Aquarium Life
Sunday, September 17, 2006
A death In The Family
Friday was a fairly interesting day. We had a bit of a late night on Thursday so all of us were feeling a bit fragile. I only had one feed on Friday ... one that I had not done before ... the ray feed. Now how it ususally works is that one person does the ray talk while another person does the ray feed. I had put some fish flakes on the slipway for the Mullet ... we do this so that they don't keep following us around and eating the ray food. So in the middle of the talk and the feed I just hear a huge splash ... but it was behind the pilar on the slipway and I thought nothing about it ... the rays tend to go onto the slipway then splash when they try to turn around.
I was still busy with the feed when Sabrina finished the talk and walked over to me ... she goes dont worry I already told the aquarists about the mullet ... I had no clue so I asked her what mullet ... and she pointed out one drifting on the surface ... it had literally been decapitated ... Sabrina didn't see it either she just heard it ... so best we can figure is that one of the bigger rays came onto the slipway and was trying to turn around (usually done by flapping and whipping their tails) and one of the smaller mullet must have been after the food and got away. I never realized their tails where so powerful.
I had a later shift at the ray pool ... and I realized that some parents get really carried away when I reach the ray pool ... I had a father dangling ... yes dangling his year old daughter by her feet over a ray that had come onto the slipway ... I had to tell him to please not do that ... not only might she fall on her head but the ray was trying to turn around ... one had just decapitated on of our mullet and he's dangling her over a swinging tail.
I have now officialy become the mommy of the rays. A second boy asked his mom if I was a mommy of the rays. It is true though I have been working there for about a month now and the have become like my children I can even pick out some individual ones now.
The rest of the day was pretty straight forward, I didn't get to feed cheeky our puffer fish but I did go say hi at one stage. John from photography has been taking the nicest photo's of them and making them into magnets and key rings. So Elizabeth got me the nicest key ring of cheeky
as a present. Will try to get some photo's to put on Smile and Wave.
I was sitting at the craft table with Liz of Friday when she told me to look at one of the rays in our Atlantic tank. I looked up and I saw her actually lay an egg it was so kewl ... I had seen the eggs inthe ray pool but it was the first time I had actaully seen one lay an egg ... So in a matter of speaking in one day I had seen both a death and a birth in the family.
More Aquarium life next week ;o)
Later
P
I was still busy with the feed when Sabrina finished the talk and walked over to me ... she goes dont worry I already told the aquarists about the mullet ... I had no clue so I asked her what mullet ... and she pointed out one drifting on the surface ... it had literally been decapitated ... Sabrina didn't see it either she just heard it ... so best we can figure is that one of the bigger rays came onto the slipway and was trying to turn around (usually done by flapping and whipping their tails) and one of the smaller mullet must have been after the food and got away. I never realized their tails where so powerful.
I had a later shift at the ray pool ... and I realized that some parents get really carried away when I reach the ray pool ... I had a father dangling ... yes dangling his year old daughter by her feet over a ray that had come onto the slipway ... I had to tell him to please not do that ... not only might she fall on her head but the ray was trying to turn around ... one had just decapitated on of our mullet and he's dangling her over a swinging tail.
I have now officialy become the mommy of the rays. A second boy asked his mom if I was a mommy of the rays. It is true though I have been working there for about a month now and the have become like my children I can even pick out some individual ones now.
The rest of the day was pretty straight forward, I didn't get to feed cheeky our puffer fish but I did go say hi at one stage. John from photography has been taking the nicest photo's of them and making them into magnets and key rings. So Elizabeth got me the nicest key ring of cheeky
as a present. Will try to get some photo's to put on Smile and Wave.
I was sitting at the craft table with Liz of Friday when she told me to look at one of the rays in our Atlantic tank. I looked up and I saw her actually lay an egg it was so kewl ... I had seen the eggs inthe ray pool but it was the first time I had actaully seen one lay an egg ... So in a matter of speaking in one day I had seen both a death and a birth in the family.
More Aquarium life next week ;o)
Later
P
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