Seahorse Genetics Project
The VLM is part of the lined seahorse SSP (Species Survival Plan), as part of the goal to “cooperatively manage specific, and typically threatened or endangered, species populations” by breeding seahorses at our facility and sharing/exchanging surplus with other institutions involved in the SSP. A major part of any SSP is research and the sharing of information regarding the […]
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
On the morning of May 1, 2015, animal keeper/trainer Carrie Bridgman found a lethargic and seemingly dazed ruby throated hummingbird inside the River Otter exhibit. She brought the beautiful little creature inside our husbandry building to allow the otters into the exhibit without them having contact with it. It was immediately sheltered in a bucket […]
Our new “Oyster Reef Ecosystem” exhibit: striped burrfish, blennies, skilletfish, spider crabs, etc.
Oyster reefs are one of the most productive habitats in the Chesapeake Bay; hundreds of species of aquatic plants and animals grow on and among their shells. The oysters themselves improve water quality and clarity by filtering sediment and plankton out of the water. The natural accumulations of live oysters that have settled upon the […]
