new orleans aquarium

[digitalsteve]

has anyone heard anything about the aquarium in new orleans? without power and such i am wondering how it is doing.

[theop]

Unfortunately, I can't imagine it has fared well by looking at the rest of the city.

[spamin76]

I think the city is probably just as full of aquatic life now from all the flooding

[69vette]

I remember seeing the aquarium in pictures on the news. I'm pretty sure it was destroyed.

[VoidRaven]

The aquarium was right next to the Riverwalk that was built a few years back. Beautiful place....it's where all the cruise ships dock. I never got to go into the aquarium but I did shop in the Riverwalk when I was there on my honeymoon. Odds are that the building and everything inside have been destroyed. Just like the whole scenario, a terrible loss.

[Buckeye ME]

I saw overhead shots of the Gulfport, MS aquarium and it was completely leveled.

[jvetter]

If anyone has any information about the Aquarium of the Americas, please pass it on.

I previously worked on the Husbandry Staff, and I have heard nothing about how my friends there are doing or about the facility.

The aquarium does have a large backup generator as well as emergency plans, but, considering the magnitude of this disaster, I cannot imagine the challenges that they must being facing.

To everyone affected -- you are in our thoughts and prayers.

[chiliaddik]

The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans apparently survived Hurricane Katrina relatively unscathed according to a report in The Baltimore Sun. Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana city Monday.

According to Ron Forman, president of the Audubon Nature Institute that oversees the city's aquarium and zoo, only a few flamingos died and was little other loss of animal life. The Audubon Zoo also fared well in the storm.

Located along the banks of the Mississippi River near the historic French Quarter, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas has some 10,000 animals and is considerd one of the world's foremost aquariums. Officials closed the aquarium early to prepare for Katrina. 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 according to an article in Wednesday's Palladium-Item.

The French Quarter of New Orleans, built on the highest ground in the city, suffered less damage than other neighborhoods. The city's highest point is "Monkey Hill" in the New Orleans zoo.

Widespread power outages have disabled the Audubon Nature Institute and Audubon Aquarium of the Americas web sites.

In neighboring Mississippi, the fate of a group of dolphins moved to Gulfport is unknown. According to The Daily Telegraph, the animals were last seen in a hotel swimming pool, but the storm left the town of 70,000 people under 10 feet (3m) of water. The Gulport aquarium was totally destroyed.

http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0830-n..._aquarium.html

[pclausen]

Is there a chance that any livestock would be able to swim to the ocean and escape death? Guess the same question could be asked of any lfs stores and private tanks. Unfortunately my guess is the answer is no. The salinity must be very low with all that fresh water mixed in, and I'm sure there are lots of oils and what not in the water as well.

(of course the loss of human life is of greater concern, but I also feel bad for all the animals that have died during this tragedy).

[ianmoede]

The pollution levels are pretty phenominal for floods this large. Every chemical imaginable is detectable in the water i would imagine. SPS dont like those too much

[angelfishlover]

New Orleans is not on the coast. It would be at least a 50 mile swim. Yeah with all the what not mixed in the water there is no way the fish would survive.

[Jeffie]

They were talking about it today on the public aquarium forums. Toni Davi a former employee and now curator at Underwater Adventures has been in contact with a few employees from the aquarium. Many aquariest stayed thru the storm with the animals Everything at the aquarium was being run off of gas generators. They had none of the life support systems going so everything was being run off of large air pumps by the generators. All animals are on fast right now because they don't want the water quality to go downhill to fast. Sounded like things were going good as of yesterday.
Now today is a different story- All aquariest were forced to leave the aquarium and the animals left behind for an unknown amount of days. They said that it was not safe for them to stay there. They are the 3rd zone that is going to get electricity back so that will be a huge amount of what will happen with the animals. The staff didn't know when they could return. Could be 2 days, could be 2 weeks, could be 2 months. Sounded like everyone that had rode the storm out with the animals is devistated. What a trajedy!

[jvetter]

Thank you all for sharing information. If anyone knows how to contact any of the staff from there, please pass it on.

Jeffie, can you direct me to the public aquarium forums?