Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
this make life easier—and longer—for the little guys, but it would also
give visitors a close-up view that they would otherwise not have had.
It was at this second meeting that I met the architect, Chuck Davis
of the San Francisco firm Escherick, Homsey, Dodge, and Davis. Work-
ing with the biologists, Chuck had come up with preliminary designs
for the three new exhibits. The Kelp Forest, for example, was a tall,
twenty-eight-foot-deep tank that would be perfect for the giant
kelp—assuming, of course, that we could grow kelp at all, something
that had never been done. I noticed, however, that the orientation
of this exhibit was such that the afternoon sun would shine directly
on the main windows, which would both reduce visibility and
significantly increase diatom and algae growth. Luckily, the design of
the building was still in the concept stage and changes were relatively
easy to make. After calculating the sun angles at di¤erent times of
day and year, Chuck rotated the entire tank so the sunlight would
strike the back wall and not the windows. I was impressed with his
awareness and flexibility. It was a pleasure to work with an architect
who considered the exhibits and the animals of highest importance
and understood that the role of the building was to support and high-
light them in the best way possible.
A DREAM JOB
Over the next few months I made more trips to Monterey to meet with
the group and review the changes and developments in the exhibit pro-
gram and the building design. Although some of the proposed exhibit
ideas were impractical or possibly boring, I began to be intrigued with
the goals of the new aquarium and the potential for creating really in-
teresting displays.
One factor that profoundly a¤ects the richness and diversity of live
exhibits is the threat of a fish disease—specifically, a parasitic ciliated
protozoan called Cryptocaryon irritans, the bane of any aquarium dis-
playing tropical and subtropical fishes. The most e¤ective treatment
has been the daily addition of copper sulfate in precisely measured con-
centrations, which can kill one stage of the protozoan but not the stage
when it's embedded in the skin of the fish. This resistant stage makes
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