Living Planet Aquarium Opens New Utah Exhibits, Displays Local Animals
The Living Planet Aquarium unveiled an important expansion to its Utah Waters Gallery this summer. Told through the perspective of a fourth-grader’s ‘science journal,’ facts and stories teach important lessons about our interconnectedness to the environment, and give emphasis to the need for active engagement in conserving and preserving our precious natural resources. Some of Utah’s endangered and threatened species – which include boreal toads, woundfin, June suckers and least chub – underscore the diversity of animal life in Utah’s streams, rivers and lakes. Several wall panels create awareness of the critical balance between species and ecosystem preservation; explore the water-conservation actions we’ve taken in the past; and celebrate what we are doing currently to become better caretakers of our amazing planet. The exhibition recognizes local individuals and organizations that are making a difference by becoming active stewards of our land and water.
This important exhibit is the result of fruitful partnerships with several federal and state agencies over the years. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, in particular, has worked shoulder to shoulder with aquarium staff because of commitment to similar conservation and preservation goals, and The Living Planet Aquarium provides the public education component within an expanding facility that increases environmental awareness and knowledge, especially about Utah’s precious water habitats. The Utah Department of Water Resources also has made important contributions to the development of this major expansion to the Utah Waters Gallery at The Living Planet Aquarium.
The new exhibits add an important component to the aquarium’s roster of engaging educational experiences, dedicated to its mission of: celebrating life on Earth by fostering a greater awareness and knowledge of our diverse ecosystems and creating a deeper understanding of our place in the global system of life. The May opening of the new Jellies Exhibit and the addition of the X-Mission-sponsored Bio-Facts Station last October, coupled with the stingray touch pool, Marine Hall, Great Salt Lake Shrimp Research Boat and Coral Community, make this “aquarium in the desert” a significant hands-on learning opportunity.
The Living Planet Aquarium is open daily: Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. (in summer) and Friday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. (in summer). One-day admission is $8/adult, $7/senior and student, $6/child 3 – 12. Memberships are $15/adult and $9/child for year-round admission, 10% discount in the gift shop and 10% off birthday party rates in the “Sunken Ship.”
New Sea Jellies Exhibit Open!
Lots of slippery characters have moved into The Living Planet Aquarium! Welcome new “upside-down” sea jellies; the beautiful sea nettles Chrysaora; and admire specially designed living quarters for one of the aquarium’s most popular animals, the moon jellies.
‘Cassiopeia’ or “upside-down jellyfish” are as engaging in real life as their name implies. They spend their lives sitting upside down on a sandy sea floor, in seagrass beds and mangrove lagoons. With their flattened bell heads resting on the bottom, they extend their frilly tentacles to capture plankton in the moving water current. Most fascinating is that by being upside down, they expose their entire bodies to light, which stimulates photosynthetic algae to reproduce food for the jelly!
Sea nettles Chrysaora, which inspired the brilliantly colored costumes of skaters in Disney On Ice “Finding Nemo,” feature round ‘bells’ that range in color from orange to purple. Their long, trailing tentacles and rhythmic movement make them mesmerizing to watch!
The tanks housing these three delightful jellyfish species are also unique and custom-designed for The Living Planet Aquarium. The tanks’ round design creates a circular flow of water to keep the jellies healthy and happy, while preventing a more turbulent flow that could cause the delicate animals to tear.
The presentation of these new animal additions to the Jellyfish Room is enhanced with original music composed just for this exhibit by local musician Doug Morton, who has written music for the Monterey Bay Aquarium as well.
The Living Planet Aquarium gratefully acknowledges and thanks the generosity and vision of the Jim and Laurie Loveland family that made possible these enhancements and additions to our jellyfish menagerie!
XMission and The Living Planet Aquarium Launch New Bio-Facts Station Exhibit
XMission- sponsored educational exhibit will engage thousands of annual guests with more ocean species than ever before—right in the heart of Utah
Salt Lake City and Sandy, Utah – XMission, Utah’s largest independent Internet service provider, has teamed up with The Living Planet Aquarium to unveil the aquarium’s Bio-Facts Station. The Bio-Facts Station is the first exhibit of its kind to exist in the Beehive State, providing thousands of visitors with a hands-on marine biology learning center amid numerous exhibits of aquatic species from tropical ocean-dwellers to local varieties.
The Bio-Facts Station provides unique opportunities to witness and study a variety of amazing little creatures including several species of crabs and snails such as the Turbo Snail, the Fighting Conch, the Decorator Crab, tube anemones, some interestingly named shrimp varieties like the Sexy Shrimp and Peppermint Shrimp, and the beautiful Feather Duster. Visitors also have the chance to touch such animals as starfish, urchins (Pencil and Pincushion), sea cucumbers, and Horseshoe crabs. Naturalists explain how these animals live, feed and propagate, describe their natural habitats and help visitors understand and value these rich and interconnected ecosystems.
In addition to its annual sponsorship, XMission provides free web site hosting for the aquarium’s web site and will further provide free wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) access services to the aquarium and its guests. Moreover, additional projects between XMission and The Living Planet Aquarium are in the planning stages and focus on further expanding the aquarium’s educational programs through Internet technologies. These projects may include high-bandwidth Internet services, an online photo gallery and educational walk-up computer kiosks, as well as other sponsorship activities.
