Through April 3, the fourth level of the main Aquarium building will be closed for renovation, changing access to exhibits, amenities and guest routes.
Get inspired to tackle your big spring projects by watching Aquarium staff freshen up our exhibits.
It's that time of year when many of us are motivated to grab our vacuums and scrub brushes and get down to business. Behind the scenes at the Aquarium, life support systems keep the animals' water filtered and safe, but there's also a lot of manual cleaning that happens inside exhibits.
Aquarium staff clean habitats every single day, often multiple times a day, to keep them healthy for the animals and aesthetically beautiful for guests. Staff use a wide variety of cleaning techniques and tools for each habitat, so some deeper cleanings don't need to be done on a daily basis. For example, scrub sessions in Blacktip Reef and Atlantic Coral Reef occur at least a few times a week, while other deep cleans in exhibits like Jellies Invasion, Sea Cliffs and Australia: Wild Extremes happen once a month, once every few months or once a year.
It should be no surprise that many Aquarium cleanings happen underwater. Over 130 staff and volunteer scuba divers care for animals and maintain exhibits, which requires a tremendous amount of training. In habitats like Blacktip Reef and Atlantic Coral Reef, divers work in 60- or 90-minute shifts and prioritize removing algae from fabricated coral pieces and acrylic windows. This prevents algae from building up and ensures guests can see inside.
Home to sharks, rays, hundreds of fish and a plethora of fabricated coral pieces, Blacktip Reef takes a village to clean. Two to three divers will hand scrub coral pieces each week to remove algae, using scrub brushes of different sizes and bristle strengths. Cleaning acrylic, which is prone to scratching, requires soft hand mitts for a gentle clean. Divers also use a custom pressure washer to clean more durable coral, and they use an in-habitat vacuum system. This vacuum system is assembled by connecting hoses underwater to a built-in pump to pull waste and debris from the sandy bottom.
Large habitats like Atlantic Coral Reef require more frequent cleaning during the week. Divers scrub coral and clean the acrylic at least three times a week and vacuum clean twice a week. Atlantic Coral Reef doesn't have a built-in vacuum pump, so staff use a mobile vacuum cart with an external motor and filtration system during those cleanings. Staff begin by siphoning debris off the surface of the crushed sand and gravel before using a hydro-vac to create a vortex that stirs debris up from the bottom of the habitat to be sucked away.
Cleanings like these use machines that create noise and vibrations, so it's important that the animals are acclimated to these changes. When introducing a new piece of machinery, the dive team will run the machine to see how the animals react and then slowly run it for more and more time as the animals become used to it.
Every animal at the Aquarium needs a clean environment to thrive. For example, the spotted lagoon jelly habitat requires monthly bleaching that takes about six hours to complete. First, the jellies are scooped out of the habitat into a smaller container and placed on a culture tray to maintain the water's temperature. Next, a Jellies team member drains the 320-gallon habitat, refills it with fresh water and adds granulated bleach. A recirculating pump mixes the bleach into the water and circulates it through the entire system until it's ready to be drained and refilled again. After a few more rinse cycles, the aquarist will add sodium thiosulfate to neutralize any leftover bleach. While cleaning, the aquarist also uses scrub pads on long poles to remove algae and hydroids (predatory invertebrates related to jellies). Removing algae maintains the exhibit's aesthetics and prevents algal buildup, and removing the hydroids protects the jellies. Finally, an aquarist refills the habitat with salt water and tests the chlorine levels; if no chlorine remains, the animals are returned.
Daily cleaning sessions in this and other jelly habitats include scrubbing algae without removing the animals, wiping down external acrylic to remove smudges and scrubbing filtration screens to maintain good water flow.
Atlantic puffins and black guillemots and razorbills, oh my! With almost two dozen birds living in Sea Cliffs, monthly deep cleans help keep it in tip-top shape. These scrubs typically occur from September to April to avoid disrupting the birds' summer breeding season. The aviculturists begin by draining and drying the floor, which takes about an hour. Next, the team goes in with buckets, animal-safe disinfectants and scrub brushes to remove algae from the nooks and crannies. The team also performs other maintenance, like changing lightbulbs and servicing the life support system. Behind the scenes, aviculturists weigh the birds and trim their nails and bills, and the Animal Health team performs preventative health exams. Once scrubbing and maintenance is complete, the team refills the habitat, which takes a little over two hours.
Each habitat with land-dwelling snakes and lizards has sand on the bottom that must be cleaned regularly. Herpetologists spot-clean the sand daily, stir it regularly to keep it from getting compacted and replace it annually to prevent waste or bacteria buildup. When it's time for the yearly replacement, the team secures the snakes or lizards in transport enclosures and puts them in warm places behind the scenes. The habitats have anywhere from 60 to over 300 pounds of sand, which can take between 15 minutes to an hour to remove with a shop vac. Then, they clean the surface with a mild disinfectant, rinse and dry it and pour new sand into the exhibit.
