NEWS & ANOUNCEMENTS
JUN
26
Free Community Day
Join us for the 10th anniversary of the Atlantic City Aquarium and the 10th birthday of Groman, the loggerhead sea turtle, one of the Aquarium’s most popular residents. FREE admission* activities • PRIZES and more.
JUN
19
Daily Schedule Summer 2009
11:00 AM - LIVE DIVER FEEDING SHOW
Featuring the aquarium’s diver in the 25,000 gallon “Fish of the Mid-Atlantic” tank. Guests can watch and interact with the diver as she hand-feeds cownose rays, swims with nurse sharks, and dives with dogfish in the tank. Participants also have the opportunity to interact with the diver asking questions during the show. This underwater picnic is included with paid admission to the aquarium. The feeding show lasts approximately 20 minutes with a question and answer session afterward.
12:00 PM AND 3:00 PM – SHARK & RAY TOUCH TANK FEEDINGS
Not only can visitors see the shovel nose sharks and stingrays swim around in their home, our Shark and Ray Touch Tank, but they also have the opportunity to participate in this feeding frenzy by purchasing a $2.00 bag of special food and joining in the fun of feeding the stingrays and shovel nose sharks.
2:00 PM – EXOTIC ANIMAL SHOW
Visitors get up close to the aquarium’s more unusual inhabitants, ranging from the largest species of scorpion in the world to the softest furred mammal in the world. Aquarium handlers discuss their native habitats, their suitability as pets, natural defenses and predatory instincts other interesting facts. Throughout the interactive show, visitors will have the opportunity to ask questions and, in some cases, touch many of the animals.
Admission: Adults: $7, children ages 4-12: $4, children under three are free and seniors pay $5. For more information on the other Atlantic City Aquarium programs and exhibits, visit www.acaquarium.com or call 609 348-2880.
JUN
18
Dive into the Aquarium Click to watch Video
Atlantic City Aquarium” Weekends this Winter The Atlantic City Aquarium is offering our Live Diver Feeding Show on Saturday’s and Sunday’s at 11:00 AM throughout the winter “Dive and Dine” features the aquarium’s diver in the 25,000 gallon “Fish of the Mid-Atlantic” tank. Audiences can watch and interact with the diver as she hand-feeds cownose rays, swims with nurse sharks, and dives with dogfish in the tank. Participants also have the opportunity to interact with the diver asking questions during the show. This underwater picnic is included with paid admission to the aquarium. The feeding show lasts approximately 20 minutes with a question and answer session afterward. While visiting the aquarium be sure to stay around for the Shark & Ray feedings at our second floor shark and ray touch tank. Feedings daily at 12 and 3pm and our Exotic animal show at 2:00 pm (Saturday’s & Sunday’s only). Don’t forget the aquarium is the perfect place to host your next birthday party, holiday party or special event. Call 609-348-2880 ext. 17 for more information. Admission: Adults: $7, children ages 4-12: $4, children under three are free and seniors pay $5. For more information on the other Atlantic City Aquarium programs and exhibits, visit www.acaquarium.com or call 609 348-2880. HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE ATLANTIC CITY AQUARIUM SOON! *Show subject to cancellation without advance notice.
JUN
18
BAT RAYS AND SHOVEL NOSE SHARKS
Check Out the Newest Arrivals to the Shark and Stingray Touch tank
At the
The tank is open all day from 10 until 5pm and feedings are at noon and three pm daily.
The Shovelnose Guitarfish is a guitar-shaped ray with a broad disc that is greater in length than width; a relatively smooth dorsal surface except for a single row of thorns around the eyes and extending along the back and tail; a long, pointed snout with a rounded tip; small, rounded, pebble-like teeth; a first dorsal fin that originates closer to the pelvic fin base than to the caudal fin origin; a thick tail; and a moderately large caudal fin without a distinct lower lobe. The color ranges from an olive to sandy brown above, but without prominent dark bars across the back, and white below.
HABITAT AND RANGE: Shovelnose Guitarfishes are a shallow-water species commonly found at a depth of 1 to 13 m, although they may be found at depths down to 91 m. They usually lie partially buried on sandy or mud bottoms but occasionally are observed in sea grass beds. These rays will at times congregate in large numbers in shallow bays and estuaries. The Shovelnose Guitarfish is endemic to the eastern Pacific, ranging from
Bat rays swim gracefully by flapping their batlike wings (pectoral fins) bird style—a feature that gives these rays their common name and their family name, “eagle rays.” They are found in muddy and sandy bottom bays, kelp forests and close to coral reefs.
Those batlike wings also serve in the hunt for food. Bat rays flap their pectoral fins in the sand to expose buried prey, like clams. Rays also use their lobelike snouts to dig prey from sandy bottoms. The resulting pit can be up to 13 feet (4 m) long and eight inches (20 cm) deep—an important source of “leftover” small prey for fishes that can’t dig. Bat rays have one to three venomous barbed spines at the base of their long tails, but these docile animals sting only to defend themselves.
Bat ray teeth are fused into plates that can crush the strongest clam shells. The rays crush the entire clam, or other mollusks, inside their mouths, spit out the shells, and then eat the soft, fleshy parts. If a tooth breaks or wears out, a new one replaces it. Rays grow new teeth continuously, like their shark kin.