Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Arriving in San Francisco, we were dismayed to find that housing
prices in the city were much higher than the $85 a month we had been
paying in Redondo Beach for a small house one block from the beach.
We rented a flat on a typical steep San Francisco hill and settled in.
Steinhart Aquarium is part of the California Academy of Sciences,
founded in 1853. Originally located in downtown San Francisco, the
Academy together with much of its collection was lost in the earth-
quake and fires of 1906. It was rebuilt in Golden Gate Park, with famed
ichthyologist Dr. Barton Warren Evermann as its president. The Acad-
emy has had a special interest in both the scientific study and display
of fishes ever since. In 1916 Ignatz Steinhart, a wealthy banker and phil-
anthropist, endowed $250,000 for the construction of a major aquar-
ium in San Francisco, stipulating that it be located in Golden Gate
Park and be operated by the Academy. World War I delayed the con-
struction of the aquarium, but it finally opened in 1923 with an esti-
mated record twenty-five thousand visitors the first day.
When I arrived at the Steinhart, the original concrete tanks were be-
ing demolished and replaced with new tanks reinforced with corrosion-
resistant Monel bars, and newly developed PVC plastic pipe was being
installed in place of the old piping. A marine mammal tank was being
added for dolphins and seals in addition to three new sections for small
exhibit tanks.
I worked under Earl Herald and curator Bob Dempster. As assistant
curator, my primary responsibility was the health and welfare of the
animals. This became quite tricky during the reconstruction because
most of the aquarium's fish, reptiles, and amphibians still needed to be
cared for even while their tanks were being demolished and rebuilt.
Local fishes that would be relatively easy to collect again were released
back where they had come from; this created space to hold others while
their new homes were being built. It was a major fish juggling act as
fish were moved from gallery to gallery in advance of the construction
crew.
The eight alligators, each six to eight feet long, were temporarily
housed in a well-fenced swimming pool at a pool supply company across
the Golden Gate Bridge. This involved making trips three times a week
Search WWH ::
Custom Search