Unusual – but very cool – fishes
There are over 20,000 fish species inhabiting every possible aquatic habitat, so there are some very strange fishes out there. Even in this area, there are many unusual fishes that are relatively abundant, but the average person does not often see. Some of the fishes like the northern stargazer (pictured below) are ambush predators and bury […]
More jellies and the lemon sharks claim their first victim
Jellies are standard display animals at public aquaria due to their beauty and downright strangeness. But they are difficult to culture and even more difficult to procure from another institution via trade. So as a short-cut we have been collecting them and displaying what is seasonally available. Right now the resident jelly – and therefore the one currently […]
Ponds
Virginia has many ponds and all of them contain a surprising amount of life. Ponds are generally defined as water bodies that are shallow enough for sunlight to reach the bottom. Therefore, they are often covered with and full of aquatic vegetation and plankton, making them great places for small fishes, amphibians, and insects to live […]
I want to do what you do!
We recently had two long-time employees, Jessi Shupe and Heidi Pankratz, move on from the VLM to new opportunities. While it is hard to lose good employees and even harder to replace their knowledge immediately, we are happy for them. The two positions have recently been filled and we look forward to working with them. […]
crabs and lobsters
The VLM has many species of invertebrates and almost every common crab species found in VA and a few that aren’t. Of course we display the iconic blue crab Callinectes sapidus, but also several hermit crab species, mud crabs, ghost crabs, two spider crab species, and the ancient horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus who are more closely related […]
Collecting season
As the water warms this spring, our collecting opportunities expand. I generally have a mental list of species we would like to have here, but there are always fishes we need each year as they outgrow their exhibits and are transitioned to larger ones (e.g. striped bass, flounder). Some species are popular not only among […]
Skate Exhibit up and running
A few months ago on a recreational trip to Oregon Inlet, North Carolina I noticed an unusually large amount of flotsam around the southern jetty. Always on the lookout for interesting exhibit props, I discovered wooden poles, formally from a pound net, that would make excellent pilings in the skate exhibit. Treated wood is toxic […]
RAW 2011 – by Patrycja Lawryniuk
On Tuesday and Thursday of this week, my colleague Jessi Shupe and I attended the Regional Aquatics Workshop (RAW), hosted by the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach, VA. At the workshop, we attended lecture sessions with different speakers from all over the world! On Tuesday, the sessions focused on water quality and life support systems, […]
Sharks and Rays
Last Thursday prior to our weekly SCUBA program, we added our two male lemon sharks to the 30,000 gallon Chesapeake Bay tank. Before moving the sharks, we had to first remove the southern stingray from the exhibit, as skates and rays are natural prey for many shark species. Our presence inside the exhibit helps to disrupt any potential territorial […]
Are You Feeding?
Probably the most common question we get from the visitors as we work in or around the exhibits is, “Are you feeding?” People love to watch the animals eat so I think the question may be born from wishful thinking. We do have feedings for the public at 11am and 2pm on selected days, but mostly we try to feed […]
Trip to Duke Marine Lab
Every spring, students from local Christopher Newport University make a trip to the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC. A couple of aquarium employees from the VLM accompany them on the trip to help with identification and to lend an extra hand to the chaperoning professor. This year aquarists Jessi Shupe and Heidi Pankratz were selected […]
Lemon Shark update
One issue with introducing the lemon sharks is that the loggerhead is still somewhat passive competing for food, while the lemons are aggressive towards everything edible. The sharks are trained with tongs just as the turtle was (see pics below) , but the turtle has not yet established its position (with regards to feeding) in the big […]
