SHARKS! and Adding to Their Tanks

On Wednesday, November 5, I went to the HMNS to visit Christine Batten, my mentor. I had to be there at 9:00, and Ian had to be to another internship at 8:30, so I decided to just go over with him. At nine, I met Christine inside the Sharks! exhibit because she helps run it. We then went downstairs to the Animal Alcove, a room on the Lower Level that houses lots of animals. She wanted to put some new rocks in the Sharks! exhibit to give them more places to rest. In the Animal Alcove, we picked up some supplies that we would need for the day: water, some plastic bags, and rocks. We went back up to the Sharks! exhibit and piled rocks in the tank in three different locations. We went back to the Animal Alcove to pick up some crabs, which I would be putting in the shark tanks. Before I put the crabs in the shark tank, they had to acclimate to the temperature of the tank, so they didn't die of shock. To acclimate them, I first put them in a plastic bag filled with the water they were used to. I floated the bags in the shark tanks for fifteen minutes. During these fifteen minutes, Christine and I went to check on an existing, empty tank that she and I are planning on putting creatures in. We discussed different things that could go in this tank, and we felt like nudibranchs would be best for this tank. I am currently writing a proposal to get nudibranchs and other supplies for this tank. After checking on this tank, we traveled back down to the shark tank, and I took the crabs out of the floating bags and placed them around the shark tank.

        The Texas Ecology exhibit opened up about a week before I visited, and she offered to show me it. Of course I said yes! It was incredible. It was clear that lots of effort had been put into making this exhibit look as real as possible. Each tree in the exhibit had trunks that were living. Christine said that the artists creating the exhibit got living trees and pulled each leaf of individually. She said they then attached fake, but realistic, leaves to where the real leaves were. There was also living Spanish moss hanging from branches that were coming out of the ceiling and walls. There were three animatronic animals, a skunk, a woodpecker, and a rattlesnake. I would defiantly recommend going to the HMNS to see this exhibit as it is just stunning.