The Scientific Center
Craig was able to interview the staff at the Scientific Center. Here is his report:
The Aquarium and Zoo
The Animals
The Scientific Center is 18880mÓ in total and the facilities include an IMAX theatre, a Discovery place (Childrenās hands on Science Museum)< an Aquarium, a Gift Shop and a number of Restaurants. The Aquarium covers a total area of 2950sqm and is comprised of three main sections: A Desert section (480sqm), a Coastal Edge section (620sqm) and an Aquarium section (1850sqm). The Desert section displays animals native to the Arabian Desert. The Coastal Edge displays birds, swamp animals and marine animals.
The Aquarium has 17 individual aquatic displays including two large tanks. The largest has a total of 1.5million liters of water and the other large tank has 100 000 liters. The larger tank holds 58 different species of fish of which 85% are found in the Arabian Gulf. There are about 250 different species of animals and about 3000 individuals at TSC.
Care and Feeding
With all Aquariums you have to have water and TSC holds a total of 2 million liters. With all this water comes the possibility of diseases, parasites and pollution. The Life Support System ensures that the water is healthy for the fish and thus they are well cared for. They give their animals regular inoculations and use the same medicines that you and I do. Before any fish are put into the tanks they go into quarantine for about 1 month. This is to ensure that the fish is eating well, has no parasites, is not sick and look good enough to put on display.
There are two labs at the Center: a Wet Lab and a Dry Lab. In the wet lab they grow the animals food. The two types of food grown are: Brine Shrimps (sea monkeys) and algae. The algae is fed to the brine shrimp sand the brine shrimps are fed to the Sea Horses and smaller fish. Food for the larger fish is top quality, the same quality that we eat. The food caught for the fish is frozen for at least one week at ö20¼C to kill off any germs and parasites.
