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Last week for National Aquarium DC

CJ Weaver

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First of all apologies for lurking, I do love the forum, just rarely get around to posting, well, anywhere really.
Just wanted to let everyone know that the National Aquarium in DC (the first and currently oldest public aquarium in the country) will be closing at the end of the month. I am the herpetologist there and would like to invite any nearby caudate lovers out here to see it while you still can! I realize most of you will not be able to visit but I figured I would post here because the place has a pretty interesting story and some awesome salamanders. I will be able to post pictures before too long for those interested but far away.
It is a small place, only 65 exhibits and mostly 1000-2000g exhibits with a 6000g coldwater shark tank and a dozen native and amazon herp displays. It is mostly focused on North America, with an exhibit focusing on each major national park or marine sanctuary. The place is very dry conservation/ education oriented as well, which is often not quite what a tourist expects. That along with the places poor record under it's own control in the 80s led to a bad reputation which I firmly believe is not deserved. Now partnered with the National Aquarium in Baltimore, we have updated exhibits and animals not very commonly displayed (particularly the strange coldwater stuff).

As for salamanders, I have enjoyed the freedom associated with the small place and have had the pleasure of building and renovating a number of salamander displays. We now have Eastern newts, California Newts, Tiger and spotted salamanders, a nice multispecies plethodontid display (Slimy, Dusky, and Cave), a large pair of Hellbenders, and a nice collection of Texas Blind Salamanders, which may be one of the coolest creatures I have ever cared for. Seeing these things hunt and eat is really something else. Few places maintain a native salamander collection that comprehensive, especially considering the size of the place.

The aquarium has actually been doing extremely well lately, and has long been in plans for moving to a far larger updated aquarium next door. Part way though early construction stages, it became clear that our construction did not line up with the US Commerce departments plans for their own renovation and so we are being forced out of our space 3 years earlier than anticipated. We are a non profit, and will not be able to raise the money needed without admission income, so we have to abandon plans for the future as well.
Most unfortunate, if not just for the large amounts of people leaving with a better knowledge of salamander conservation then for the public school groups that come through here. Thousands of kids go through a week and are exposed to some cool animals they have never even dreamed of (many of these kids have never seen an american toad, much less a hellbender or a sea turtle). The place really has a charm, people who come expecting whales and white sharks are generally dissapointed but those with a genuine interest in nature absolutely pick up on it. The staff is incredibly dedicated, knowledgeable and very close knit. With the help of 2 vets, 4 aquarists and a herpetologist handle all animal care, and nearly every bit of each exhibit was made by us in our own workshop.


Anyway, thanks for reading. Watch this space, I will update it with pics where appropriate. For those in the DC area, please don't hesitate to contact me!
 

Haakon

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I'm so glad that you posted this. I live in northern Virginia and had heard that the National Aquarium was closing, but I didn't realize that the time was so short. I hope that I can bring my boys in later this week; we're just starting our aquatic newt tank and it would be a great way to continue to introduce them to caudates!
 

CJ Weaver

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Of course! See if you can make it, I would be more than happy to show you and your sons around if you can. We are an AZA insitute, so we do strictly follow all husbandry guidlines there but due to the buildings age and fact that it is owned by the Commerce department, the building itself is not up to AZA code. We have tried on that front, and was part of the potential benefit of building a new aquarium.
 
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