A few notes: 1) At the time of writing this I have not completed the zoo 2) I have created a completely new thread to keep everything together as I will do this in sections 3) This isn't a tacky marine park 4) This is my first (proper) marine park I've designed, and I've never visited one before. Location My marine park is based somewhere in the UK, so not a warm climate, that's why much of it's located indoors or under cover. It's based in a coastal town. The History The two founders/ owners, Betty and Pat, originally owned a small fish shop in the town where the current park is based. Soon they realised a lot of people came to see the fish,and not to make a purchase. Consequently, they built a small aquarium in the small building at the rear of the shop, a year after opening the aquarium, they purchased three Humboldt Penguins from an animal dealer, these lived in a small enclosure. In 1969 they purchased part of the site which is now occupied by the park. They bought it at a fairly low price for the size of the site. Its a large brownfield site, which is a derelict rubbish tip (the brownfield site is now fully occupied by the car park). They set about building the aquarium building, which still included the fish shop. In January 1970, they opened to the public and in their first year made a large profit. At this time most of the fish were just common fish in the pet trade, but they started to get more exotic and less common fish. By 1971 they had more penguins, seals, otters, sharks and a lot more animals, gradually they found themselves expanding. In 1972, they purchased more land and set about building a pool for two Bottlenose Dolphins. The dolphin's arrived and they had the most profitable year yet. In 1980, they purchased all of the land, which is now owned by the marine park. They also created their large lakes for their growing amount of cetaceans, these are still used to this day. In 1982, they completed their large dolphinarium, which was built for doing educational shows. This still exists to this day. In 1990 they launched their charity, Sea SOS, which aims to save the seas, in partnership with other organisations. This year also saw them become a not for profit organisation. General Information They stand for Education and Conservation, not entertainment, like most marine parks. They breed many rare fish and other species such as Hawksbill Sea Turtles. Their visitor numbers are annually in excess of 750,000 people, which means a lot of money goes to various marine charities. They continue to hold cetacea, but Betty once said in an interview "We still, and always will hold dolphins and porpoises, but we believe as an organisation, they should only be held in large naturalistic conditions, and not small cramped tanks. We also don't think anything larger than a Bottlenose Dolphin should be held, due to the size being needed to large to cater for in captivity". All their animal shows (dolphin and sea lions) are educational, and only exhibit natural and useful tricks for ease of veterinary treatment, not anything like blowing plastic horns or dolphin's firing people into the air. They are all accompanied by a talk about, cetacea/ pinnipeds in the wild, how they are endangered, and even about how they are wild caught, like the Taiji dolphin hunt. This is all I will post for now, although I will start on the tour a little later. Please comment and give me your opinion's and constructive criticisms. I hope you enjoyed reading so far and thank you for reading!
Entrance and North Sea Tank Entrance Building As you approach through the massive tarmac car park you see the entrance building. The building is a large 5 storeys high at its highest point. The design is like the PDF attached (best if you view it before you carry on reading). The exterior is just simple brick, but the roof is quite interesting; the two wings of to the side are only two storeys and both have a simple flat roof, from two storeys high, the roof in the centre curves up to 5 storeys in height, this is a glass roof, and adds the impression of a wave; once reached the height it becomes a simple flat roof. The area which is surrounded by three walls has two planted areas in the corners, and in the centre their is a heavily planted area with a statue of a dolphin, which has a fountain of water spurting from its mouth, into a small pond. Once entering through automatic glass doors you enter, possibly the greatest zoo entrance in the world! Immediately in front is a four storey high tank (more on that later). A small queuing area is formed by a permanent fence. This is the only public way in and you have to go round because the automatic doors will only open into the queue area, although there are doors to exit through, there aren't any sensors on the external side. Back inside along the wall of the queuing area, there are signs informing you about the inhabitants of the tank, and the north sea. There is an entrance desk, which can serve six customers at once. In the left wing the are over the two levels, several offices, first aid and lost child point, school room, an information desk and a conference room for their use and for hire to others. In the left wing is stairs for access to the north sea tank, staff room (with toilets, showers and canteen) and a shop. The shop is fairly ordinary, a large section for children (soft toys, plastic animals and the usual tat) and a smaller section for adults (mugs, clothing (hoodies, t-shirts), books (including Pat's book about the history of the park), current guide books and any unsold guide books from previous years). The Tanks At the back of the building is the huge North Sea Tank, this is fairly basic open tank, much of its open water, although the bottom of the tank has such items as rocks, large patches of sea weed and a replica shipwreck, perfect for the smaller fish to hide in. The species included are Small Sand Eel, Haddock, Atlantic Cod, Atlantic Mackerel, Pollack, Whiting, European Plaice, Common Sale, Atlantic Wolffish, Turbot, Sand Tiger Shark, Angel Shark, Thornback Ray and Common Eagle Ray. Ironically, you can buy Haddock and cod in some of their foo retailers! The tank itself has machines to create currents, and the water is kept roughly at 9°c. The tank itself is one of the largest in the UK (if not the largest). Separate from this tank is a thin round tank, which is just as tall as the other. This represents a kelp forest, which have very tall and mature specimens. In here the are a large amount of signs about the inhabitants and the North Sea ( the site is by the North Sea itself). You exit the building through a short underwater tunnel under the large tank. Please comment with criticisms etc. Also would this mix work? Here are a couple of PDFs.
