Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
holding tank. They immediately started swimming slowly around the
ten-foot-square tank without touching the walls. They were beautiful
with their extended winglike pectoral fins, reminding me of penguins
swimming underwater.
Almost at the end of our charter, we headed straight for Moss Land-
ing Harbor, radioing ahead to the aquarium to let the husbandry sta¤
know we were coming in with fish. They were waiting on the dock
when we pulled in and tied up.
Draining the stern holding tank down to knee-deep level, John
O'Sullivan and I donned our wet suits and climbed in the tank with the
two fish. Gently guiding one albacore into the plastic stretcher, we lifted
it and the supporting water up to the people on deck. The fish was then
run across the road into the warehouse. The stretcher was lowered into
the water of the holding tank and opened up, and the fish swam out.
That was repeated with the second fish, and the two quickly joined up
to form a tiny school of two. The fish looked great, but we were disap-
pointed that we hadn't been able to find more to make a larger school.
Although the tuna seemed to be swimming well, during the next few
days they showed no interest in eating. We tried several foods we knew
albacore like, but nothing worked. Even delicious-looking live anchovies
were ignored. We kept on trying, but they took no food and after six
weeks they died. Their refusal to feed ba›ed us and we were at a loss
about what to do about albacore in the future.
Our colleagues from Tokyo Sea Life Park visited us, and even though
they hadn't worked with albacore, they said our tank was too shallow
for tuna. During the next months we took their advice and added a
large fiberglass ring to the top of the tank, raising its height from six
to ten feet. We removed the black tape stripes in order to fiberglass the
two sections together, then repainted the inside. The tank, filled with
filtered and heated seawater, was once again ready for occupation. This
time, we hoped things would go better.
John O'Sullivan, our industrious and also party-loving collector, de-
cided we needed to celebrate the hard work the plumber, carpenters,
fiberglassers, and painters of the Facilities Department had done to mod-
ify the tank. Snacks and several cases of beer were bought, and the party
began. After a few beers, it was just a matter of time before the first
Search WWH ::
Custom Search