NY Aquarium at Coney Island.

[ShaunW]

Visited the Coney Island aquarium today, and was so disappointed!

All the "reef" tanks looked so depressing! All marine tanks were algae filled and nutrient overloaded. While one year ago they were average, this year's visit for me would rate the exibits at terrible. Completely not what they should be! With all their resources I would have expected so much better.

 

[grknyer]

I was there last year myself. It stinks. Lets hope the 49 million upgrade goes to good use. The way it is now I can honestly say every MR member has a better set up. If you can believe it the Staten Island zoo has a aquarium section that is even worse. You should have driven out to Riverhead to the Atlantis.

 

[chazertis]

thats terrible to hear. i was going to go in a few weeks. ya got any pics?

 

[ShaunW]

thats terrible to hear. i was going to go in a few weeks. ya got any pics?

It's disgusting, not worth tanking a pic of.

 

[DevIouS]

Wow.....

 

[ShaunW]

The only good pic today at Coney Island were at the Women's beach volley ball finals!! , the reason I was at Coney Island in the first place.

 

[ellebelle]

With all their resources I would have expected so much better.

Some of my friends and colleagues do work with the WCS at the Bronx Zoo and the Central Park Zoo and they will be the first to say that the NY Aquarium does not have a lot of resources, especially when compared to their sister organizations. They're sort of the "bastard child" of the WCS in NYC - especially because they aren't really a research facility.

It's too bad, really. I was there in June and I thought that the reef tanks in particular were in a very sad state. In one of the tanks, a lot of the fish were really beat up - lots of torn tails and fins.

 

[ShaunW]

Maybe then they shouldn't charge to enter, since you certainly don't get what you pay for. But I hold them to a standard that is well and above that which they must hold to themselves!

And to speak frankly, in order to bring their tanks back to health would require a little TLC and effort on the part of those who claim to keep the public's faith alive in ecology and marine welfare. NOT much money but just to prune and rid the aptasia, the overgrown algae in all tanks, and the overgrowth of ricordia in the 1st "reef" tank, etc............................! I could go on and on with criticism from one end of the place to the other!

 

[twinreef]

I was planning on going there this week. I gues not.

 

[ellebelle]

I agree whole-heartedly with the criticism - ESPECIALLY since the aquarium is supposed to be educating the general public with a particular emphasis on children. The exhibitions as they stand aren't really a good educational tool and I don't think inspire people to really CARE about conservation (supposedly one of the major goals of the WCS). Tropical reef fish are great flagship animals to get people interested in ocean life and conservation, but the way that it is presented at the aquarium fails to really capture the imagination.

Eric once tried to volunteer for them as a diver, and they told him that he'd have to use his own equipment (exposing it to the wear and tear of continuous dives) AND that he would have to buy his own uniform to wear when he was at the aquarium and not diving.

 

[ShaunW]

The children present with me certainly got an education when they were witness to the dead fish being passed around from live fish to live fish like pass the parcel! BUT I guess the poor live fish needed a meal in their neglected habitat.

 

[Davidl919]

I went about 2 years ago and back then the tanks looked ok but my visit before that it was horrible. I guess they go through phases but unless they upgrade I won't go back it's not worth the trip or the money. I'm going to Atlantis to see how their tanks compare to Seaworld Orlando. Seaworld was great.

 

[thirty5]

I went last year and i was also disappointed. But we did eat at the ORIGINAL NATHANS! Yum

My next trip is to Mystic, but for me that is 2 1/2 hr drive and with 2 little ones might be a long trip.

Haven't been to Camden Aquarium yet, heard it is very nice. But Camden is NOT the place that you really want to visit. My advice if you go there, disregard all red lights. War zone there. It was voted like one of the 5 worst cities in the COUNTRY!

 

[Pseudo]

The Brooklyn Aquarium IS a research facility. I dont know why the tanks are so fugly, but that might be because they hire kids to do alot of the work, the staff is overworked and undermanned and overall they dont give a crap. That is why Joe from Atlantis left.

