Sydney Aquarium Dugongs at Sydney Aquarium?

[juma]

Oh, I love that comment ....



Hix

And why do you love that comment?

I was suggesting that with the sterile enviroment of the pools that we saw, perhaps it would be nice if there was more movement in the water, fish, kelp, etc.

At least it would look a bit more natural and seems to work for alot of other places.

Anyway....this thread is getting off track again

 

[Chlidonias]

you do know that seals and penguins eat fish right?

 

[boushh_rat]

Hard to know whether Sea World would continue with the dugong rescues. Given the problems with rehabilitating and returning the male, they perhaps need a better plan regarding techniques, length of stay in captivity, etc. It seems other countries such as the Philippines may have some success with rehabilitating animals.

Dugongs are not easy to keep in captivity due to their diet and eating habits. Manatees are surface feeders, whilst dugongs are benthic. As has been pinted out here, there are other places that keep them, and successfully - Singapore, Indonesia, Japan. Whether they make a good exhibited animal is questionable.

I agree Juma that the time of sterile pools painted aqua with nothing but the animal to see are long gone. Great hopes were had for GSO, but in reality it is a throwback to the pools of the 60's and 70's (only they were painted green). There are so many great marine mammal exhibits now. What message are we telling the public?

Looking at the Sydney Aquarium exhibit proposal it seems promising. Fingers crossed it turns out well for the animals and educates the public about these intriguing animals.

 

[boushh_rat]

you do know that seals and penguins eat fish right?

They can be successfully exhibited togther. To keep the thread on track, Sydney Aquarium has exhibited fish with their penguins and seals for years. Putting penguins and seals together may be somewhat more problematic!

 

[juma]

you do know that seals and penguins eat fish right?

Of course I know that seals and penguins eat fish but I thought most zoos were trying to display animals in more naturalistc environments and mixed with species that would normally be seen together. Many zoos successfully keep seals with fish or penguins with fish. It is not difficult and provides a far better experience for the visitors, especially when your penguins are not in the water and there is nothing else to see.

As for penguins and seals together, well that is also possible. Singapore Zoo were housing Manatee, Californian Sealions and Penguins in the same exhibit. I dont think the conditions were ideal for each species but it can be done.

 

[Hix]

Well, I think it's a fairly safe bet Taronga won't be mixing their Leopard Seals and their penguins together.



Hix

 

[torie]

back to the dugongs, heard an ad on the radio this morning with tim baley the weather dude saying he had just seen a mermaid in the harbour, he then 'interveiws' a tourist who says he say a shimmering tail swim towards darling harbour. tim then tells ever one to get to darling harbour to check out the mermaid. while the ad doesnt mention the aquarium or dugongs i would say that it is fairly safe to say that it will turn into an ad for the dugongs

 

[tetrapod]

Of course I know that seals and penguins eat fish but I thought most zoos were trying to display animals in more naturalistc environments and mixed with species that would normally be seen together. Many zoos successfully keep seals with fish or penguins with fish. It is not difficult and provides a far better experience for the visitors, especially when your penguins are not in the water and there is nothing else to see.

As for penguins and seals together, well that is also possible. Singapore Zoo were housing Manatee, Californian Sealions and Penguins in the same exhibit. I dont think the conditions were ideal for each species but it can be done.

I would disagree that many zoos keep penguins or seals with fish successfully. The fish may be in the exhibit as a temporary source of enrichment for the warm-blooded species. Water conditions are rarely chemically accurate for keeping fish, compared to the more robust penguins and seals. Not to mention anything about the stress imposed on the fish being chased and tormented.

The Singapore situation is not one to be copied (freshwater, for a start), and we are talking about a penguin substantially bigger than the snack-sized fairies/little blue. I'm all for good naturalistic mixed exhibits, but you are advocating the equivalent of a grain/mouse/cat exhibit. I'm not sure your idea to mix fish/penguin/seal would achieve much but a blood-bath.

