Sea creatures from Petty Harbour aquarium put back into ocean
Hundreds of kids turned out to St. Philip's Beach to help release sea creatures into the ocean, as the Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium closes for the season.
CBC News ·
Mini aquarium
9 years ago
Duration 1:38
Each year the Petty Harbour mini aquarium collects sea creatures in the spring and releases then back into the ocean in the fall.
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Hundreds of children flocked to St. Philip's Beach on Monday to help release sea creatures into the ocean, as the Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium closed for the season.
The annual release comes with a promise to help protect and care for sea life.
Madeline and James Salter said they were excited to release their favourite creatures — a couple of sea urchins.
Kids brought the sea creatures to the shoreline and then handed them over to divers, who brought them back into the ocean. (CBC)
"I just thought big sea urchin, big bucket," said James.
"I like little tiny sea animals, I don't know why," said Madeline. "This is our first year releasing them, but we usually go out to Petty Harbour and see the aquarium and stuff. It's cool."
The Salters are hoping to see even more sea urchins and other critters when the Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium opens again next year.
Keith Moore, executive director at the aquarium, said getting kids involved in putting the creatures back in the water is an important part of teaching them about ocean sustainability.
Siblings Madeline and James Salter say they've visited the Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium several times this season, and hope to meet more sea creatures next year. (CBC)
"We want people to think about sustainability and conservation, and what better way than to get them engaged in helping us put the animals back at the end of our season?" said Moore.
"The animals that we bring down hopefully will get people thinking about the ocean because it's big, it's a blue blanket, it covers up everything that you see. You can't really get a good feel of the creatures that live there so we bring the ocean to eye level."
Hundreds of children, with their parents, turned up to St. Philip's Beach to help release sea creatures back into the ocean at the end of the season at Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium. (CBC)
Moore said the aquarium operates on a catch-and-release policy, meaning new sea creatures are brought in every spring and displayed for several months.
In the fall, those animals are returned to the exact same spot they were caught.
"They're only there for one season, then they're released and that allows us to kind of ensure that those animals don't come back again next year so we get to kind of protect the environment and keep things going there," said Moore.
Keith Moore says the Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium aims to educate people about sea life and ocean conservation and sustainability. (CBC)
"That way we're not affecting the population. The animals are only missing for a short period of time and then they're back again so they can continue to reproduce, live in their habitats and they're not taken permanently out of the environment."
Moore said the mini aquarium has had about 16,000 visitors during the four months it was open this year.
The kids get to learn about sea life, while helping return the creatures to their natural habitat, when they help the Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium close out their season each fall. (CBC)