“This partnership with XMission is a great opportunity to expand the educational breadth of our facility. The Bio-Facts Station complements our Marine Hall exhibits and provides an excellent venue for exploration of invertebrate life on our living planet, helping visitors understand how we are all connected to the global system of life,” said Brent Andersen, CEO and founder of The Living Planet Aquarium.
“Through the Bio-Facts Station, The Living Planet Aquarium and XMission together have created a unique hands-on, family-friendly educational experience,” explained Pete Ashdown, XMission founder and president. “And, by merging education and technology, our joint effort further enhances visitors’ experiences as we provide new and interesting ways to create diverse learning environments.”
The Bio-Facts Station Kick-Off
The Living Planet’s founder and CEO Brett Andersen, XMission President and U.S. Senate Candidate Pete Ashdown, mayors Peter Corroon and Tom Dolan and kids of all ages kicked off the exhibit’s opening and ribbon-cutting on Oct. 27.
About XMission
XMission is one of the oldest and most experienced Internet service companies in the United States, and is Utah’s leading independent Internet service provider (ISP). Headquartered in Salt Lake City, XMission provides world-class broadband and dedicated Internet connectivity to Utah individuals and businesses, and web hosting, e-commerce hosting, and co-location services to businesses around the world. Founded in 1993, XMission complements its connectivity and hosting offerings with unmatched 24/7 technical and customer support.
XMission is committed to serving its community and provides free wireless services in many areas of downtown Salt Lake City, including Main Street, the Salt Lake City Library, The Gallivan Center, Pioneer Park, and Liberty Park. XMission also proudly supports a number of Utah’s nonprofit organizations by providing free web hosting services and discounts to nonprofit employees, and by sponsoring a variety of community-based events and facilities, including the Living Planet Aquarium, the Utah Arts Festival, Living Traditions Festival, Twilight Concert Series, and No More Homeless Pets in Utah.
Detailed descriptions of XMission’s products and services are available online at www.xmission.com. XMission can be reached by email at sales@xmission.com or by phone at 877.964.7746.
About The Living Planet Aquarium
The Living Planet Aquarium is dedicated to providing opportunities for families to learn about our interdependence on the fragile ecosystems of our planet through entertaining, educational exhibits and programs. The current Gail Benjamin Preview Exhibit presents a peek at Utah’s lake and stream ecosystems and tropical coral reef habitats. Visitors can take a virtual boat ride and learn about the Great Salt Lake ecosystem, see fish that are native to Utah, come face-to-face with sharks, razor-toothed eels and delicate seahorses, and imagine themselves at the bottom of the sea amidst colorful giant coral, sponges and the ship-wrecked 1830s Albatross. This preview exhibit, a glimpse of what’s to come in the future with the world-class aquarium, brings more than 100 species of animals to people who might not have the chance to see them or their ecosystems in a natural setting.
The Living Planet’s facilities and programs benefit a wide spectrum of constituents: families; students; educators; scientists; researchers; and the environment, and the thousands of our living planet’s animal species whose preservation is intrinsic to the aquarium’s mission.
To date, more than 365,000 guests have visited the preview exhibit since it opened in June 2004. Additionally, the Living Planet’s educational outreach programs have touched more than 240,000 Utah school children in their classrooms; and 10,000 children annually -- from kindergarten-aged through sixth grade -- study various aspects of our watery planet through school-sponsored field trips to the aquarium.
LIONS AND TIGERS AND…..SHARKS? OH MY!
That’s LIONfish, and TIGER salamander and lots of sharks, at The Living Planet Aquarium, open in Sandy at 7th East and 106th South. Named the Gail Benjamin Preview Exhibit for its benefactor, and because it provides a taste of things to come when the world-class aquarium is built, this exhibit drew so many visitors in its former Gateway location that a larger space was necessary. Now with much larger digs in Sandy, and lots of free parking, the enlarged aquarium is experiencing record amounts of visitors this summer and fall Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sharks, jellyfish, stingrays, seahorses, several species of trout, the frogfish, the Giant Pacific Octopus, moray eels, lionfish, tiger salamanders, red-spotted toads, clownfish, dogfish, and the grand-daddy of them all – the 100-year-old lobster – inhabit expanded quarters in the new Marine Hall and Utah Waters Hall. In the center of the Marine Hall, the “Sunken Ship” is an ideal setting for birthday parties, as well as family reunions, business meetings and social events. This replica of an 1830s’ sailing ship is also the headquarters for the aquarium’s educational programs. More than 20,000 children each year have visited the Gail Benjamin Preview Exhibit for grade-specific, curriculum-specific field trips, headed up by a representation of naturalist Nathanial Adams. Dressed in 1830s costume, ‘Nathanial’ enlists students to help him recover “research” lost when the Albatross sank; it’s interactive, engaging and a great value at $3 per student.
The non-profit Gail Benjamin Living Planet Aquarium Preview Exhibit is open seven days a week; admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children with half-priced Monday evenings, just as before at The Gateway. Family memberships are an even better value: cost per family is based on $13 per adult and $8 per child, for a year’s worth of admission, 10 percent off in the gift store and 10 percent off the cost of a Sunken Ship birthday party.
Long-range sights are still set on building a full-sized, 90,000-square foot aquarium in Salt Lake County, with construction scheduled to begin in 2008. Visitor surveys conducted over the past two years show strong support for a world-class aquarium here; more than 80 percent recognize the educational merit of such a facility and want it located in Salt Lake County. Call 801-355-FISH (3474) for more information.