October 13, 2022

Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory Grounds and Aquarium

October 13, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

Continuing from yesterday’s post about our visit to Belle Island, Detroit, Michigan….

The conservatory has a koi pond that had some large specimens that seemed particularly dense near the waterfall. I liked the turtle fountain…reminded me of similar ones at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. I wondered what happened to the koi pond during the winter. Detroit must get very cold.

The structure of the conservatory has some high portions and there are some plants that have grown very tall…filling the spaces.

The grounds are grassy areas with some flower beds that were beginning to fade. I took a few macro images

There was a black squirrel that zipped across the very wet grass (we dodged the soggiest areas). There were black squirrels in London, Ontario too – more than the gray/brown ones.

The grounds also included a Japanese lantern and tower.

We went into the Aquarium. It reminded me of the

Washington DC aquarium that was in the Department of Commerce building; it closed in 2013 but I remembered touring it when I was pregnant with my daughter back in 1989…and becoming very queasy from the fish smell. The aquarium in Washington DC was completed in 1932. The one on Belle Island has been operational since 1904! They used the lull during the pandemic for renovation…it seemed to be in great shape (and no fishy smells). The lighting was such that it was easier to get reasonably good pictures through the glass! I particularly enjoyed the puffer fish, brittle stars, sea horses, and anemones.

Overall – our visit to Belle Island took about 2 hours. We headed back into Detroit to find a restaurant before we continued our journey to London, Ontario.

August 21, 2021

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 21, 2021

August 21, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Nine things you should know about sea horses – The males give birth! Like many creatures right now – they are in trouble from climate change (and overfishing in some parts of the world). Not long ago – I learned that there is a species of seahorse native to the Chesapeake Bay. They live in sea grasses and estuaries…habitats that are in trouble.

Electric cars and batteries: how will the world produce enough? – One of the important steps that needs to ramp up as batteries (and solar cells) reach end of life – is recycling. We need to think about closed loops for the resources required to manufacture future renewables!

New analysis of landmark scurvy study leads to update on vitamin C needs – An example of the research behind how those ‘daily requirements’ of vitamins and minerals were developed. I wonder if more of the values need to go through a validation…how many would change just as the vitamin C requirement did.

Top 10 Grassland Species Across the Globe – The ones we have in the US are Long-billed Curlew, Black-footed Ferret, Pronghorn, Swift Fox, and American Bison.

The multi-billion dollar giants that are melting away – Glaciers. When they are gone…many parts of the world will be drier places. This article is primarily about central Asia…but the situation in South America is similar.

Loss of biodiversity in streams threatens vital biological process – Fungi and bacteria can’t do the decomposition job alone…the aquatic insects (often larvae) and crustaceans are needed too. And the populations and diversity of those organisms in our streams is declining.

Top 25 birds of the week: plumage! – Bird photographs…always colorful and interesting.

Gender revolutions in who holds the purse strings – The study was done in Britain…I wonder if similar (or different) changes are happening elsewhere in the world.

‘Polluter pays’ policy could speed up emission reductions and removal of atmospheric CO2 – A change that could speed up the transition we need to make…if we can somehow overcome the lobbying for the status quo trajectory.

Photography In The National Parks: Fun Fact Photography – This is a kind of photography you can do in lots of places. A little curiosity and a camera…some web searches…a neat cycle of learning/art that can turn again and again.

April 08, 2018

Fishmobile

April 08, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

The Fishmobile is a bus fitted with aquarium tanks for live exhibits of animals from the Chesapeake Bay and bookcases/walls of related materials. It’s a field trip that comes to the school! Groups of 10-12 students take about 15 minutes in the bus to see everything…spending another 15 minutes outside getting more details about horseshoe crabs. There were 4 classes of 4th graders that came through in 2 hours!

I managed to take pictures of some of the animals in the Fishmobile before the students arrived. There were small horseshoe crabs – the smallest being a little larger than a quarter. They were active all over the bottom of their tank.

The oyster toadfish was not happy after the first few groups and retreated to the back of the tank. I was glad I got a picture of him.

The lined seahorse was one that was harder to photograph. It was a good discussion starter since the seahorse depends on the grasses in the bay and is becoming more numerous now that they are recovering. I was impressed that the 4th graders were aware of the grasses even if they didn’t know about the seahorses.

The only animal in the Fishmobile that the students could touch was the diamondback terrapin. They were told to use 2 fingers gently on his back…because he can bite! He evidently is very accustomed to handling…and he has a name: Larry. There was a baby diamondback terrapin (hatched last fall) in a neighboring tank that didn’t move around very much.

There was also a small box turtle and a mystery box with a box turtle shell. We prompted the students that tried the mystery box to feel whether the shell was flat or domed…and then to look at all the turtles on display to identify what kind of shell was in the mystery box.

The fish that had a name linked to history was the hogchoker. It is a flounder like fish that lives in the grassy areas of the bay. When the colonists collected the grasses to fee to their pigs, sometimes this fish was harvested with the grasses….and choked the pig that tired to eat it. That’s how it got its name.

The bookcases had jaws from a modern shark…and a fossil tooth, a dolphin skull, and the molt of a horseshoe crab. There was a wall of various kinds of trash with estimates of how long it took to degrade. Plastic water bottles and fishing line take 100s of years!