AR-News: (US-GA) Aquarium will hold endangered species

[Phyllis Bedford]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0504/31aquariumfish.html		

Aquarium casts out its line for 55,000 denizens
Aquarium will hold endangered species

By CHARLES SEABROOK
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/30/04


The Georgia Aquarium has gone fishing.

With the 5-million-gallon aquarium expected to open in the latter part of
next year, its officials are now immersed in perhaps their most daunting
task: acquiring the 55,000 live fish, representing some 500 species, that
will fill displays and wow crowds.

Neil Allen, director of the aquarium's animal acquisition program, was
recently in Florida fishing for hammerhead sharks that might end up at the
aquarium. For now, the sharks his group caught are headed for Mote Marine
Laboratory in Tampa.

Laboratory officials have said they will send the sharks to the Georgia
Aquarium once the lab completes a research project on them. Researchers
want to study the sharks' vision, electro-sensory systems, bite force,
swimming patterns and basic behavior.

Allen said in a recent interview with The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla.,
that the aquarium is interested in hammerheads for their educational
potential.

"They can capture the public's attention," he said. "People will say,
'Wow, a hammerhead! They're ferocious.' But with signs and guides, people
will learn they're just part of the food chain, and, like other sharks,
their populations are dropping."

Benefactor Bernie Marcus, who is shelling out $200 million to build and
stock the aquarium, is keeping tight-lipped about what most of the
creatures there will be. He said he learned that lesson from many years in
retail business, in which he made his indelible mark as co-founder of Home
Depot.

"If we're going to sell a hammer, we would never advertise the hammer
until we got it in the store," he explained. "So we don't want to
advertise the fish until we get them."

Marcus did say that some of the creatures probably will be rare and
endangered. The aquarium already is working with Georgia Tech, Georgia
State University and the University of Georgia to form a plan that would
help save endangered species through research and education, he said.

"The key is to help these fish . . . get off the endangered species list."

The aquarium already is among a group of Georgia institutions and
government agencies aiming to help the endangered shortnose sturgeon
recover to healthy population levels.

The 3-foot-long sturgeon was once abundant in Georgia rivers, a popular
game fish and a source of caviar. Its numbers have dwindled in part
because of water pollution, overfishing and dams that have prevented the
bony, olive-yellow fish from reaching its spawning grounds.

Thomas Bryce, chief fisheries biologist at Fort Stewart and a key member
of the group trying to restore the sturgeon, said the aquarium can play a
major role in educating Georgians about the plight of the fish and its
habitat.

Marcus said that, although some fish for the aquarium will come directly
from the wild, others will come from other aquariums, vendors and fish
farms.

Getting them to Atlanta and keeping them in displays will require a slew
of state and federal permits. And acquisition of some of them could
trigger controversy.

According to the Shark Research Institute, a conservation and research
organization based in Princeton, N.J., the aquarium is interested in
obtaining a whale shark, the biggest fish in the ocean. An adult whale
shark can grow more than 40 feet long and weigh 15 tons. But whale sharks
don't do well in captivity, said Marie Levine of the institute.

"The Shark Research Institute is strongly opposed to the capture of a
whale shark for exhibition in any aquarium," Levine said.

Equipment ordered by the aquarium gives a clue to just how big an
operation it might be. Pennsylvania-based Met-Pro Corp.'s Fybroc Division
said in a press release that it received an order to supply 180
corrosion-resistant centrifugal pumps to the aquarium at a cost of $1.2
million. "This is the largest single order in Fybroc's history," said
Raymond De Hont, chief executive officer of Met-Pro.

The Fybroc pumps, he said, will be used to circulate and filter seawater,
critical to proper management of the aquarium's life support system for
its animals.

Some of the system could be devoted to a living coral reef display. Bruce
Carlson, vice president of life sciences, research and exhibits for the
Georgia Aquarium, is a renowned expert on coral reefs.

Marcus has said that the logistics of keeping so many animals healthy and
happy will be costly. The marine creature known as the leafy sea dragon, a
rare member of the seahorse family, can cost hundreds of dollars a week to
feed and maintain.

Marcus acknowledged that some of the aquarium's menagerie already is being
held at a special facility in metro Atlanta, but he declined to divulge
the location. He said he is concerned that, if he reveals too many details
about the holding facility, people will want to come see the fish before
the aquarium opens.