 

[boushh_rat]

Tetrapod,

Whilst I agree that the Singapore situation is perhaps an example of how NOT to do something, there are other examples of fish with seals and penguins that work well and create a great display.

You don't need to keep seals, dolphins and penguins in chemically-treated water if your facility is seaside. Good husbandry and thinking outside the square can get you far.

Sydney Aquarium keeps Little Penguins with bream, trevally, Port Jackson sharks, Fiddler rays and large sand whiting with little stress evident to either the fish or the birds. The pool also has aquatic vegetation such as kelp, invertebrates like snails and anenomes, and a dump bucket for a tidal surge, creating a dynamic and naturalistic display.

Taking size and species into consideration for a mixed species display is crucial. The above exhibit has fish that are too large to be food for the penguins, along with large social groups of both, which are well fed. The same appears to have been true for the seal exhibit at the Aquarium. Hula fish are too small and uninteresting for the seals, there are plenty of nooks and crannies for the schools of sweep etc to mooch around, and the seals had other stimulation. No doubt like for your normal oceanarium with sharks and fish there are some prey item casualities, but basic management of the display and trialling different species can and does work. Blood baths are in no one's best interests, and need not be the outcome for these display inhabitants.

 

[Django]

I'm not sure your idea to mix fish/penguin/seal would achieve much but a blood-bath.

After Melbourne Zoo built their seal exhibit in the '70's (that is the one that is currently being replaced) they did try to mix fur seals and fairy penguins. I can remember seeing some penguins shivering on a ledge above the seals, and they didn't stay in the exhibit for very long.

I say "built" in that the basic exhibit was built on a former "monkey island", a rather barren concrete structure, which at various times also housed beavers, if my memory serves me right. The exhibit as rebuilt of course had two parts, the smaller enclosure also housed (at various times) a large (Indian?) otter species, and harbour seals.

 

[zooworker]

Taronga has always been interested in breeding leopard seals. Certainly nothing new there. Zoo Worker wrote : "at taronga we keep the pair of leopard seals without any plans for breeding them." I don't see an abundantly clear message that Taronga plans on breeding, however what keepers want and what management/marketing want are often two separate things. Given their generally poor prospects in captivity (you could perhaps exclude Napier and Coffs Harbour), one hopes they don't breed.

Ok i'm going to clear this up once and for all, Taronga has no plans (management and keepers) to breed Leopard seals. It would be to much of a drain on facilities and money and not worth the work, the animals are there only as they are rescue cases, they aren't there because the zoo planned on capturing leopard seals or displaying them, they are there due to the fact that they were incredibly ill and so we will help them. That is very different from planning what will be a unsuccessful and very short term breeding program.

Whether GSO is a "premier seal facility" is a matter of opinion (and often poorly-hidden bias). The fact that leopard seals are kept at this so-called premier facility and not in their range state says...??? Leopard seals are vagrants to NSW, as are dugongs. With global warming upon us, dugongs may no doubt extend their natural range further south.

The leopard seals are in NSW as that is where they washed up and lowering amount of transport is better for the animals, also name one place in the lower states with the facilities

 

[boushh_rat]

So the leopard seals really are on contraceptives at Taronga?

"they aren't there because the zoo planned on capturing leopard seals or displaying them"

Oh. So what does the 2008 ASMP say about 'unplanned' leopard seals at Taronga?

"That is very different from planning what will be a unsuccessful and very short term breeding program."

It's great to hear that Taronga has changed its views on this.

"The leopard seals are in NSW as that is where they washed up and lowering amount of transport is better for the animals, also name one place in the lower states with the facilities"

So the fact institutions in the southern states may not have the facilities for leopard seals means Taronga should keep these animals? Taronga has the facilities for Sub-antarctic fur seals but does not keep them. They are not on their want list. The history of captive leopard seals may suggest that they should not be kept in captivity at all, especially at Taronga!

