1 April 2012
April Fool’s Day. Luke and I considered phoning my parents
and informing them of my imminent pregnancy. We had to ditch that idea though
because it would have broken my mum’s heart to hear that it was a joke. She’s
desperate for grandchildren and she has been waiting in vain for my older
sister to give her some despite her marriage of four years.
Luke and I were treated by Simon to a backstage tour of the
Two Oceans Aquarium today. Because he worked there in his gap year and all the
holidays since then, Simon knows all the ins and outs and it was fascinating to
see not only the Aquarium itself but also the inner workings. Entering through
a back door we were taken through empty corridors to see where the fish food
was stored and prepared. We then moved onto the common room to meet some of the
people he works with. Being quite a small aquarium, each employee is expected
to perform a variety of duties from diving with the sharks, to rehabilitating the
new specimens, to feeding, to cleaning the tanks. Simon then took us up a
series of staircases to the roof. Once there we were given an informed tour of
the room where they keep the specimens that have just arrived, and then the
room where they grow jelly fish.
As incredible as these rooms were, they weren't quite as
amazing as walking out onto the open –aired roof top and looking down into the
aquarium tanks themselves. One contained a huge turtle that delighted in having
her shell scratched. One of the interesting facts our educated tour guide
imparted with us was that turtles actually have a layer of skin over their
shells so she could in fact feel our touch through her scales. We had to
carefully balance our way along a beam to get to the set of stairs leading down
into the biggest tank, and from our vantage point we could watch the sting ray,
kob, sharks and various other huge fish swirl the water just below us. From the
platform we were standing on, the divers (like Simon) would enter the tank and
feed the fish.
When Simon took us down into the actual aquarium to see the
tanks as normal visitors would, we were just in time to see the sharks being
fed as Simon had described. Two divers entered the enormous tank from where we
had just been, and one medium sized turtle immediately headed for them in
anticipation of the food. Simon described the turtle’s personality to us: he
was a greedy little guy who just ate and ate, to the point of following a piece
of fish down a shark’s throat much to the shark’s shock when it bit down on the
turtle. The shark quickly released him, and the turtle not only got the fish
but also a new scar on his shell. He also said that the divers don’t fear the
sharks during feeding time but rather the kob, and he showed us a few scars on
his hand that the kob had given him. Another huge turtle gave us a gorgeous
display of herself as she danced along the vast window of the tank for at least
an hour, reveling in all the attention she got from the crowded viewing area.
We were shown around the rest of the aquarium after that,
stopping at each window whilst Simon patiently explained about each specimen within as
well as the work that went into maintaining their tanks. He even took us behind
one of the tanks through a hidden door and let me put my fingers in the water
for the fish to nibble at gently. When we went to see the rockhopper penguins, they made
the biggest fuss over Simon as if he were a long lost brother. Apparently when
they first came in, they were his responsibility to initiate into the aquarium
environment. It was both fascinating and heart-warming to see that they still
remembered him even when he had been absent for two months.
I could go on and on about that afternoon, but all I can say
is if you ever find yourself in Cape Town make the trip to the Aquarium. It is
completely worthwhile and everything you see is well cared for, impeccably
maintained and environmentally kosher.
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