Renovation Impressions
So I visited yesterday, first day of school holidays so place was packed, but I had booked tickets (for the wrong day accidentally, but that didn't tun out to be a problem at all) and breezed straight in. The map has now been updated in the universal Sea Life style (you all know what I mean
) but this is an improvement over the previous schematic.
The entry area, just past where tickets are bought, has been emptied of the cluttered Antarctica displays that were there, and provides a much better entrywaye, which starts with the replica of Scott's Hut (which has completely escaped renovation). Notable features here were a photo of a Leopard Seal from an early expedition and a King Penguin Skeleton.
From here, you pass the obligatory photo opportunity, and then enter the penguin area, via the "white out", a boardwalk through a revolving 'ice' tunnel, which the SnowCat ride used to pass through. Steps lead down to the underwater viewing of the penguins in their 350,000 litre pool. All the Gentoo Penguins were swimming when we were there, and looked great. The walls behind have lots of great displays, which show the various sizes of different penguins, among other things. Back up on the main level, the path lead around the enclosure, and large windows gave views of the King Penguins. Unfortunately, the windows were covered in condensation, and you had to wipe the glass to get a glimpse, which was far from ideal. Overall, however, the viewing of the penguins was greatly enhanced. I could see no evidence of an increase in enclosure size though.
Leaving the penguins, Scott Base is next, and replaces the orca and seal models. This was an interactive area, and was where most of the Antarctica displays had been moved too. Included here was a tank of water at -10C that you could plunge your hand into. There was also some electronic signage and games here, and there is now electronic signage throughout most of the aquarium, which clearly has its advantages and disadvantages.
Next up was the NIWA Southern Oceans Discovery, a new area which includes a number of interesting exhibits. The first was the Giant Squid, encased in a large tank, which could be viewed from the front and back, although it was very hard to see clearly and something needs to be done about that too. A small display case nearby showed a piece of Colossal Squid tentacle very clearly. Wall displays illustrated giant squid and right whales, while magnified glass tanks showed crabs and sea anemones. The last exhibit here was two tanks, holding Jellyfish.
This opened up into a large room, where the cafe and kids' playground were located, and featured views of the sea. Also here were the touchpools and Stingray Bay. These exhibits, like all others previously seen, were themed in a very mature and natural way which focused on the animals. Wooden benches to watch the rays from featured built-in electronic touch-screen signage providing info on the species present.
We then followed a ramp down past Stingray Bay, past a pile of shark models, and a small theatre with a shark doco playing, and entered the Shark Tank. A small tank on the left upon entry held only a pair of shark jaws. The travelator then carried us through the underwater tunnel, past a series of Pacifica statues and a sunken waka, and we saw a decent number of sharks (including the Wobbegong). More fish in here would improve it.
The travelator then carried us into the next area - "Shipwreck Discovery", which is the main oceanarium, and again is viewed through an underwater tunnel. The first part held a small Hawksbill Turtle (only 2-3 years old) and a variety of small fish. The main part is probably a little larger than the shark tank, and had plenty of different fish, including Snapper, and another young turtle, this one a Green Sea Turtle. The end part was darkened and held some more fish. This part of the aquarium was littered with wooden crates, barrels, anchors and cannons, which didn't really add to or detract from the tank at all. Because the travelator does a loop, we then had to ride through the shark tank again to get to the next area.
A set of steps lead up to the "Fish Gallery", which had a number of freshwater and marine tanks for various interesting fish and invertebrates. This area is poorly laid out, and would benefit from a renovation, as it has not changed significantly. Coolest thing here was glass snail shells in the Hermit Crab tank, which were not in use, but had they been would have given an interesting glimpse of what a hermit crab actually looks like. The only negative thing here was the Lego models dumped in a tropical fish tank. Otherwise, a series of very nice exhibits, which need to be arranged in some suitable order.
A completely new room opens off the Fish Gallery, and houses the "Seahorse Kingdom" with heavy jungle ruin theming. Despite this, the four species are displayed extremely well, and the area works brilliantly. I was most impressed. Notable here were the first Spiny Sea Dragons ever born in an aquarium.
Heading back through the Fish Gallery, we walked through the (huge) gift shop, fought off the photo salespeople, and headed up and out of the aquarium. Interestingly, the exit ramp had featured displays on the history of Kelly Tarlton's, but these have all been removed now.
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Heading into the Sea Life version of Kelly Tarlton's, I was expecting a tacky and disappointing attraction, which dumbed down the animals and featured plenty of lame theming. I was extremely impressed, however, and overall found that the exhibits were better than on my last visit almost two years ago. The visitors areas were much less cluttered and featured much more educational signage. The new theming was generally muted and suitable, there was no brightly coloured fairy lights and fake palm trees here, nor cartoon characters living in the tanks (as is the case at Sydney Aquarium and other Sea Life aquariums).
The main issues now are the condensation on the penguin exhibit windows, which is really bad; the low visibility of the giant squid; and the cluttered Fish Gallery. I hope they build a larger building that replaces the current exit, and move the gift shop up here, and can then spread the Fish Gallery exhibits out in here.
Chlidonias visited a week or so earlier, and noted a number of other issues. Fortunately, the octopus tank has been restored to its former state, with sea weed and rocks replacing bows, arrows and boxing gloves. I am not a fish person at all (which is why I just say fish are in the tanks, and not what species), so I have no idea what condition the fish were in. Chlidonias saw several sick individuals, but I cannot say if this has changed since.
