Aquababies Weekend THIS WEEKEND!

Pack a diaper bag and bring your camera...we're showing off our babies! The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher will host an “Aquababies Weekend” November 21-22, 2009 from 9 am to 5 pm each day.

The Aquarium's tremendous success producing baby animals will be highlighted all weekend. Meet our 'youngsters' including: jellyfish, sea turtles, alligators, sea horses, fishes, snakes and more. “This is a unique opportunity for the community to see babies that were either born here at the Aquarium or came to us as babies,” says Hap Fatzinger, aquarium curator.

Baby animals will be on view, as well as stingray, turtle and snake x-rays from pregnant mothers. The Aquarium’s education department will provide activities to help visitors appreciate the animals on display as well as the challenges to on-site propagation. New this year, tanks will be set up featuring juvenile versions of several adult fish that can be found in the Cape Fear Shoals tank, such as juvenile sandbar sharks, tripletail, spadefish, and a goliath grouper.

Proud to be a Puffer

If you have ever been to the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher then you have probably seen two large porcupinefish, commonly known as pufferfish that live in our 235,000 gallon Cape Fear Shoals tank. If you were lucky, you may have even caught them smiling at you. Although much smaller in size, the tiny burrfish, another type of puffer, that live in the Buzzard Bay exhibit could melt the toughest man’s heart. Their ability to speed through the exhibit has always been a crowd pleaser.

Although pufferfish may look cute and cuddly, their public enemy number one is other pufferfish. As adults, they can become territorial in an aquarium and in turn attempt to injure others. At the aquarium, staff works hard to keep them all living together and happy. (Only one pufferfish should call a tank home because an aggressive fight may erupt if a second one moves into the neighborhood.) Another interesting fact about this magnificent species is that they are extremely poisonous (only some species are poisonous, see below from Wikipedia)

Some species are poisonous, having a tetrodotoxin in their internal organs, such as the ovaries and liver. This neurotoxin is at least 1200 times more potent than cyanide, but some scientists believe it is produced by several types of bacteria that are somehow obtained from the fish's diet as fish bred in captivity are not poisonous.

A puffer’s body holds a type of toxin called tetrodotoxin, which if eaten can cause paralysis or death. Yet in Asian cultures puffer fish are eaten as a delicacy on a regular basis.

The most unique quality of a puffer is its ability to swell up when scared or threatened. This adaptation is a magnificent sight to see. So, enjoy viewing puffers from afar, at the NC Aquarium.

Aquababies!

Pack a diaper bag and bring your camera...we're showing off our babies! The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher will host an “Aquababies Weekend” November 22-23, 2008 from 9 am to 5 pm each day.

The Aquarium's tremendous success producing baby animals will be highlighted all weekend.
Meet our 'youngsters' including: jellyfish, sea turtles, alligators, sea horses, fishes, snakes and more. “This is a unique opportunity for the community to see babies that were either born here at the Aquarium or came to us as babies,” says Hap Fatzinger, aquarium curator.

Baby animals will be on view, as well as stingray, turtle and snake x-rays from pregnant mothers. The Aquarium’s education department will provide activities to help visitors appreciate the animals on display as well as the challenges to on-site propagation.