Sea Lion Rock Taking a left from the entrance you head towards Sea Lion Rock, you pass a small children's playground and a small cafe, which is designed like its a small cave. Sea Lion Arena Turning left after the playground you come to the arena, for the Sea Lion Show. From the outside it looks just like concrete, although they have decorated it with Sea Lions swimming and jumping through water, as well as a few posters advertising events and new exhibits. The are two entrances/ exits, through wooden gates into the arena. The inside is square in shape, with seating going around two sides. There is a large saltwater pool, roughly six metres deep (approximately nineteen feet); in the centre is a fake rock cave. At the back the are a few barrels, which contain apparatus used in the shows, and one for fish. The are two stacks of logs, which the Sea Lions use in the show to lean on. They tried to have a naturalistic look for the whole Sea Lion complex. A concealed door at the back connects to a long wooden bridge, which the keepers/ trainers use to get to the 'cave'; this connects to the off show facilities. The whole arena is covered by a large canvas cover, this feature was included due to their Sea Lions disliking performing in the rain! The show itself features all five California Sea Lions, they do tricks which show their natural behaviors, as well as ones which benefit them when it comes to health care. The show lasts roughly half an hour. The Main Enclosure If you had turned right at the playground, you would have come to their main enclosure. The main enclosure is themed on a rocky shore. It includes two beaches and an island. The largest beach is quite flat with a rocky backdrop, which nicely disguises the brick building behind. The second beach is longer, although thinner, and it to has a rocky backdrop. The island is small and rises out of the pool, the dominant male in particularly likes to sit on here. There is a large saltwater pool, roughly seven metres deep (approximately twenty two feet), which has wave machines to recreate a more realistic enclosure, although the aren't any wave machines in the show pool.. The enclosure comfortably holds five Sea Lions, although when not being used for shows or training, they have access to the show pool. The visitor view the pool through a two metre high glass fence, in all of the separate panes (except one which is on the largest beach) are submerged, the water level on the panes is roughly two feet (0.6 metres). The joints between the panes are brown fake rock, which is used throughout Sea Lion Rock. Off Show facilities Keeper access to all pools is via a small brick building, the building itself contains a kitchen for fish preparation and a kit store. Exiting this building, you come to a concrete area, a metal bridge passes over a thin channel, which is used by the Sea Lions to access the show pool, from the main exhibit. From this concrete are keepers can gain access to the main exhibit by two gates (one onto each beach), the show pool, via the wooden bridge (see above), and the holding pool. The is a small holding pool built in to accommodate any sick/ injured animals. It is rather simple with a small pool and concrete land area. In the off show area there is also a small water tank system, which connects to their main water treatment centre, which cleans all the water on site. The Sea Lions In Sea Lion Rock, the are five California Sea Lions, they are: - Luna. Luna is an elderly individual, she is the only female at the park. She was born in 1985 at the park, and has lived here all of her life (except for a year while the current pool was built). - Marco. Marco is the dominant male at the park, and isn't very good at any tricks, so isn't usually used in the shows (except when they are all out at the end). He was born at an Italian park. - Magic. Magic is the son of Luna, he is 14 years old, and is used the most in the performances. - Tinker. Is a young male who was born in a circus, but was rescued by another zoo, he lived there for a year, but was involved in fight with another Sea Lion, so had to be moved. At first he was reluctant to have any contact, but today he is very gentle and friendly around people. - Zac. Zac is the youngest Sea Lion, being 3 years old, he moved to the park one and a half years ago, and is still in training, although he quickly picked up catching rings over his neck, he is now the best individual at this. They do not plan on breeding Sea Lions in the near future, hence the Bachelor group, except Luna who is past breeding age, once she passes they will not house females. Notes Did the PDFs work on my past post, because I'm not sure if they will? Also is it worth me carrying on this, because it takes a long time, and I don't want to waste my time if nobody's interested? I will probably scan the Sea Lion complex in at some point, I hope you enjoyed .
They have worked and it looks lovely. I like what you've done having a history, I always do that with zoos I design!
