Mammals and Birds Steal the Show at the Aquarium

Saturday, February 20, 2010

We arrived at the Texas State Aquarium, just after the 9:00 AM opening.  They have set up the displays and viewing windows so that they are fairly low, at a child’s eye level.  Like so many zoos and aquariums that we have seen there is a very heavy emphasis on education, and this aquarium does an exceptional job throughout.  Their displays almost always includes an ecological or educational component.  Throughout the day they conduct “chats” where a biologist will talk about a particular species.  We saw the river otter chat and the sting ray chat.  The sting ray apparently has a sharp, nail-like barb on the end that it uses as protection.  It is made of the same material as a finger nail.  At the aquarium they remove this barb so that guests will not be injured in the pool.

The Dolphin show features 3 dolphins and their trainers.  Of course they wouldn’t do these tricks in the wild but the training treats really help to shape their behaviour.  They are able to clear the water surface by almost 10 feet.  Wild Flight features a number of raptors in free flight over the audience.  Again they are doing this for the food reward but they are still majestic in flight.  It became very apparent that the trainers and the dolphins have a close relationship

There was a couple of common themes here; neither the dolphins nor the raptors are fish and all the mammals and birds came to the aquarium as a result of rescues and rehabilitations OR were bred in captivity.  None of these animals can ever be released back into their “natural” environment as they just wouldn’t survive.

There is a break-water that leads out into the bay behind the aquarium and near the USS Lexington.  We walked to the end of the break-water where a couple of people where trying to fish, while trying to prevent a pirate pelican from stealing their bait.  I must say that the pelican was not afraid of any of us.