The open ocean - A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer - page 263

the intellect and the emotions—is key to an exhibit's success. The emo-
tional response we look for in designing an exhibit is usually pleasure,
but the right brain can also be strongly stimulated by something gross
or shocking. This could well explain the popularity in zoos of venomous
snake exhibits, which touch on our basic emotion of fear. The left-brain
orientation of an exhibit, in contrast, provides visitors with facts and
information and appeals to their desire to learn. In the case of jellies,
I knew that the beauty and grace of these gently pulsing animals would
produce a strong emotional response in visitors, and their fascinating
life cycles and anatomy would satisfy visitors' intellectual needs.
The marketing department wasn't at all thrilled about the idea. It's
one thing to promote an exhibit like “Sharks,” where all you have to
do is mention the word “shark” and people will come, but the word
“jellyfish” simply didn't have the same appeal. If it did anything at all,
it conjured up a negative impression of something that stings or a
disgusting-looking blob on the beach. It certainly didn't sound like
something you'd drive a hundred miles to see.
Nevertheless, the aquarium decided to go with jellies as the next spe-
cial exhibit, realizing it would be a challenge for the marketing sta¤.
We aquarists knew that once visitors saw the animals, they would be
enthralled; it was getting them to come that would be the challenge.
The title “Planet of the Jellies” was chosen; it played on the idea that
jellies are like alien creatures, but at the same time it hinted at their
true origin: our planet, the Water Planet. The story line was that of a
voyage, with oversized guidebooks explaining the strange inhabitants
visitors encountered as they made their journey through the exhibit.
And the exhibit designers had a field day with the theme, creating flow-
ing, curved walls that ran throughout the exhibit, giant jelly models
that hung from above, and specially composed music, which added to
the ethereal feeling of the space.
In the two years prior to the opening of the exhibit we worked with
several species of tropical jellies. The upside-down jelly ( Cassiopea xa-
machana ), with a symbiotic alga living within its tissues, spends most
of its time lying upside down on the bottom, photosynthesizing in the
sunlight. A graceful Japanese species, Tima formosa, was given to us by
the Enoshima Aquarium in Japan. The white-and-lemon-yellow, polka-