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Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House (Closed) Further Christchurch Earthquake

Discussion in 'New Zealand' started by zooboy28, 22 Feb 2011.

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  1. NZ Jeremy

    NZ Jeremy Well-Known Member

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    I talked to Chlidonias again yesterday...

    He'll be without power and therefore the internet for a while...
     
    NZ Jeremy, 27 Feb 2011
    #41
  2. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Just updating the fates of the Christchurch wildlife attractions, a week after the earthquake.

    Willowbank Wildlife Reserve:

    Orana Park:

    Southern Encounter Aquarium & Kiwi House:

    This is very sad news for the aquariums staff, and Christchurch in general. Hopefully the aquarium can be rebuilt, bigger and better, maybe on a different site.

    We are still thinking of all the people of Christchurch, keep strong.
     
    zooboy28, 1 Mar 2011
    #42
  3. Paulag

    Paulag Member

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    Sad news about Southern Encounter, but at least some of the fish were rescued and, most importantly the staff are safe.

    Paula
     
    Paulag, 1 Mar 2011
    #43
  4. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    For the city and its people the earthquake was a major disaster. I am glad that most folks came out unscathed including our good friend Chlidonias c.s. Best of luck for now is all I can say ...!
     
    Kifaru Bwana, 2 Mar 2011
    #44
  5. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Here is an article on the Southen Encounter Aquarium & Kiwi House,

    Wildlife centre releases its beasts | Stuff.co.nz

    Unfortunately, the article doesn't say that the aquarium will be rebuilt in some form in the future :(, but I hope it does. I guess indefinitely closed is better than permanently closed. I imagine everyting was insured, so maybe that money could be used towards a replacement?
     
    zooboy28, 2 Mar 2011
    #45
  6. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    And this is the press release from Orana Trust itself:

    Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House
     
    zooboy28, 2 Mar 2011
    #46
  7. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    hey guys, thanks for all the well-wishes from people. I just got power and water etc back on yesterday. My house is rather damaged and half my stuff destroyed, including all my aquariums sadly. I will be moving up to Wellington shortly to stay with my sister for a while, and then a bit later to Tasmania. There have been three major earthquakes in Christchurch in the last six months and several thousand aftershocks, many of significant size, and with new faultlines opening up they will probably be continuing for years. It seems like an opportune time to stretch my horizons and start afresh somewhere new (somewhere without earthquakes!).

    As already noted by others the collections on the outskirts of the city (Orana Park, Willowbank and the Antarctic Centre) all came through the latest big earthquake unscathed. The central city looks like it's been bombed though and the Southern Encounter Aquarium is more or less kaput, so I have no job anymore. 50-odd fish died in the earthquake on the 22 February (largely through getting thrown out of tanks, tanks breaking, or tanks being hurled to the other end of the Aquarium as the tall cylinder tanks were), over 500 were rescued and released over the next few days, and about 170 or so had to be euthanised in their tanks via an overdose of anaesthetic as they were unable to be removed under the circumstances (most of these were small shoaling fish; about 10 or so were very large fish such as rays and gropers). The kiwi, tuatara and geckoes went back out to Orana Park; the red-eared turtles ended up in the North Island somewhere (I think at Napier). So a bit of a sad end to the Aquarium, although the majority of the fish were saved which is very good.

    Here's a couple of videos of the Aquarium from youtube made by film students in happier days:

     
    Last edited by a moderator: 6 Jul 2017
    Chlidonias, 10 Mar 2011
    #47
  8. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    Chlidonias, 10 Mar 2011
    #48
  9. KCZooFan

    KCZooFan Well-Known Member

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    Glad to hear from you Chlidonias. A very sad story you tell :(. I hope your family and Christchurch can both recover. I enjoyed the videos :D
     
    Last edited: 10 Mar 2011
    KCZooFan, 10 Mar 2011
    #49
  10. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    thanks. I will just say in case of confusion, I'm not featured in either of those videos :D
     
    Chlidonias, 10 Mar 2011
    #50
  11. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    Glad to hear you are alright. Welcome back. Shame about that aquarium, but a bright and enthusiastic guy like yourself should have no problems.
     
    jbnbsn99, 10 Mar 2011
    #51
  12. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Chli, some terrible news interspersed with the precious, fundamental blessing that you and yours have survived and can rebuild, wherever you choose to do so.

    Is there something in Tasmania for you to go to? I could imagine you being a very popular candidate for work at any of the aquariums in Australia.
     
    CGSwans, 10 Mar 2011
    #52
  13. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    thanks guys. As for Tasmania, it was really just the first place that popped into my head when I thought about leaving. I've been there before and liked it a lot; its sort of like a little New Zealand but with more platypus. In fact my two favourite places in Australia are Tasmania and the Atherton Tablelands area. There aren't too many animal collections in Tasmania so I'll probably end up working at McDonalds or something -- but when you can just pop off and see echidnas and ground parrots on your weekend then that's not so bad :D

    Seriously though, I'm sitting on plane tickets for an Indonesian trip that I was planning for August-to-October so I'll probably do that first (depending on if I have any money!), then see what awaits me in Tasmania or elsewhere later in the year. I could well end up instead at AQWA, Sydney or Mooloolaba; or maybe I just won't bother coming back from Asia; who knows.
     
    Chlidonias, 10 Mar 2011
    #53
  14. Sun Wukong

    Sun Wukong Well-Known Member

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    Good to have you back,@Chli!
     
    Sun Wukong, 10 Mar 2011
    #54
  15. Baldur

    Baldur Well-Known Member

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    Chlidonias, your spirit and way of thinking is a role model for us all! Welcome back!

    By the way, there was a whole lot of action here while you were offline, I sometimes thought how great it would be to have you here with us while one particular thread was in heat; look up 'Opening up a place for tigers' to see what you missed! :D
     
    Last edited: 10 Mar 2011
    Baldur, 10 Mar 2011
    #55
  16. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Welcome back Chlidonias! We definitely missed you here, and are happy to know that you're allrite and getting back on your feet.
     
    zooboy28, 10 Mar 2011
    #56
  17. Hix

    Hix Wildlife Enthusiast and Lover of Islands 15+ year member Premium Member

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    About bloody time!! :rolleyes:
    <taps foot impatiently>

    It's been over two weeks - I need to speak to you about priorities! ;)

    Seriously, it's good to have you back mate. And Baldur beat me to it - check out the 'Opening up a Place for Tigers' thread in the General Forums. And were you still online when we met FosssaDudes mom?

    :p

    Hix
     
    Hix, 10 Mar 2011
    #57
  18. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    I can only echo the 'welcome back' - you've been much missed. And I'm glad you'll be able to take at least some positives out of the whole affair.
     
    Maguari, 10 Mar 2011
    #58
  19. Baldur

    Baldur Well-Known Member

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    So this means you won't be moving to Iceland anytime soon!? :D
     
    Baldur, 10 Mar 2011
    #59
  20. Pygathrix

    Pygathrix Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    :)Welcome back Chlidonias
     
    Pygathrix, 10 Mar 2011
    #60
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