Glyn originally wrote:
"educational impact of dugong display. ok, well considering that the major threats to dugongs directly are boat injuries and sea-grass die-off; both of which are direct human impacts i feel if seaworld was interested in the conservation-education of this species and having maximum impact than they would be better off keeping them in their range state."

Hence my response. As threats to leopard seals include climate change, habitat degradation and competition for food, the same point Glyn raised for dugongs could be raised for leopard seals. Please take quotes in the context they were written.

 

[tetrapod]

I'm not familiar with the new facilities at Taronga, but have seen the leopard seals in the past. Does anybody know what the contingencies are if they end up with several more rescued individuals? From the previous discussions it sounds like some of the old sea pools are still standing. Given that these are pretty standard fare, then are the facilities to keep leopard seals much different from other pinniped enclosures (obviously allowing for the fact that they don't 'walk' like eared seals)?

I also remember seeing a ex-stranded leopard seal at the old Atlantis theme park, north of Perth (first time I ever laid eyes on the species; early 80s, I believe). I seem to recall he/she died before the closure of the park, but the exhibit was nothing unusual. Large pool, mild slope.

Interestingly from little snippits that I have read recently, it could be that leopard seals naturally range into southern Australian (& NZ) waters, rather than be considered vagrants. Likewise elephant seals once lived in Bass Strait.

 

[kiang]

It looks as though the dugongs have now arrived.

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Dugongs to go on show at aquarium

 

[Coquinguy]

yeh check out the mermaid link on the aquariums home page. and whilst ur doing that taronga has updated its only just updated site too

 

[ZooPro]

Yep, they've settled in well, and look great cruising around the exhibit. Shame the mermaid wasn't a permanent feature!

 

[zooworker]

I'm not familiar with the new facilities at Taronga, but have seen the leopard seals in the past. Does anybody know what the contingencies are if they end up with several more rescued individuals? From the previous discussions it sounds like some of the old sea pools are still standing. Given that these are pretty standard fare, then are the facilities to keep leopard seals much different from other pinniped enclosures (obviously allowing for the fact that they don't 'walk' like eared seals)?

Our new leopard seal facility is designed to house up to 4 leopard seals in the facility by using holding pools and so on, we also have the ability to use holding facilits behind seal theatre as well as if need be VQC. The old standing pools are in not way fit to house animals anymore as after no work since april the quality has dropped of the concrete.

 

[boushh_rat]

I would not be so confident as to say the dugongs have "settled in well". It appears there have been some hiccups along the way, although both animals appear to be in good health and utilizing the greater expanse of their new home. No doubt Hannah the professional mermaid would be glad she is not a permanent fixture with Pig.

With regards to leopard seal pools - good haulout space, shade and preferrably water that is chilled. The latter is something institutions just can't seem to commit to, to the ultimate detriment of the animals. Having said that, Coffs Harbour kept one particular individual for many years, although she was totally bald.

 

[ZooPro]

I would not be so confident as to say the dugongs have "settled in well". It appears there have been some hiccups along the way, although both animals appear to be in good health and utilizing the greater expanse of their new home. No doubt Hannah the professional mermaid would be glad she is not a permanent fixture with Pig.

I was just trying to promote the move in a positive way - if you want to enlighten the forum members on why they haven't settled in well feel free....

 

[boushh_rat]

Do you think writing that both animals being in good health and utilizing their exhibit is not positive? All things considered the move did appear to go well, particularly the transporation by road. From what I understand there have been some aggression issues with other tank occupants (now no longer in the tank), displaced aggression onto the female, and the moving of one into the pool was not exactly smooth. Consistent eating and behaviour would be good indicators IMHO of the animals settling in well.

There is nothing to say this is negative, unless you want to interpret it that way. Considering the scale of the exercise, Sea World and Sydney Aquarium deserve credit for what they have achieved. Learning from the positive and negative aspects is surely what good zoo keeping (and hopefully this forum) is all about.