At Monterey Bay Aquarium, the sea animals are doing great but business is tanking 
By Hailey Branson-Potts US Source: Los Angeles Times 9/15/2020

A solitary African penguin waddled through an empty foyer at the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium, peeking curiously under an unoccupied bench.

As a glittery school of silver sardines glided through the 1-million-gallon Open Sea exhibit, soft atmospheric music played to an empty viewing room. No families were there to watch the sharks get fed. The jellyfish shimmered alone in the dark.

Crowds would normally be filling the aquarium corridors in these waning days of summer. But the aquarium on Cannery Row has been closed to the public for five months now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inside, it is quiet.

 

As he examined a sedated sea otter pup rescued from the kelp beds off Santa Cruz, Dr. Michael Murray, the aquarium’s director of veterinary services, wondered aloud if the animals notice how much things have changed.

“Part of me says, ‘Oh, they don’t really care,’” he said. “The other part says, ‘These are not dumb animals. They’re very aware of their surroundings. They can see people through the acrylic. They can react to people. So why wouldn’t they notice?’”

Life above the water has been fraught.

The aquarium missed its entire summer tourism season, and its finances are in such dire straits that more than a third of its staff has been laid off or furloughed.

“The visitors are gone. The revenue is gone,” said Julie Packard, the aquarium’s executive director. “Meantime, the animals and exhibits are doing great.”

Outside, three wildfires in Monterey County caused at least one staff member to lose a home and others to evacuate. Animals sensitive to smoke and ash falling from the orange-tinged sky had to be pulled indoors.

The sea otters are susceptible to the coronavirus, forcing staffers to wear masks and gloves around them — and to try to maintain a good distance from the social mammals, who now perk up when they see the few humans there are walking past their exhibit.

 
Continue...

News Id SourceStampcountry
3451Ученые обнаружили самый северный остров планетыinterfax2021-08-28NL
3452Thrive Red tide by the numbers: 3.65 million pounds of dead fish, $2.1 million in expenditures so farstpetecatalyst2021-08-11US
3453What makes fish fins so strong yet flexible?techexplorist2021-08-12CO
3454Rare whalefish seen in the Monterey Bay by MBARI's deep sea roverksbw2021-08-17US
3455Is a catfish farm abusing its fish? An animal rights group says yesnbcnews2021-08-15CA
3456Amateur fisher claims trawler rammed their boat near fish farm but operator gives conflicting versionmaltatoday2021-08-03MT
3457Giant lake trout caught, then released, in northwestern Ontario lakeCBC News2017-03-02CA
3458Freaky fish-prawn hybrid found in 'secret-spot' on Australian coastnzherald2017-03-06NZ
3459Round goby fish thrive in Hamilton Harbour's contaminationCBC News2017-03-05CA
3460Angler shocked after filleting a cod and discovering it has BLUE fleshdailymail2017-03-07UK
3461Sir Richard Branson, Guy Harvey take in grouper spawning off Little Caymancaymancompass2017-03-14KY
3462Killing Goldfish In Tehran: Persian New Year Revives Fish Furorrferl2017-03-19IR
3463The Ingenious Ancient Technology Concealed in the Shallowshakaimagazine2021-08-03US
346419-year-old rookie fisherman catches record-breaking king salmonwfla2021-08-08US
3465Canada-U.S. study: Grass carp invade three of the Great Lakesdigitaljournal2017-01-28CA
3466Watch this invisible robot grab a fish out of the bluetheverge2017-02-01US
3467The Mystery of the 19th-Century Maine Marine Monsterhakaimagazine2017-02-06US
3468High levels of element found in coal ash detected in N.C. fish, researchers saywbtv2017-02-07US
3469Tasmanian salmon farms ‘relocated’ 700 fish-crazy sealstheaustralian2017-02-15AU
3470Mysterious oarfish sightings stoke earthquake fears in the PhilippinesRT2017-02-19PH
3471Не только стерлядь, но и щуку дети увидят только в сказкеaif2021-08-25RU
3472Giant sea bass are thriving in Mexican waters – scientific research that found them to be critically endangeredtheconversation2021-08-04US
3473What would you need to give up to save salmon in WA?crosscut2021-08-05US
3474Wicked Tuna! Massachusetts teens catch 455 pounder: ‘My first time going out there’mercury news2021-08-06US
3475River monsters: NC fishermen catch giant catfishes to break state recordswfmynews22021-08-06US

214 215 216 138 of [217 - pages.]