The Aquarium - General Discussion

[RealityCheck]

THE AQUARIUM premieres Sunday, May 19th at 8PM ET / PT.
 

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THE AQUARIUM focuses on the care given to thousands of aquatic animals, the bond between animals and the staff and the stories about the animals who call the 10 million gallons of water at the aquarium home, including rescued Southern sea otters, endangered African penguins, rescued California sea lions, whale sharks, and manta rays.

The series also documents Georgia Aquarium’s ongoing efforts to protect aquatic species in nature as they travel to their own backyard and across the world to countries and territories such as South Africa and St. Helena, a remote volcanic island in the South Atlantic.

Georgia Aquarium and its dedicated teams are at the forefront of the science and conservation efforts for aquatic animals around the world.

[RealityCheck]

ALL-NEW SERIES "THE AQUARIUM" TAKES AUDIENCES BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE GEORGIA AQUARIUM BEGINNING MAY 19
 

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In the premiere episode, a group of Georgia Aquarium staffers travel to Cape Town, South Africa to help rehabilitate African penguins and assist in the release of a group of penguins back into the wild.

Other animal stories this season include:

- Pinkie, a geriatric thirteen year old Asian small-clawed otter with a reoccurring nosebleed,
- A very curious rescued green sea turtle named Tank who investigates an upgrade to his habitat,
- Three Harbor seals - Rose, Floyd, and Cerberus - who prepare to relocate to a temporary home within the Aquarium,
- A charming mismatched duo - Toby, the harbor seal and Hunter, the rescued California sea lion - who recently became roommates, and
- stories of the various fish residents such as jellies, piranhas and archerfish, known for their trait of shooting water from their mouths to knock prey insects into the water.

[suomi]

I smile every time I see the promo and hear Beyond The Sea:

"He's a sweet boy."

"You're my favorite!"

"Slimy is the new fuzzy."

[walnutqueen]

I want to feed, or even try to corral, a passel of hungry baby penguins!  Too effing cute.

[2727]

Run for the hills! The penguins have toppled their cardboard fortress and are swarming!

The poor keeper was hot and sweaty after having to identify four of them. "I used to hate birds!" Cute, indeed.

A zookeeper was on a podcast I listen to and the hosts were wondering why on earth animals in a zoo would need to be trained. To do what? 

Watch the zoo shows, folks. They're fun, cute and informative!

[walnutqueen]

19 hours ago, 2727 said:

Run for the hills! The penguins have toppled their cardboard fortress and are swarming!

The poor keeper was hot and sweaty after having to identify four of them. "I used to hate birds!" Cute, indeed.

A zookeeper was on a podcast I listen to and the hosts were wondering why on earth animals in a zoo would need to be trained. To do what? 

Watch the zoo shows, folks. They're fun, cute and informative!

Also, they sometimes need to be treated, and I have seen a lot of "training" directed at behaviors that will benefit their health and life on other zoo, vet and animal rescue shows.

In my own rather limited experience, I have found that even fish can benefit from trusting their keepers, and I hope to see more of this on the show.

[walnutqueen]

Another great episode.  I learned a lot about jellyfish.  That botox treatment for the shark's spinal curvature was amazing, as was the endoscopy on the Beluga.  And how stinkin' cute was Scarlett, the sea lion who heels better than most dogs? 

[hilaryvm]

I'm a bit sad there isn't more action on this forum.  I love this show.

I'm glad they were able to take the rescued baby sea otters but I wondered about the boy - he was separated in a storm from his mom and the water was too rough to get him back to her.  I wondered why they couldn't just wait until the storm was over?

It's also nice to see people who have such affection for the non- "cute and fluffy" variety of animals.  

[raven]

On 7/8/2019 at 6:33 PM, hilaryvm said:

I wondered why they couldn't just wait until the storm was over?

Maybe the mom left?  They said they kept putting him back in the water and he was so little he got stuck in the waves, so I suppose mom couldn't get to him either.  He was too cute and it was so sweet to the see the babies today, after losing Oz previously, which made me cry.  My elderly dog was having seizures months ago and I had to make the same decision to do the humane thing.   It still hurts though.

I've only seen otters in the water so it was fun to see them, kind of seal-like, out of the water.

I really like this show too and enjoy how attached the keepers are.   I'm always impressed by the ingenuity of everyone with training, testing, getting weights, etc.

[walnutqueen]

I am so sorry for your loss, @raven.  Those decisions are so difficult to make, even when we know they are absolutely the right thing to do.  

I feel so much empathy for these keepers, and the heartaches they must endure.  It is the price we pay for loving and outliving our animals.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I loved watching the penguin runs.   

[walnutqueen]

35 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I loved watching the penguin runs.   

The only thing cuter than watching a penguin run is watching a baby penguin get tickled ...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wTWWjYTe1I

Sorry, I just never tire of this old video - it always makes me smile

Edited July 11, 2019 by walnutqueen

[2727]

I just love seeing all the training, care, and play that goes on behind the scenes on these shows!

Getting the manta ray weighed took hours and hours of training and at least 10 people on the day. It's crazy!

[walnutqueen]

34 minutes ago, 2727 said:

I just love seeing all the training, care, and play that goes on behind the scenes on these shows!

Getting the manta ray weighed took hours and hours of training and at least 10 people on the day. It's crazy!

The endless patience it must take to train, let's say, a ray or a fish or a myriad of wild animals one would think are "untrainable"  ...  It is truly amazing to watch.

[RealityCheck]

Animal Planet Greenlights Second Season Of THE AQUARIUM

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this series so this is good news.

