Funds are urgently needed to replace a major display. Until this past month, “C-5” (otherwise known as the “shark tank” was our largest concrete tank built in 1970. U-Shaped 120 foot long, running around the perimeter of our 20 x 50’ foot building. It held four thousand gallons of sea water, redfish that struck their food like a freight train, triggerfish that stared up at you with doleful eyes and remoras that we sometimes allowed kids to feed by hand. You can see pictures of kids on YouTube, kids squealing with delight as nurse sharks splashed them during a feeding frenzy:

     Our students, volunteers and alumni still recall the arduous back breaking labor of hauling in beach sand by the bucket full, and working through the night building the sub gravel filter system. Some helped erect the pole barn to keep out the rain, others worked on the insulation or the graphics and signs. Others helped us produce soft-shell crabs for a molting hormone study, working through the night, picking out the blue crabs that shed their shells and freezing them in liquid nitrogen.

     After decades of struggling with aging concrete, spending endless hours and money playing “find the leak” our staff had enough. We demolished it with sledge hammers and hauled 40,000 pounds of concrete rubble off to the dump, where it’s being stored to build an artificial fishing reef off St. Marks. We are now seeking $40,000 to rebuild the facility and fill the empty space with new and exciting tanks and exhibits. A bioluminescent tank is planned where people can see luminous sea pansies, and plankton flash blue fire along with tubular jellyfish kreisels where people can watch them pulsing in the darkness. Special tanks featuring the “critter of the month” will blow up small and obscure pistol shrimp and sand fleas, so show what monsters they are on giant television screens.

     The new temperature controlled tanks will enable us to protect endangered species, by holding more sea turtles in cold stun emergencies. This January we kept 65 sea turtles alive through record biting cold until hey could be released. When Operation Migration’s whooping cranes arrive from Wisconsin, after having been escorted down from Wisconsin by ultra-lights. The new facility will help us provide their first meal of live baby blue crabs until they can learn to catch them on their own.

     Field Trip Season and thousands of kids are coming. We don’t want to disappoint them with fewer specimens to show. Any contribution you can make towards this effort will be greatly appreciated.