______________ AQUARIUM AQUARIUM ______________    HOME HOME    ONE  ONE    TWO  TWO    THREE  THREE    FOUR  FOUR       RETURN  TO ECUMENE.ORG Posted 29 April 2000  Last revised 3 July 2006  All images copyright © 2000 Ingrid H. Shafer  Electronic edition  copyright © 2000 Ingrid H. Shafer

The Aquarium of the Americas New Orleans   Take a walk with me through a magical world from the Carribean reef to the Amazon rain forest  and Gulf of Mexico. In addition to my grandsons, Victor, Louis, Aidan, and Oliver, I now dedicate this website to the memory of the thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina who died in their tanks after the life support system failed.  The Aquarium loses almost all fish (September 9, 2005) According to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), the aquarium lost virtually all of its 10,000 fish. Electricity has since been restored at the facility. Friday, the aquarium staff worked to transport animals to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and facilities in Monterey, California, and Dallas, Texas. The animals were expected to arrive at their new homes late Friday evening. The aquarium's colony of 19 penguins and a couple of California sea otters will be taken to Monterey Bay Aquarium, while the rare leafy and weedy seadragons from Australia will be taken to Dallas World Aquarium. The aquarium's large white alligator, macaws, raptors, electric eel, and eight large tarpons -- the only fish survivors -- will stay at the Audubon Zoo, which survived the storm with little loss of animal life. Five of the aquarium's rehab sea turtles were released into the Gulf of Mexico earlier in the week with the assistance of the Louisiana National Guard. Before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, officials closed the aquarium early. When the storm hit the aquarium lost power but relied on generator for keeping critical equipment operational. The aquarium also had plenty of food and freshwater, but within days of Katrina's passing the back up power supply failed, killing the facility's life support systems. Thousands of fish died due to lack of oxygen and irregular temperatures (higher temperature, less oxygen is dissolved in water and more aeration is required). The staff did its best to save as many animals as possible but the conditions of New Orleans made the final result inevitable.       I dedicate this site to my grandsons, Victor, Louis, and Aidan (this is my original dedication; by now there is another grandson, Oliver.)