| Author | Message | ||
     Anon |
Does anyone know what will be done with the fish? I assume that they will be moved someplace else unless they will keep the aquarium running and still not open??????? | ||
| Diana R. Dubbeld (Diana) |
Fish are being sent out to other aquariums across the US and also some (very few) to England. | ||
| Debbie Kish |
I visited both the Detroit and Toledo Zoos this past week hoping to ask questions of the workers there about the BIA fish but there was no one around that I could ask that knew anything. I was not at all impressed with Detroit's (excuse me, Royal Oak's) zoo as it was too spread out and took a long time to get from one animal's place to another and many kids were noticeably weary and cranky from all the walking that was necessary just to get around. It's been over 25 years since I last visited the zoo and won't bother visiting again for at least another 25 (I'm sure NOT signing up for the membership application that they sent me last week). Toledo's zoo made better use of their space and although I wouldn't buy a membership there either since I'm not that into zoos, I'd visit that one a lot more often than the one we currently have. I was impressed with the number of fish the Toledo zoo has that we have at BIA. Almost all of the cichlid species we house at BIA are at the aquarium at Toledo's zoo and it seems we could easily ship ours out to there since the species are the same. They also have longnose and alligator gars (although not as large as ours) and a giant gourami that's even bigger than our beloved Gramps. And they have their own snakefish in its own tank that ours shared with Gramps. They also have bowfin, crappie, stingrays, sturgeon and many others that we have that hopefully they can receive until the BIA can be reopened. At least the Great Lakes fish we have should be given to other aquariums along the Great Lakes if possible but maybe decisions are not made that way. Just seeing species over there that we had here gave me peace in some way. Maybe I'm just hoping that we can replenish our tanks with the same kinds of fish that we had before. That would be nice. | ||
| Anonymous |
It sounds like Toledo has a better collection of fish than Detroit's Aquarium and is a much better area to visit. So lets just embrace that zoo and forget Detroit | ||
| MARTY C. |
Revealing comment by this anon. based on DK's comment that Toledo has a larger giant Gourami, some of the same Great Lakes/Detroit River fish including a samller alligator gar, he or she says "it sounds like Toledo has a better collection of fish than Detroit's Aquarium." Does this make any sense? The BIA had a beautiful collection of fish, regardless of how Toledo's compares. Nothing in DK's comment indicates Toledo's "sounds" "better." What's better for sure about Toledo's is that it is still intact, perhaps supplemented by some BIA fish. That is, Toledo's Aquarium is open. That's about as better as you can get. Maybe that's what anon. meant. As far as the area to visit, what are you talking about? Belle Isle is a beautiful area to visit, with a Conservatory, great Playscape, terrific views of the river and two skylines, a large woods for hiking and birding, the Scott Fountain, two large ponds to explore around and fish, etc., etc. The fact that most of the island's bathrooms are closed is not a function of the "area." (NB:The reopening of the Nature Center (come on----"Nature Zoo"---it's the Nature Center with some different exhibits and dioramas. Let's keep it real!) helps some in regards to bathrooms.) That's a function of institutional neglect by the policymakers who falsely claim they care about Belle Isle. The same should be said for the often obnoxious behavior of the people who hang out on the Strip---public consumption of legal and illegal drugs by the roadside, blocking and impeding traffic, rude, lewd, and excessively noisey music, etc. That's a result of institutional neglect too---imagine that being tolerated in Royal Oak on Main Street, or on Kercheval in the Village in Grosse Pointe. No way. Again, that's not the "area," that's negligence, abuse of a resource, and incompetence by the powers that be. and, generally speaking, it only affects a fairly small part of the island, although is does make the island significantly less family friendly. Just ask most Detroiters and they'll agree. as would most suburbanites. That's on the Mayor and the Police Chief--not Belle Isle as such...... Nothing against Toledo and its Zoo and Aquarium. But no way is it in an area with anywhere near the man enhanced natural beauty of Belle Isle. | ||
| Debbie Kish |
Beautifully said, Marty! I see that Negative Anonymous is back and misconstrued my post again. Marty understood what I wrote and commented correctly on what I said. My opinion upon visiting Toledo's aquarium is that it's different from ours but certainly not "better". Theirs is longer and wider with brick walls and the tanks are further apart than ours, which were adjacent to each other. They have some fish that are the same species as ours and they have other species that were different from ours but we had many endangered fish that they do not have. My 'peace of mind' comment was just a wish that they could take some of our fish until we could get them back when our aquarium reopens. Personal pride aside, theirs is nice but ours is beautiful. And Belle Isle is a safe place to visit and offers many worthwhile things to see and do. I'm surprised that you'd even waste your time writing about this since you're so anti-Detroit, even with all your previous pro "superaquarium" postings. I doubt that you'd even visit a new aquarium on the riverfront since you're so down on the city as a whole. | ||
| mike bradley |
What is sanedetroit.com What are you thinking of?? your supposed to non political. But your not Any FOOL can see though you! You will never get Non profit now and you will never get any large donations. | ||
| Stephen Goodfellow |
SaneDetroit receives no funds from this organization and is not affiliated with the Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium. | ||
| Debbie Kish |
Where does one find the information that says when fish are being shipped out? In the news section on the site it says a shipment was sent to Cleveland on the 27th and another sent on the 4th. Just curious to learn where this information is coming from. | ||
| Stephen Goodfellow |
Hi Debbie, Sorry, we can't divulge our sources on this subject, for pretty obvious reasons. | ||
| Anonymous |
I heard that more fish were sent out today. Does anyone know if this is true? How many fish are left? |
