The Aquarium

Going to the aquarium is fun. Its like the zoo except more tranquil. It feels more like I’ve entered the fish’s watery world rather than brought them into mine. There’s an unmistakably ominous calm that envelopes me as I walk through the entrance doors and past the welcome kiosk. The air is heavy and humid with a smell I cant quite place but with distinct traces of low tide. The heavy-duty concrete walls are more profound in the dim light and yet I can’t stop fantasizing about the concrete cracking under the weight of the water and flooding the hallways with an inescapable torrent. Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, I continue through the lobby surveying the different exhibits.

Throngs of children hurry, but not quite run, with their parents in tow from one spectacle to the next. They’ll stand too close to people they don’t know and fill any available space to watch reef fish silently glide by the thick glass.  As the kid’s jockey for space, I stand back with body language telling the world that its not my first trip to the aquarium, and that I’m only mildly impressed by the aquatic scene in front of me. But as soon as the area is clear, my face is up against the glass concentrated on catching the final glimpse of a big grouper swimming over the artificial reef, Suddenly a gnarly toothed nurse shark startles me back to reality when it emerges out of the glass’s refraction and into full view. With my heart racing, I coolly step back from the glass and slyly look to see if anyone saw my heart skip a beat. With a final glance at the reef to show that my fright was a fluke, I amble down the hallway as casually as my dented ego allows.

Letting loose my inner child, I stare at the other sea creatures with fascination and commenting “oh I didn’t know that” before repeating facts from a sign I read a little faster than those around me. Wandering through the different areas, I’m drawn to the Pelagic Room. It’s darker and quieter than everywhere else. Even young children are silenced by the 20ft tall glowing blue wall. Somehow, behind the glass, the aquarium captured the hypnotizing mystery of the ocean. Staring into the artificial abyss evokes the same feelings of vulnerability and exposure as swimming in deep water and watching the suns rays disappear into the depths.

Tuna and sailfish dart throughout this man-made ocean while a school of mackerel huddle together futilely avoiding the predators in their enclosure. The tropical fish are fun to look at, but I could also see them snorkeling on vacation. However, the ocean fish are captivating because this exhibit is my best glimpse into the wild nature of these ocean predators because I’ll likely never plunge into their deep sea home . Though they only swim around the mackerel ball, you can imagine a school of tuna ripping through the frantic bait fish while a lone sailfish picks off those left exposed in the open.

Suddenly, a colorful stone drops through the surface and sinks down amidst the bored predators. It stops sinking and starts jerking through the water back up to the surface. Among the din of the confused crowd, you realize that it’s a lure. “no, no, no don’t do it” you think as a tuna curiously snaps at the tackle.

The fish is hooked, and environment turns to chaos and sympathy for thirty minutes because it’s a strong fish and weak anglers. The tuna lulls to an exhausted calm while it’s dragged to the surface and the kids behind the glass sob at the embodiment of life and death struggle. Above the surface, I get a distorted and shimmering glance of a few bro’s in visors high-fiving and spilling their watered down  warm beer in exorbitant celebration. Cutting the fish loose in good sport ‘catch and release’, the noble creature puffs its last gasps as it floats down, too weakened to swim, to the depths of the tank until it gently rests motionless on the concrete floor.

Shocked by the grotesquely broken tranquility I stand motionless and wide-eyed in front of the blue abyss. Silently closing my gaping jaw, I turn around and move onto the jellyfish room, because this isn’t my first trip to the aquarium.