What's New?

From our secret spy, Kristine Sanchez, Florida Aquarium Dive Interpreter

New birds were added in the Wetlands exhibit. Two male Red-Bellied Woodpeckers
can be found on exhibit across the mangroves. There is already one female.

One Great Egret and one Anhinga were added to the mangrove side. Sometimes the
Anhinga will hide, very well too, but just look closely.

Some of our fish have just packed up and moved.

The Sea Hunt Clownfish have recently purchased the home of the Anglerfish for a pretty decent price (really it was a steal!). The Clownfish have been relocated to the Anglerfish tank, right across the Ratfish exhibit. The only problem, is the Clownfish are now telling Ratfish jokes nonstop!

The Anglerfish will be off exhibit permanently. :( It was because nobody could find them!

There are some new baby Skate eggs in the Skate nursery down in the first floor lobby. Go check them out.

Thanks KS!

Dr. Tim

Flying Stingrays?

It seems to be a wierd time for Stingray attacks, which are almost totally unheard of.

This week we had another incident, involving a chest wound, when an Eagle Ray jumped into a boat.

The Florida Aquarium's Eric Hovland offers guidance to Tampa's Channel 10:

Expert says stingrays jumping, "not uncommon"
By: Preston Rudie of Tampa Bay's 10
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=42059

St. Petersburg, Florida - A Florida man is in the hospital following
what officials call a 'freak accident.'

James Bertakis was heading home after fishing on the Intracoastal in
Southeast Florida this week when a stingray jumped into his boat. When Bertakis
tried to get the ray out of his boat, the 81-year-old was struck by the animal's
barb. Officials responding to the situation called it a 'freak accident.'

However, local experts say rays frequently jump out of the water. One
reason, is to escape predators.

Eric Hovland, of The Florida Aquarium: "Escaping a predator, certainly
if you are chasing a prey, suddenly it is out of your view and it
lands at some other point, it can throw off your predator very quickly."

Hovland says eagle rays can jump as high as 15 feet into the air. He
adds: while the act my surprise humans, he says again "it's not uncommon".

Eric Hovland, of The Florida Aquarium said: "They (rays) are almost in
flight under the water as it is, so breaking the surface isn't that great a feet
for them." Hovland stresses rays do not jump in order to attack, and he
says other fish, such as kingfish, sailfish and mullet are also know to jump
into the air.

Preston Rudie, Tampa Bay's 10 News

My suggestion! When a Ray Jumps in your boat, you jump in the water!

Dr. Tim

It's A Pond!

From our secret spy, Kristine Sanchez, Florida Aquarium Dive Interpreter

Now that the weather has eased a bit, take a walk upstairs and relax in the new butterfly garden. There are some great chairs to chill in, watch the koi paddle around and check out the butterflies. We unfortunately do not allow any swimming in the pond.

You can also see different animals in the large cage.

By the way, do you know what a Dive Interpreter is? No it's not an olympic judge! No, they don't translate Spanish speaking divers! They present the Florida Aquarium's dive shows!

Dr. Tim

Halloween Parties!! The Best In Tampa Bay!

Remember, the Florida Aquarium hosts the Guppyween and Nauti Night Halloween Parties again this year!

For details visit www.TampaBayAquarium.com and click on events! Or click here CurrentEvents

More Critter News!

News from our friend Kristine Sanchez one of the Education Department's Dive Interpreters:

There are "tons" of new sea stars in the No Bones Zone touch tank. 5 pink stars, 6 rainbow stars, 6 false ochres, 23 ochres, 27 bat stars were all added last week. Some of these new sea stars have some beautiful colors to them, so go check them out.

How many sea stars are there in a ton? Any guesses?

There are new graphics in the Wetlands area. All the educational signs about the animals have all been replaced.

The Koi pond is complete! The exhibit is located on the second floor balcony, just outside the doors near the No Bones Zone touch tank.

This is part of the new outdoor rest area constructed in the 2nd floor balcony, overlooking Explore A Shore. It's a good place to get away, and smoking is permitted out there.

It seems like new coral is just growing everywhere! Lots of new sea plumes, sea fans, and sea whips have been added to the Coral Reef tank. The tank looks very vibrant now.

Also some sea plumes were added to the wrasse and bubble tank located in reef mysteries (Reef Caves).

Some new plants were added to the spring’s exhibit as well. Just look up when you walk into the wetlands.

Thanks Kristine!

It looks like the staff has been hard at work adding to the exibits! It is not often said, but the Florida Aquarium's staff and volunteers do outstanding work, so that we all can enjoy the exhibits and animals that the Aquarium houses! Kudos!

Dr. Tim

News

Sunny the penguin is on vacation and not doing shows for a few days. We had a guest ask why? We always give our animals breaks from presentations and she is taking a few days off. This is standard animal husbandry that we do with all of our animals. So no worries!

The Evening Tide Talks program starts up again on October 4 at 6:15pm in Taylor Great Room at the Florida Aquarium, with Carlton Ward- Photojournalist. The public is welcome! The subject is Conservation Photography: From the Edge of Africa to the Heart of Florida. Carlton is an environmental photojournalist from Clearwater. Through his photographs, he aims to promote conservation of natural environments.

New Volunteer classes are starting up also! Please contact volunteer services cmelton@flaquarium.org or Jason jminnear@flaquarium.org and we will get you signed up.

October 21 from 10am – 3pm is Sea Scouts day; open to all Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Our focus for this program will be on sharks. We’re planning on several shark-related activities including special Behind the Scenes Tours with a focus on shark diet and the shark tank.