New Orleans Aquarium animals shipped to Monterey Bay Aquarium

New Orleans Aquarium animals shipped to Monterey Bay Aquarium
Monterey Bay Aquarium release
September 12, 2005

Two sea otters and 19 penguins from the New Orleans Aquarium have been sent to Monterey Bay Aquarium. The aquarium will start providing updates on the animals once they have been stabilized. There are currently no plans to place them on exhibit at Monterey Bay.

Friday 9/9/2005 -- The Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans has asked us to temporarily accept two sea otters and 19 penguins while New Orleans recovers and rebuilds from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Unfortunately, damage to the aquarium's life support system meant that much of its aquatic collection was lost. The surviving sea otters and penguins are being brought by cargo plane on Friday, September 9.

The animals will leave New Orleans Friday afternoon by convoy, and fly out of Baton Rouge directly to Monterey. Two Aquarium of the Americas staff will attend them in flight and help our staff care for them on this end. The health and welfare of the animals is our immediate concern. There are no plans to place them on exhibit unless a richer exhibit environment would be of benefit to the animals.

Buck and Emma, the adult male and female southern sea otters, were both stranded as pups, rescued through our Sea Otter Research and Conservation program, and sent to New Orleans when the aquarium opened 15 years ago. The penguins now in our Splash Zone exhibit are on loan from the Aquarium of the Americas. Some of the rescued birds are related to those in Splash Zone and shared a penguin colony with them in New Orleans.

We'll post updates once the animals have arrived and stabilized. We extend our sincere thanks to two extremely generous donors whose support made this animal rescue possible.

All of us at the Monterey Bay Aquarium would like the people of the Gulf Coast to know that our thoughts are with those who have suffered, and continue to suffer, because of this monumental disaster. Our hearts are with you. We will continue to do all we can to assist in your recovery from an overwhelming human tragedy. And we will continue to support and aid our colleagues at the Aquarium of the Americas.

This is a modified press release from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This original can be found here

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