Kasei

 

[prattreef]

This is sad to hear. I thought the aquarium had made some improvements in the past few years, but you are not the first to report the recent appalling state of the marine systems. In general, public aquariums don't do complex reef systems well-- Atlantis being a glorious local exception---as they are expensive and labor intensive and resources are usually thinner than you would imagine. Interestingly, the few that do it well are the ones that incorporate hobbyist techniques that are often eschewed by "professionals".
Still, there is no excuse for truly bad husbandry as you describe and the curators should be held accountable.

Perhaps MR can offer to form a team to adopt the reef exhibits and round them into shape.?

 

[crox99]

I was planning on going there this week. I gues not.

Save yourself a trip. I was there a month ago and I was sooooo disppointed that I left after 1 hour. I believe even the seal's show when down. Another reason i will not renew my membership with them.

 

[Awibrandy]

This is sad to hear. I thought the aquarium had made some improvements in the past few years, but you are not the first to report the recent appalling state of the marine systems. In general, public aquariums don't do complex reef systems well-- Atlantis being a glorious local exception---as they are expensive and labor intensive and resources are usually thinner than you would imagine. Interestingly, the few that do it well are the ones that incorporate hobbyist techniques that are often eschewed by "professionals".
Still, there is no excuse for truly bad husbandry as you describe and the curators should be held accountable.

Perhaps MR can offer to form a team to adopt the reef exhibits and round them into shape.?

Well said Randy!!!!!!!

 

[ellebelle]

TIn general, public aquariums don't do complex reef systems well-- Atlantis being a glorious local exception---as they are expensive and labor intensive and resources are usually thinner than you would imagine.

Agreed. The reef exhibits at the aquarium in Cape Town, SA were okay, but could have been better considering that there were very few corals in them. The reef exhibits at the Atlanta aquarium are really nice, though if I remember correctly there were many corals in that system either. The only aquarium where I have seen reef systems done really beautifully is at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. They've got SPS in their tanks and it looks GOOD (I've got pics I'll post). Those guys have a really, really nice system - and, of course, money coming out of their ears because of all of their research programs.

Kasei, I suppose the NY Aquarium does have a small research facility, but it is not a large research institution (in size or in scope) like the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the Bronx Zoo. Thus it does not pull in the big $$$ like these other institutions to help with maintenance, new animals, new programs and new exhibits. Not so long ago, the NY Aquarium was going to close because of lack of money and lack of public interest - I remember signing a petition at the Central Park Zoo to keep it open. Though I also agree that there are easy, low-cost things that the caretakers of those tanks could do to improve the conditions in the tanks for the animals.

 

[ellebelle]

Monterey:

Cape Town:

This was about the extent of the "reef" tanks - FOWLR. There were some other tanks with the typical fish found in the reefs off of the eastern coast of Africa, but it was too dark to get a reasonable photo of them.

Sadly, I don't have any photos of the George Aquarium in Atlanta. Can you believe .... I didn't have my camera with me. :bigeyes2:

 

[digitalreefer]

The aquarium can't afford the staff to do much of anything. They're very understaffed and have about 1/3 of the volunteer divers they need, so I can only imagine what the rest of the staff looks like. I did look into the dive program there and they treat their divers horribly, which is why I opted not to do it. I was told that I had to use all of my own gear for diving, buy my own uniforms, and in addition, I may not be diving every week, but would be "fired" if I couldn't come in on my scheduled day.

The requirements for the dive program are 25+ dives, first aid / cpr certification, your own gear and passing their test. You must commit to at least one or more days a week and since everyone wants weekends, you generally must choose a weekday.

The way I see it, if you're asking a highly skilled diver to volunteer, you need to make some concessions. I could have lived with almost everything, but if I do it, it's in order to dive. I couldn't get over being told that I may be cleaning seal pens and not diving. Any unskilled worker can do that.