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The National Aquarium in Baltimore
By Kelly Meinhart
 altimore, Maryland
is well known to tourists for a variety of reasons. If you've ever
visited this enchanting city for a taste of fresh seafood, a trip
to the Hard Rock Café, for a sporting adventure to Camden
Yards and the ESPN Zone, or just for a shopping spree in the very
'hip' Fells Point, than you may already know about the true jewel
of this port city.
he National Aquarium in Baltimore has become a premiere attraction
for visitors of all ages who are intrigued by marine life and the
vast ecosystem of our oceans. The aquarium is dedicated to education,
conservation, and the preservation of the environment. And they
carry out this mission by providing visitors with a close-up look
at some of the most dynamic sea creatures you can imagine. Have
you ever really had a look at a seahorse? Well you can at the National
Aquarium. The newest exhibit, Seahorses Beyond Imagination is home
to more than eighteen different species of these amazing creatures,
which are actually fish, not little serpents or mermaids as legend
tells us. The tour of this exhibit unveils some amazing things about
seahorses, like the fact that it's the male who becomes pregnant,
not the female. The exhibit, like most in the aquarium, is a self-guided
tour, so you can learn at your own pace. By using dramatic video,
interactive displays and hi-tech graphics to assist you in your
tour, the Aquarium not only introduces you to these special little
creatures, but also inspires and intrigues you to want to learn
even more.
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he entire facility
has that effect, and the displays are geared toward the self-guided
educational tour. The building itself offers five very distinct
levels, each with an important ecological theme. Upon entering the
building you can visit the Ray exhibit. My friend Randy and I spent
what seemed like an hour just leaning over the rails to take a look
at six different species of stingrays, along with small nurse, sandbar
and bonnethead sharks. If you're feeling stressed, take time to
visit this exhibit. Simply watching the natural rhythms of the rays
and the sharks as they glide, seemingly without exerting any effort,
was enough to put my own biorhythms back into a peacefully calm
state. While we were there, several volunteers entered the 265,000-gallon
pool to feed them. Volunteers, you say? Yes. Volunteers are essential
to the operations at the aquarium. Over 600 volunteers greet the
more than 1.5 million yearly visitors to share their enthusiasm
and knowledge about the conservation and ecological benefits of
our oceans, and the wonderful creatures who call these waters home.
The
second level introduces visitors to the water cycle, and Maryland's
role in the ecology of the Atlantic Ocean. This gallery, named Maryland:
Mountains to the sea, traces the water cycle from a freshwater
pond in the mountains of western Maryland through the Tidal Marsh,
into the Coastal Beach and out into the deeper waters of the ocean.
Level three, Surviving Through Adaptation, focuses on how
organisms learn to adapt to changes in their environment by altering
their feeding habits, using camouflage, or hiding on the ocean floor.
Here you will find unique creatures such as the giant Pacific octopus,
the Electric eel, Sea urchins along with anemones.
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raveling
still upward, we reach level four, The Amazon River Forest. Did
you know that the Amazon River basin is approximately the size of
the United States, or that it is more than 4,292 miles long - the
distance from our own New York to Berlin? Or that it carries the
greatest volume of ANY river in the world with a network of 500
tributaries and sub-streams? Along with these amazing facts about
the river itself, by visiting the exhibit you will be able to visit
with over 50 species of fish, dwarf caimans, piranhas, giant river
turtles, pygmy marmosets, and of course, the world's largest snake,
the anaconda, found in the Amazon. One last tidbit and then we'll
move on to the final level. Did you know that more species of fish
live in a single tributary of the Amazon than in ALL of the rivers
of North America combined? Take a minute to think that over.
 oving on. We venture
to the final destination of the self-guided tour, the Tropical Rain
Forest. This is a great way to introduce people, young and old,
to the uniqueness of this type of ecosystem. Observation decks and
pathways allow visitors to traverse through the humid exhibit to
catch a glimpse of brightly colored birds, turtles, lizards, even
two-toed tree sloths!
 hat is perhaps the
most exciting feature, at least for myself, was simply the dolphin
show. While I am not normally a fan of staged events starring animals
- I will say that this program gave me hope that through education
we may be able to lessen human impacts on our environment, and bring
about a higher appreciation for not only our natural world, but
also for all species living in it. The program, called: Coastal
Connections: Dolphins at Our Shore, is a high-energy, interactive
program which brings several Atlantic bottlenose dolphins right
to the 'splash-zone' of the audience, and is not only entertaining,
but very educational. The program opens up with a video presentation
bringing to the forefront that over 60 million Americans
live within 50 miles of the Atlantic Coast. Putting them in close,
often too close, contact with dolphins and other marine mammals.
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hen it comes to
educating the public and environmental awareness, the Aquarium doesn't
just stop at the doors to their facility. Oh no, they go beyond
that call to help protect and preserve. For instance, each year
they participate in Project Puffin - a program of the National Audubon
Society - to reestablish puffin colonies off the coast of Maine.
They also visit the Delaware Bay yearly to collect and tag sharks
as part of the National Marine Fisheries Service's Cooperative Shark
Tagging Program. Not to mention they actually rehabilitate marine
mammals and sea turtles right there at their facility. Through the
Marine Animal Rescue Program (MARP), the National Aquarium rescues
and rehabilitates animals, provides educational programs to the
public, and fosters the development of scientific knowledge about
our marine mammals and turtles.
 ne of things stressed
by the MARP program is that much of our waste, especially plastics
such as grocery bags and helium balloons end up in our oceans. If
you visit the Aquarium website, you can read about Inky, a young
pygmy sperm whale who was rescued. Inky was found in the Atlantic
and seemed to be suffering from malnourishment. After careful examination,
it was determined that all three of Inky's stomachs were clogged
with shredded plastics, trash bags, balloons, and other man-made
materials. Inky recovered from the ordeal, but only after a 6-hour
surgery and thousands of dollars of rehabilitation costs. Not to
mention thousands of volunteer hours, including those of the surgeon
who rescued her. The point? Everything we do and touch in our lives
has an impact on something else. That bag, plastic 6-pack ring,
or fishing line that we think will just 'go somewhere else' does
go somewhere else. And the results are often tragic to the wildlife
that comes into contact with our leftovers.
 am grateful to
the individuals who make a difference in our world by being 'keepers'
of species who would otherwise fall victim to our neglect. By visiting
the National Aquarium in Baltimore we not only support and encourage
educational programs about marine life and the mysterious waters
they call home, but we are also being part of a positive change.
If you've never been, take a road trip to Baltimore; you'll be delightfully
surprised.
Resources:
National Aquarium
at Baltimore
Marine
Mammal Stranding Center
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See past topics of Between Cattails here!
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