2-23-13 - The Sydney Aquarium

1st stop Sydney Sea Life Aquarium, Darling Harbour!

Some facts about the aquarium:

o   It houses over 12,000 animals from 650 species, including sharks, dugongs, turtles, stingrays, penguins, platypuses, and tropical fish
o   I walked underwater through over 100 metres of glass viewing tunnels and saw a ton of Australia's marine life! 
o   I came within inches of huge sharks, rays and turtles and saw some of the remarkable marine and freshwater animals that Australia is famous for, such as the platypus, barramundi and Little Penguins.
o   I was taken on a journey through Australia's wide and varied aquatic habitats, from the southern river systems that make up the Murray Darling Basin to the colossal Great Barrier Reef in the north.
o   I saw two dugongs, a manatee like animal.  The one played with a big plastic basket.  I asked the keeper why a basket and she replied, "It is a bright colour and he liked it.  We used to keep his toys in it, but he liked the basket."  While I was there, he swam with it on his head, I think he is a special dugong :) as he ran into the glass.  He reminded me of the little curly headed kid in the movie "Parenthood" that had the bucket on his head and kept running into the wall.

-        The attractions included:

o   Streams and Billabongs

• Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the planet and freshwater systems support a huge array of animals. 
• Between Queensland and South Australia there are 23 major rivers and over a million square kilometres of freshwater floodplain (in fact there is enough water in Australia's rivers to fill the Mississippi!) 
• After flooding, these rivers can leave thousands of isolated waterholes. Each waterhole, stream and river becomes a unique and rich aquatic habitat, filled with crustaceans, fish, turtles and hundreds of bird species. 
• Within Australian rivers and lakes, there are approximately 250 species of freshwater fish found nowhere else in the world. Freshwater fish are the most endangered group of animals on the whole planet, with a third of known species facing extinction.  
• Over a third of the world's riverine habitats are under moderate to high threat. Habitat destruction is the biggest threat to freshwater systems however, pollution and introduced species also play a role in the recent decline.

o   Sydney Harbour

• Is a haven for wildlife and is home to many different species. 
• Also known as Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour contains over 500 gigalitres of water within its 317km of coastline. This provides for protected rocky reefs, seagrass beds and large intertidal areas that are an important breeding ground for fish, invertebrates and plankton. With over 600 species of fish inhabiting its depths, the harbour is a vital link in the ecology of the coastline. 
• Many of the fishes are so spectacularly coloured, they can easily be mistaken for tropical reef species and in-fact, because of the strong east Australian current which runs down along the coast from the north, Sydney Harbour is also home to many stray visitors that get swept down, usually as eggs or tiny babies, from the tropics. These eggs and young fish arrive in early summer and settle here while the water is still warm, so that by autumn a variety of tropical fish normally associated with the Great Barrier Reef can be seen in Sydney Harbour.

o   Rocky Shores

• The area around a large body of water, such as a lake, sea or ocean is described as the shoreline. 
• The animals that live here have to be adaptable to their surroundings as they often have to deal with wide ranges of physical and environmental factors.  These include wave action, tides, temperature changes and salinity changes in the water. 
• Where the surging waves meet unyielding rock you will find a unique group of animals and plants able to withstand this harsh environment. With the rise of the tide comes a flood of nutrients and oxygenated water. It also brings with it predators, hungry for the opportunity to pick off the herbivores and filter feeders that have come to life. 
• Some of the amazing animals that call this habitat home, including the fascinating Flashlight Fish, Wobbegongs, Moon Jellyfish and unusual-looking (to say the least!) Estuarine Stonefish. 

o   Bay of Rays

• The Tropical Bay of Rays area houses the most colourful combination of Australian rays - many threatened or endangered - ever displayed together. 
• There are more than 600 species of rays worldwide. Rays have adapted to survive in open oceans, shallow reefs, deep continental shelves, estuaries and freshwater environments. 
• Similar to sharks, rays have skeletons made out of cartilage; they are identified by a flattened body with gills found on the underside of their 'disc' (body) and vary significantly in size - some rays, like the Manta Ray, can grow to 7m and weigh over 1300kg! 
•  The electric blue spots of the Fantail Rays and the Blue-spotted Maskray, and with other species including the spectacular White-spotted Guitarfish.

o   Mangrove Swamps

• The Mangrove Swamps replicates the dark, atmospheric feel of the of the mangrove swamps of Australia's tropical north, home to frogs, lizards, crustaceans and a vast variety of fish.
•  This environment is subject to tropical wet and dry seasons, providing a regularly changing habitat for a unique and diverse group of animals. 
• From November to April, the flat coastal plains are flooded by monsoon rains, but for the rest of the year very little rain falls, and the upper reaches of some rivers run completely dry. During the wet season the swollen rivers are almost entirely fresh water, but as flood waters recede in the dry season, salt water travels upstream as far as 100 kilometres from the coast. 
• Most fish and other animals living in this environment are well adapted to the fluctuating salinity. A particularly good example of such a salt adapted animal on display in the aquarium is the Barramundi, a large fish highly prized for both food and sport. 
• Some northern species are less salt water tolerant and so take sanctuary in fresh water found in the far upper reaches of larger, permanent rivers. The lungfish and saratoga are two such species. 
• What these fish also have in common is that their nearest ancestors are found in South America and Africa, indicating that the ancestors of these fish have been around since Australia was part of the giant supercontinent called Gondwana, around 140 million years ago.

