page for all of them!

We have also been adding new fish!

When new fish come to the Aquarium, they first go through a thorough quarantine process, to make sure no harmful organisms make their way into the exhibits. The first are kept in a special quarantine area, until they are ready to be moved into one of the exhibit tanks. As always, we show you the real Aquarium behind the scenes, so you can see the quarantine area yourself: http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/behind_quarantine.htm

New Fish:

New young barracudas have been added in the Estuaries tanks (just before Bays & Beaches as you are leaving the Wetlands). See them here http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/baysbeaches03.htm

Two new Porcupine Puffer Fish have been added.

One is in the entrance tank in the Coral Reef exhibit (just as you walk into Coral Reefs). His name (per the unofficial unauthorized naming committee (Tim & Kim)) is Puffy Junior! (because Puff Daddy is in the main Coral Reed Panorama tank). See him here: http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/coralreef.htm

The other new Porcupine Puffer was added by the delivery team of Emily & Emily, to the Beaches exhibit. His name is H.R.Puffinstuff. Say hello next time your at the Aquarium. They are really cute! See him here: http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/baysbeaches02.htm And you can also see the release on our Animal Care page: http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/behind_care.htm

We also have new Atlantic Stingrays in the lobby touch tank.

With all that has been added, it's definitely time to come back and check out the Florida Aquarium!

Dr. Tim

Welcome Back

Welcome Back! I've been away from this forum for a while, and in that time a LOT has happened at the Florida Aquarium! New Exhibits, New Animals, Expansions, and changes galore!

Aquariumania is finally open! What a great exhibit (congrats to Patti the exhibit design czar at the Aquarium - nice job!). Aquariumania is dedicated to the Home Aquarium Enthusiast. It displays dozens of amazing aquariums, including a gigantic freshwater panoramic tank that has to be seen! Check it out here: http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/aquariumania.htm

Also, Explore A Shore has been expanded with the New Squirting Eels! Cool water fun for all the kids! See it here: http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/exploreashore.htm After all it's summer time, and time to be outdoors and having fun!



Lots of new animals have also been added, and a few old friends gone. Come see all the changes for yourself at www.TampaBayAquarium.com and see them live at the Florida Aquarium!

Dr. Tim