Merlin takes over Melbourne Aquarium, Underwater World

Johnny said:
Is this separated part of the aquarium the nursery? They had some nice sharks there, I hope merlin is not replacing intersting species in favour of species you can see anywhere. Are the hammerheads and freshwatersharks still there?
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Is the nursery the tank that you see at the bottom of the ramp on your way down the the Oceanarium? Because the renovated part is a section of the Oceanarium to the right as you exit. It's where they do talks for school groups with the tiered seating.
 
There are very good reasons why there are species you can see anywhere. Some species of sharks may be interesting, but don't survive for long in captivity. Hence why Melbourne no longer has hammerheads and Sydney wants hammerheads but is being talked out of doing so. The Glyphis (freshwater sharks) are fantastic, but requires a dedicated large tank for freshwater. Ok when setting up an public aquarium, not so easy when you have an existing one.

Personally I find Merlin's themeing a breath of fresh air. It brings the tanks right out, highlighting their occupants and drawing the eye in to have a look. It's well over due that the drab peeling blue walls and skanky carpet were replaced with something else, and the new zones look good and not too kitsch. The graphics are too small though, which is disappointing. As for the Bay of Rays, it is a step back to a time I thought aquariums had moved on from, and is appalling. A waste of space and opportunity, although the rays themselves are beautiful.The next stage of the themeing starts after the school holidays, with the shark oceanarium due to be opened in September.
 
Now if only 'someone' could tell the difference between a white-spotted guitarfish and a shovelnose ray :) (I know you can, Gryphon).

white-spotted guitarfish I.D. fail

All that's needed to correct this image is an arrow pointing to the dark animal off in the distance, visible below the shovelnose ray, which IS a white-spotted guitarfish.
 
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The first dorsal fin in the guitarfish is over the ventral fins, in the ray it's further back on the tail.

:p

Hix
 
Haha - wrong someone. I've added apostrophes to my original post.

(You're correct, of course. The tail fin in the guitar fish is also less heterocercal and more shark-like than that of the shovelnose ray)
 
Methinks they are lacking in people that know (or perhaps even care) about accuracy. Not how it used to be, that's for sure. They have moved from education to recreation and really only seem to care about pretty, fun, theme-parkesque, fast food exhibits. Sigh...
 
PAT said:
Is the nursery the tank that you see at the bottom of the ramp on your way down the the Oceanarium? Because the renovated part is a section of the Oceanarium to the right as you exit. It's where they do talks for school groups with the tiered seating.
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Do you mean they've separated a part of the large aquarium, or used a part of that 'underwater theatre' to builde a new exhibit? That would not be too bad....
 
Coupled with Sydney Aquarium and Oceanworld Manly, it means that AQWA and Sea World are the only remaining major aquariums here that are not owned by the company, which is better known in the northern hemisphere for its Sea Life chain.
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I realize that the Aquarium at the privately owned National Zoo in Canberra would not be considered as "major", but I wonder if there are any changes in store for it in their expansion plans?
I know they have struggled for years with maintaining the exhibits and building because of poor construction work on the original 80's building and tanks. (The original shark tank with the walk-thru tunnel underneath closed some years back due to leaks caused by concrete cancer)
They have seawater trucked up from the coast every month - as unlike other aquariums they don't have the luxury of being situated next to/near the ocean.

Is a joint venture out of the question?
 
tiger64 said:
I realize that the Aquarium at the privately owned National Zoo in Canberra would not be considered as "major", but I wonder if there are any changes in store for it in their expansion plans?
I know they have struggled for years with maintaining the exhibits and building because of poor construction work on the original 80's building and tanks. (The original shark tank with the walk-thru tunnel underneath closed some years back due to leaks caused by concrete cancer)
They have seawater trucked up from the coast every month - as unlike other aquariums they don't have the luxury of being situated next to/near the ocean.

Is a joint venture out of the question?
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A joint venture for what/with whom?

The aquarium at NZA is a bit of an after-thought (or a fore-thought, to be precise, since it pre-exists all the current zoo exhibits outside. The zoo's expansion plans are focused on a new savannah area, accommodation and possibly orang-utans. The aquarium will remain what it has always been - a few small sharks, some pretty reef fish, Australian natives and pet store freshwater exotics in average tanks. The cost of trucking saltwater (or its alternative, using artificial saltwater) would be prohibitive to Canberra ever setting itself up as a major aquarium.

Oh, and Johnny - the deeper part of the main oceanarium at Melbourne has been separated into a separate exhibit with the shipwreck theming. So sitting in the theatre area looking into the tank through the large flat glass panel, you no longer see the really big sharks and rays.
 
CGSwans said:
Oh, and Johnny - the deeper part of the main oceanarium at Melbourne has been separated into a separate exhibit with the shipwreck theming. So sitting in the theatre area looking into the tank through the large flat glass panel, you no longer see the really big sharks and rays.
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NOOOOOOO! Why did they do such an awful thing?!? That aquarium was just great!:( Why does merlin screw up everything they purchase? How difficult can it be, to add a new attraction that fits with the aquarium, instead of this?:(:(:(
 
I'm not a fan of Merlin but these changes were all done before they bought Melbourne Aquarium. Not to say further changes aren't going to happen though...
 
Gryphon said:
I'm not a fan of Merlin but these changes were all done before they bought Melbourne Aquarium. Not to say further changes aren't going to happen though...
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This is correct. The 'Shipwreck Cove' is the last pre-Merlin development at Melbourne Aquarium. It opened around 13 December 2011, and the sale announcement was made 20 December 2011.

Of course, that doesn't make Johnny's question ("why does Merlin screw up everything they purchase") any less pertinent.
 
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