News Clips

Georgia Aquarium Announces Marineland Acqusition  

Georgia Aquarium recently announced its acquisition of historic Florida attraction Marineland, home to the Dolphin Conservation Center and adjacent to the Georgia Aquarium's Dolphin Conservation Field Station. 
Marineland, which is located along the Atlantic coast just south of St. Augustine, Florida, opened in 1938 as Marine Studios, a facility designed and built for filming underwater sequences for motion pictures. Later, it became a theme park known as Marineland of Florida, and enjoyed great popularity in the 1950's and 1960's, becoming internationally known for its dolphin shows and exhibits showcasing various forms of marine life.  It was one of the first such attractions in the state of Florida, and was named to the National Register of Historic Places. More recently, an updated and modernized Dolphin Conservation Center at Marineland has become a center for the study of marine mammals, particularly dolphins, and is one of the few facilities in the U.S. where humans can closely observe and interact with dolphins in an intimate environment.   
 The acquisition of Marineland is part of an overall long-term strategy on behalf of Georgia Aquarium to expand the positive benefits of its programs throughout the Southeastern U.S.  In 2008, Georgia Aquarium opened the Dolphin Conservation Field Station (DCFS) at Marineland, a joint venture with Marineland's Dolphin Conservation Center, immediately adjacent to the historic Marineland property. Among other initiatives, DCFS is dedicated to studying marine animals off the coast of Georgia and northeast Florida and rescuing and rehabilitating stranded animals. 
Georgia Aquarium and Marineland share a long history of working closely together for the benefit of marine mammals, and the Aquarium and its team members have a deep and abiding appreciation for Marineland and the significance of its heritage as one of Florida's original coastal attractions. Jim Jacoby, Marineland's previous owner, is a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Aquarium, and has shown a strong vision for the future of Marineland as both an appealing and historic attraction and as a center for science, research, conservation and education.
While Marineland will be operated as a division of the Georgia Aquarium, no significant change in its day-to-day operations is expected in the immediate future.  However, Aquarium representatives are already working with Marineland staffers to consider long-range plans for the Marineland property, and will work closely with area leaders to ensure its long-term viability as both a public attraction and a center for aquatic animal research and conservation.
For additional information, visit www.georgiaaquarium.org.

Williams Island Family Adventure Cruises Aboard River Gorge Explorer

Date: March 12th through April 17th
 Time: Daily at 12:30 pm
 Where: Tennessee Aquarium River Gorge Explorer
  One Broad Street
  Chattanooga, TN 37402
Age-appropriateness: all ages
Admission fee: $20/per person (age 3 and up), $18/per person under age 3
Is advance registration required? Yes
Brief description of event/activities: This new excursion aboard the River Gorge Explorer will add some excitement to spring break. The Williams Island Family Adventure Cruise takes passengers to "the Gateway to the Gorge." During each 90-minute adventure, the young and young at heart will discover Native American and Civil War history, and gain insights into the wildlife that call this wooded island home.  Each trip observes an osprey nest and heron rookery. Naturalist guides help locate other animals and lead an on-board scavenger hunt. The cruises will depart daily March 12th to April 17th from the Chattanooga Pier. Special Spring Break pricing will be offered for these cruises: $20/per person (age 3 and up), $18/per person under age 3.
Phone and/or Web site:1-800-262-0695  www.TennesseeAquarium.org

Ultralight-led Whooping Crane Found Dead in Alabama
$6,000 Reward Offered for Information on the Killing of Whooping Crane 12-04
 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the death of a whooping crane reported by an Alabama conservation officer at Weiss Lake, in Cherokee County Ala., on Jan. 28, 2011. The lake is located midway between Atlanta, Birmingham, and Chattanooga.  Investigators believe the crane was shot.
The male whooping crane, designated 12-04, was equipped with a transmitter and leg bands to help track his movements. Trackers located it in January with other whooping cranes in a Cherokee County field not far from the lake where it was killed.
Scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., are conducting a necropsy on the dead crane. It is the only lab in the world dedicated to crimes against wildlife.
Raised in Wisconsin at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, whooping crane 12-04 learned how to migrate behind ultralight aircraft flown by Operation Migration.
Operation Migration is a partner with the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, and for 10 years has lead between seven and 20 cranes per year on their first migration from Wisconsin to Florida to increase whooping crane numbers and recover this magnificent endangered species.
The bird made its first migration to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida during the fall of 2004. It annually wintered in Florida until 2009.  Since then it has spent winters on the marshes in and around Weiss Lake, Ala.
"We are extremely disappointed by the killing of this whooping crane," said Jim Gale, Special Agent in Charge of Law Enforcement in the Service's Southeast Region. "We recently lost three whooping cranes to gunfire in south Georgia, now this one in Alabama. This senseless killing has just got to stop."
Gale has asked for the support of the public, especially the fishing, hunting, and boating community who may have seen or heard about the killing on Weiss Lake to help prosecute whoever shot this crane.
A $6,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to a conviction. Several organizations are contributing to the reward including Operation Migration, which led this bird south with Ultralight aircraft on its first migration in 2004. Other organizations include The Turner Foundation, the International Crane Foundation, the Alabama Wildlife Federation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
To provide information about the crime, call Special Agent John Rawls at 334-285-9600, or e-mail him at john_rawls@fws.gov.

The cranes are part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership effort to reintroduce whooping cranes into the eastern United States.  There are about 570 whooping cranes left in the world, 400 in the wild. There are about 100 cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population. In addition to the Endangered Species Act, whooping cranes are protected by state laws and the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
For more information about the reintroduction effort, visit www.bringbackthecranes.org