o   South Coast Shipwreck

• The inhabitants of the deep and shallows, including Pineapple Fish, Octopus and Little Penguins! 
• Australia's oceans are rich with marine wildlife, including those found in Australia's coastal waters like the elegant Weedy Sea Dragons and the odd-looking Pineapple Fish. Not only do Pineapple Fish look vaguely like a heavily armoured pineapple, they also have a small light on their lower jaw for communicating with other Pineapple Fish and for finding prey in the dark. 
• Pillage the depths of the sea to discover the ferocious-looking, but shy Green Moray eels - which despite their snake-like appearance, are indeed fish - peering out from inside their crevices. Or discover the Common Octopus - which with its distinctive bulbous head, huge eyes and incredible ability to hide in plain sight, is considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates. The tropical fish and amazing coral through slatted timber portholes, whilst looking out to shore and watching the playful behaviour of Sydney Aquarium's colony of Little Penguins.

o   SAWS and CLAWS

• Featured the Smalltooth Sawfish and HUGE Japanese Spider Crabs!  The Smalltooth Sawfish measures between 1.6 and 3 metres in length (the species can actually grow up to a staggering 7.6 metres!).These evolutionary marvels have adapted to live in both salt and fresh water, while their long saw-like rostrum (nose) has evolved to expertly forage for food under the sandy, silty ocean floor. 
• Japanese Spider Crabs - the world's largest species of crab - which, when fully grown, can reach a claw-to-claw legspan of almost 4 metres! In the wild these giants of the deep are found at depths of up to 800 metres, and although they look fierce and intimidating due to their sheer size, they have a surprisingly gentle temperament.

o   Dugong Island

• There are two dugongs - Pig (male) and Wuru (female). Both of dugongs were orphaned in the wild and could not be re-released following their rescue. 
• They are the only dugongs on display in Australia! They are two of only six - and the only pair - on display anywhere in the world. 
• Pig - Affectionately named after his eating habits, Pig is now 14 years old and was rescued from Forrest Beach in North Queensland when he became separated from his mother at a very early age. After a period of rehabilitation, Pig was released into the wild. However when he was found washed up again a decision was made not to release him again for fears he wouldn't survive. 
• Wuru, is 8 years old, and was also orphaned early. And although she's much younger than Pig, at over 400kg she's actually twice his size - as is the norm for female dugongs. 
• Dugong Island had a viewing platform and underwater viewing tunnel so I could see them from above sea level and come face-to-face with them below the surface.

o   Shark Walk and Shark Valley

• I walked over some of the world's biggest sharks including Lemon and Grey Nurse Sharks, before I journeyed deep under the sea and exploring the depths of Shark Valley. 
• Amongst the jagged rocks, the remains of a giant whale skeleton lies on the seabed as the glancing eyes of the world's most graceful predator, the shark, stared back at me! 

o   Great Barrier Reef

• The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living system on earth, covering 2000km from north to south. So large that it can even be seen from space.
• Running down much of the coastline of northeastern Australia, this World Heritage site is the world's largest structure built by living organisms and is one of the few such structures visible from space.   
• The incredible diversity of life is unmatched elsewhere, with only rainforests coming close. This biodiversity includes over 350 species of coral, 2,000 species of fishes and over 4,000 species of molluscs. 
• Colour plays an important role with many of the animals found on the Great Barrier Reef. Like birds in a rainforest, the multitudes of fish use colours and patterns to recognise members of their own species and to convey important information such as sex and status within the school. The diverse colours of corals are provided by the different species of algae, which live within their tissues, converting sunlight into food for the coral. 
• This profusion of colour can be seen in the Great Barrier Reef exhibit, which displays an extensive range of fish species as well as a number of different soft and hard corals. 
• Situated off the coast of Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef is home to approximately: 
• 1,500 fish species 
• 400 coral species 
• 4,000 molluscs species 
• 500 seaweed species 
• 215 bird species 
• 16 sea snake species 

• At around 2 million litres, the exhibit is the world's largest: 
•  clown anemone fish dart amongst the waving tentacles of an anemone 
• sea stars and sea cucumbers silently creeping amongst the coral 
• wildly coloured triggerfish and vibrantly coloured tangs and angelfish zipping around then suddenly stopping in their tracks to be attended to by a tiny cleaner wrasse 
• deceptively beautiful lionfish hovering menacingly over coral formations in search of their next meal
•   brilliantly patterned lobsters waving their long antennae about and sleek tropical sharks seeming to move in time with the music.