This week has been abnormally long. I sit here, typing with one eye on the computer screen and one eye focused in on National Geographic’s Shark Men. I started watching this show while living in England and fell in love with these men. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s a documentary/reality show about a crew that tags Great White Sharks using a new method of “beaching.” This is my idea of relaxing…
Today, was an exceptionally long day even though it was one of my half days at the Aquarium. We had 3 large school groups come in with children of various ages as well as the steady stream of the regular visitors. It also happened to be Boy Scout Merit Badge Day – yeehaw.
I started out the morning down in the Caribbean. It’s not a bad place to start the day. My touch tank is right down the hall from the walk-through tunnel where my new best friend – an 8 ½ foot male Sand Tiger Shark – lives. His tank mates include several Brown Sharks, Black Tips, a Bonnethead and a Nurse Shark. They’re magnificent animals to watch and I spend majority of my breaks sitting in the “make out room” (that’s another story for another blog) a.k.a. the Ocean Viewing Room, watching them fly through the water. I can think of worse places to spend your lunch hour, but I digress.
All was quiet in the warm waters and breakfast had just been served. Today’s menu? Fresh shrimp. The Slipper Lobster munched contentedly while the Pencil Sea Urchins waved their blunt edged arms good morning. The Stars were hanging out on the far side of the wall, the side available to the public. Cue the peaceful, tranquil music and all was a typical, if not happy beginning to the day.
It was then that I heard the screams.
A large group of school kids, ranging in ages from 5 to 10, flooded the Caribbean zone. Imagine 125 Darla’s running around and you’ve instantly created a new circle of Dante’s Hell for Aquatic Life. Normally, when people stop by the tank, I give them a little speel on the animals and how to properly handle them. It’s mainly a please be gentle, do not pick anyone up or move anything in the tank. I tweak it pending on the audience and then show them how to touch the animals without hurting them. Afterwards, I take a step back and let them say hello and also answer any questions people may have about them. I truly enjoy this part as I am educating people on something I am very passionate about – Marine Life. Most people thank me when they walk away and some even go as far as to say they’ve learned something new. Those people make my pittance of a paycheck worth six figures.
Cue the slasher music, and enter the unruly school kids. The ones where their teachers – who having dealt with the kids for the entire school year and feel as if the Aquarium is their one day of paid freedom – are no where to be found, and their chaperones, well, they’re probably still on the bus…hiding.
At first, when a group like this came around, I tried my hardest to talk over them, to explain the mysteries of the Caribbean invertebrates.
It took ten minutes for me to lose my voice. I soon discovered the best way to deal with groups like these is to hang on tight, and pray the roller coaster ride is over soon. I try to make sure the kids don’t pick any of the critters up, or move any of the coral and rocks, and that they use one finger to gently stroke the Sea Stars’ leg. I’ve (knock on wood) yet to have any casualties.
As the herd of water buffalo disguised as school children entered the Caribbean Zone, I looked down into my tank and said a silent prayer to Poseidon. A co-worker managed to corral the kids into some form of a line and as the first group came up to the tank, I watched in astonishment and then triumph as a mass exodus of Stars, Urchins, and a Slipper Lobster marched away in protest to their new “friends’” visit. The kids begged to touch and it was all I could do to conceal my smile as I repeated the rules –
“You are more than welcome to touch anything YOU CAN REACH, but please DO NOT pick up anyone or move anything in the tank.”
Without the use of a brain, these Echinoderms managed to outsmart my nation’s future leaders by moving just far enough out of their [the kids'] reach.
I think that makes them pretty smart.
FYI – Echinoderm is the classification for Sea Stars and Sea Urchins. These guys do no have a brain; however, the Spanish Slipper Lobster is not an Echinoderm and it does have a brain. Thought you’d want to know…
