What’s That Round Green Building? Animal Husbandry at the Estuarium. Sharyl Crossly, Aquarist

When visitors come to the Estuarium many see only the exhibit area with its impressive array of exhibits, animals, and educational activities. However, as the not-so-old aquarist adage states: Behind every good exhibit area, there is a much more impressive off-exhibit area. Not wanting to break with tradition, let me assure you the Husbandry Building, that mysterious round, green structure right next to the Estuarium, is often quite a busy and fascinating space.   The old radome serves now as the Husbandry Building. The silo-like Husbandry Building, built in the early 1950’s, was originally an Air Force radar tower, hence its current nickname “the radome.” After the Sea Lab took over the property in 1972, the building was used for storage until the mid 1990’s. On October 1, 1994, the Sea Lab completed renovations inside the old radar tower and opened the Education Center. The Center was opened to the general public at no charge, and featured exhibit aquariums as well as hands-on activities for visitors. A staff of one aquarist and one project manager managed the facility. The Education Center represented the second step in a three-step plan for the Sea Lab. The first step was completed in 1993 with the creation of the Living Marsh and Barrier Island Boardwalk, and the third was finished in 1998 with the opening of the Estuarium. With the completion and opening of the Estuarium, the radome was converted to its current incarnation as an off-exhibit Husbandry Building. This behind-the-scenes area serves four very important functions. First, the building is our quarantine facility. Quarantining new animals helps insure the health and longevity of our exhibit animals by reducing the risk of the spread of disease and parasites. Second, it serves as a medical treatment facility. Occasionally, animals may become sick or injured while on exhibit. Having a place to isolate, diagnose, treat, and observe these animals during their recovery is very important. Third, some of the tanks kept in the radome are used for holding surplus animals and animals that are too small or too big for their exhibit tank. Fourth, the building provides a staging area for the aquarists to work on new projects and learn new husbandry techniques. Our recent experiments have included, but are not limited to, building new filtration devices, creating an ephyra (baby jellyfish) display, rearing larval animals (i.e. killifish fry, seahorses, horseshoe crabs), and maintaining a group of sandfleas and coquinas destined for a new exhibit.

Sharyl administers antibacterial cream to the mouth of a diamondback terrapin while fellow aquarist Kyle Weis holds on.