00:00We're currently closed and we have 65,000 marine animals.
00:14Our exhibits are a mixture of freshwater and saltwater species and we have 22 exhibits
00:23to take care of as well as our ambassador lagoon and our shark lagoon.
00:29And we care for them the same way as we normally do, whether we're doing normal operations
00:37as well as now that we're closed to the general public.
00:41What has changed since we've closed is that we don't have any guest programs that we would
00:46typically do every day where we offer scuba diving or snorkeling so there's less activity
00:52so less people in the water.
00:54But we still have our divers, our colleague divers that are going in the exhibits so that
01:00hasn't changed.
01:02In fact we're spending more time doing the maintenance because now we have that flexibility
01:08to do so because we're closed.
01:11During normal operating hours we only have a set period of time to do that but with us
01:17being closed we're actually spending more time with the upkeep of the exhibits and actually
01:22spending more time observing the animals and the behavior so it's actually been to our
01:29favor as well as to the favor of the animals.
01:33So we're feeding the animals twice a day and we still have our food prep technician that
01:39prepares this food and from our menu board we feed a whole variety of foods.
01:46So we're feeding squid and shrimp and sardines and blue runners, frozen foods.
01:52We also supplement with vitamins and pellet food and for our grazers we're feeding vegetables
01:58and you know like lettuce and spinach and tomatoes and you know it's a whole variety
02:03of food that we feed.
02:05And certain large animals like the ones we have here like the eagle rays, the sharks,
02:11the wedge fishes, they're very picky eaters so you know sometimes they have a preference
02:17for slipper lobsters or some prefer squid, some prefer the shrimp.
02:22So we know them by identifying marks on them and we know which ones prefer certain types
02:30of food so for picky eaters we spoil them here at Atlantis.
02:34So interesting stories just last week we had the births of six of our honeycomb stingrays
02:42and we have them in our fish quarantine and even though we're closed you know there's
02:47still mating going on, we still have births of animals and this is a highlight that we've
02:56just recently had so during rough times like this we still have positive stories.
03:01So here at Dolphin Bay and Sea Lion Point we do have Indo-Pacific waternose dolphins
03:06and South African fur seals.
03:08So all marine mammals they have very interesting and amazing characters and personalities and
03:14all of them they have different names just like you and me.
03:17I can talk to you about some of our main characters.
03:21So for example in the dolphin side we do have Butter Lily.
03:26She's always joking around, always messing around with the rest of the group.
03:31She's a very funny character to be around and of course she makes our days very interesting
03:38in the way that she keeps on challenging us.
03:41For example when we play with a ball and she doesn't want to give us the ball back
03:45and she wants to keep it just for herself.
03:48On the sea lion side, on the fur seal side, we do have Juna.
03:53Juna is what we like to call a very posh sea lion, fur seal, because she's very elegant
04:01and she don't go along straight ahead with all the trainers.
04:06She needs to know them first and know their smell and so it's a very interesting character
04:11also.
04:12So right now they do have a diet plan that is divided in six different sessions.
04:18All sessions they will have different meanings.
04:22So we will start the day first by doing what we call a daily physical examination.
04:27Every day in the morning we check physically all our animals, every single one of them
04:33together with our veterinary team.
04:36Also we inspect the facility every day in the morning, every day at the end of the day
04:41to ensure that there's nothing in the pools that can harm our animals, because of course
04:46this is an open facility, birds sometimes they can drop things in the pool.
04:53So after we finish that session then the other five sessions are divided into enrichment
04:58sessions where the goal is to exercise their mind, they're very intelligent animals so
05:04it's an enrichment device is created to elicit same type of behavior they would perform
05:11in the wild.
05:14And then we have exercise sessions because like us if they don't exercise they will gain
05:19weight and that's not healthy, same as humans.
05:22So we do have exercise sessions every day, we send them for jumps, tail walks, that typical
05:28behavior where they're able to burn some calories.
05:32Then we have relationship sessions just with the trainers, they're going in the water and
05:39really having that bond moment which is so important to guarantee the welfare of both
05:45trainers and animals of course.
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