[ryanbest]

Hi everyone! For 20 years I had 6 generations of American Stafford. It all started with Luna. My wife gave it to me at my 36th anniversary and since then her descendants were part of our family. Three months ago, died our last Stafford from that family - Cooper. The thing is that none of the last three generations lived a long life. They died at 4, 5, 6 years. Now we decided to get an aquarium since my wife is sick and most of the time she's in bed. We bought a 250l tank and put it in the bedroom. We have a beautiful piece from the heaven in the house. My wife is happy and so am I. The dogs were too noisy for her. An aquarium is easy to maintain, the most time-consuming being to clean the tank once in 2 or 3 weeks. The only problem that I had with it were some worms ( like I have known from the ARCREEF they are the bobbit ones), that were killing the fish. I miss the walks with the dogs, so I hope my wife will recover, and we'll get another one.

[walnutqueen]

15 hours ago, ryanbest said:

Hi everyone! For 20 years I had 6 generations of American Stafford. It all started with Luna. My wife gave it to me at my 36th anniversary and since then her descendants were part of our family. Three months ago, died our last Stafford from that family - Cooper. The thing is that none of the last three generations lived a long life. They died at 4, 5, 6 years. Now we decided to get an aquarium since my wife is sick and most of the time she's in bed. We bought a 250l tank and put it in the bedroom. We have a beautiful piece from the heaven in the house. My wife is happy and so am I. The dogs were too noisy for her. An aquarium is easy to maintain, the most time-consuming being to clean the tank once in 2 or 3 weeks. The only problem that I had with it were some worms ( like I have known from the ARCREEF they are the bobbit ones), that were killing the fish. I miss the walks with the dogs, so I hope my wife will recover, and we'll get another one.

I am so sorry for your loss, @ryanbest.  I do hope your wife's health improves, and that you will once again be able to walk with a dog and enjoy the delights of your aquarium.

[ryanbest]

Man, it goes without saying, that they look very nice and can decorate any aquarium, so make it better, then it has been. But, frankly speaking, there is one thing, that don't give me to put them into my fish tank - they are useless. I used to use only useful thing in my fish tank (One ship doesn't count. Moreover, my girlfriend has made it), so my fish tank is full by live rocks, rather than this useless corals, because of the benefit, that they do. I am talking about that fact, that they play role of the natural filter, so the water cleans faster and the pro cent of oxygen is higher, then it has been without them. Of course, it is your business what to put in your aquarium, but if you decide to fill it with live rocks, you should visit site for getting additional information about them.

[RealityCheck]

Season 2 Of THE AQUARIUM Premieres Sunday February 9th At 8PM
 

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This season follows the stories of a sneaky moray eel moving from one habitat to another, a giant sea turtle named Tank who needs to learn healthier eating habits, and the adventures of baby fantail rays Bacon and Tomato, as they adjust to life in the massive Ocean Voyager exhibit. Viewers also catch up with rescued baby sea otter Gibson, as he learns to become a more independent pup.

And this season, the adventures continue off the coast of Florida, as camera crews follow Georgia Aquarium biologists under the nighttime waves, to film a rare and wondrous event few have ever witnessed: the spawning of critically endangered corals.

 

 

[RoxiP]

On ‎5‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 11:54 AM, walnutqueen said:

Also, they sometimes need to be treated, and I have seen a lot of "training" directed at behaviors that will benefit their health and life on other zoo, vet and animal rescue shows.

In my own rather limited experience, I have found that even fish can benefit from trusting their keepers, and I hope to see more of this on the show.

I have this dumb goldfish at my house (we got him when my daughter was in 5th grade and she is now a college senior) who comes to the side of the tank when I walk into the room and taps on the glass until I feed him.  I think he's trained me!

[RoxiP]

Those Beluga whales are so darned cute!

[hilaryvm]

I cannot describe how cute I found the whole issue of Hank the turtle eating the food of the broadcast feeders.  It seemed just like a problem we had with our dogs (one would try and eat the other's food).  I am always impressed by the things trainers come up with to teach an animal a certain behavior.  Who would have thought a platform made of car wash strips would work?

[RoxiP]

Hank was definitely not a rule follower!

I am constantly amazed (and I know we've all said it before) how patient the trainers are, and how inventive they are in coming up with solutions that work for training animals that seem untrainable!

[Atlanta]

RIP sweet Zola.

[Gramto6]

This is the second TV show I have seen that has referenced the pandemic. While Whsper the beluga whale was giving birth they said it was during the pandemic and everyone was wearing face masks. 

The other was Bindi Irwin's wedding that was totally scaled down and done with no guests and just her family. Because they were under lockdown.

These are real life/reality shows, I wonder how regular/scripted TV is going to deal with this whole nightmare?

ETA A couple of Food Network shows have also done self filmed at home shows...forgot about them/

Edited May 31, 2020 by Gramto6
Remembered FN shows.

[RoxiP]

I watched the little beluga being born two different times (I napped through part of the show the first time - just woke up in time to see the whale swimming around with the little flukes sticking out!).  I wonder if the intervention was really necessary but sure did love seeing the little (girl?) sliding out and swimming around with Whisper.

[RoxiP]

Slightly off topic, but the Dallas Morning News reported today that the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park is closing after 84 years.  I spent many childhood trips wandering around that aquarium - now they are looking for homes for their 4,000 inhabitants.  Such sad news.

[Cetacean]

I can imagine that zoos probably operate on the edge all of the time. I'm sure the pandemic pushed a lot of them over. Hopefully other collections can take their animals but I'm sure a lot of them are in the same state.

[RoxiP]

I'm ready for them to resume this show...hope they will!

[Sarah 103]

On 6/16/2021 at 4:08 PM, RoxiP said:

I'm ready for them to resume this show...hope they will!

I just hope it stays on the cable channel and isn't moved to the streaming channel Discovery+.