Exhibit List I've just finished the zoo as I write this. Here is the list of exhibits with a short description (please note that the are other enclosures not included in this list; names might change if I can think of a better name): North Sea Tank and Kelp Forest- aquarium in entrance. Sea Lion Rock- home to California Sea Lions and the Sea Lion Show. Reptile River- designed to be like a cave, home to various reptile, amphibians and fish. Northern Seas- home to Otters, Sea Otters and Walrus'. Life On Ice- a climate controlled building housing birds from Antarctica. Coral Kingdom- a large aquarium devoted to reef species. Penguin Cliffs- a cliff like home for Humboldt Penguins. Seal Bay- a seaside town themed area housing Grey and Common Seals, with toilets, cafe etc. Porpoise Lagoon- a lake like enclosure for Harbour Porpoise. Dolphin Lagoon- a lake like enclosure for Bottlenose Dolphins. Dolphinarium- Although not permanently housing any animals, this is the large indoor venue for dolphin shows. Expedition Amazonas- the only freshwater themed aquarium, this contains a large Amazon river aquarium and a Butterfly/ Parrot walkthrough. All themed as an Aztec temple/ city. Between The Rocks- A rockpool themed aquarium, set inside a cave (similar to Reptile River), containing a touch pool and Seahorses among others; as you leave you pass through an avairy containing various waders and other shorebirds of the British Coast. A detailed walkthrough of each exhibit will (hopefully) follow. Hope your enjoying
No, my plan wasn't to include lots of cetaceans. Anyway I don't want this place to seem like a Sea World type place, I wanted it to be a more serious sea themed zoo.
Understandable reasoning but I do think Belugas could be part of a sea themed zoo, and are certainly easier to obtain than Harbour Porpoises. Can't wait for you to explain the plan in more detail bud!
Flamingo Lake Opposite the Sea Lions, there is a path which leads up most of one side of the park, this path gives you good connections to many of the exhibits. The Flamingo Lake Following this path, it takes you up to the main Flamingo enclosure. Its fairly simple in design, consisting of a large pond/ small lake. You pass over a small bridge, which a small stream flows under; this enters the lake. The stream comes from a larger stream several miles away, and just happened to be in the right place for the lake. In the enclosure there is also a log and a large boulder- these features are primarily for the ducks. A few trees are inside the enclosure, because this part of the park is in mature woodland (not part of the original brown field site, because that is now covered by the car park and partially by the entrance building). The enclosure contains a large self-sustaining population of Chilean Flamingos, and a smaller group of male, castrated Caribbean (American) Flamingos, they came from a few other zoos to form an all male group, due to other zoos wanting to prevent inbreeding. The Chileans have been at the park since 1976 and they originally lived with a group of Lesser Flamingos, but all have died, but a few who live elsewhere in the park. A pair of White-faced Whistling Ducks also live in here, after they fell out with the animals they previously lived with. All birds are pinioned in here. Chicks are born most years, but it mainly depends on the weather in April/ May. Accompanying, the main enclosure is a large house with a good sized pool, this is used in the winter the most because some days they are shut in due to the cold. The inside pool is fully heated, but the outside one isn't. This is probably one of the less interesting enclosures/ exhibits, so I was going to team it up with Reptile River, but I don't have the time now , hope you enjoyed!
I think there might be a bit of confusion with the flamingoes. Caribbean and American are the same species (Phoenicopterus ruber) but Chilean (Phoenicopterus chilensis) and American (Phoenicopterus ruber) are different.
A few PDFs Here are a few PDFs to have a gander at. I have updated the key as I noticed I had missed a couple of things of . The species holding doesn't include all fish and invertebrates, as I don't know enough about them. It also doesn't work very well as a PDF but hopefully you'll understand it. They might be upside down, you should be able to rotate them.
I'm in love with this zoo. Not the best I've ever seen, but you are certainly very creative and obviously passionate about this. Continue turning it into a masterpiece!
Reptile River Carrying on forward from the flamingos, you arrive at a T junction; you can keep on going forward and reach the Water Play Area, Expedition Amazonas, Between The Rocks and eventually the Dolphin Lagoon. Or you can turn right and go to Reptile River and that leads you to Northern Seas, amongst other attractions. Following this path you come to the entrance, it appears like a cave, of sorts. The interior and exterior is covered in fake brown rocks, including off-show areas and inside exhibits. Reptile River The inside is quite dark, with the exhibits being lit up, but not really dark, so you can't see. The flooring inside is the same as outside, as you never go properly inside, because the are no doors inside public areas. The area is for reptiles (and some amphibians), which are commonly found living in and around water. On your right is the first exhibit you come to, it houses two massive Saltwater Crocodiles, as well as some Banded Archerfish. The floor to ceiling glass viewing, is submerged in the pool, to give excellent underwater viewing opportunities, this is common throughout. The land area is at the back of the exhibit, its half fake rock, and half sand, this makes it a more enriching for the crocodiles. Tropical planting lines the back. They have the largest exhibit, in the whole of Reptile River. On your left is a small vivarium containing three species of frog; Reticulated Poison Frog, Golden Poison Frog and Blue Poison Dart Frog. This vivarium is heavily planted and includes a small pool. The next vivarium on this wall is for Oriental Fire-bellied Toads , this is similar in design, just with a larger pool. Going back to the other side, the is a exhibit for two Caiman Lizards. They're exhibit features a large pool (again with submerged viewing), a earth floor, dense foliage and large logs for them to climb on. Black Tetras and Neon Tetras share their pool. The next exhibit on your right is for Green Anacondas, it is similar in design to the Caiman Lizards, just with less planting and less logs. Switching back to the left hand side, the is a good sized tank for Mata Mata, you can only see them underwater, although a rocky land area exists at the top. Back to your right is an exhibit for European Grass Snakes (no subspecies status). This exhibit features two land areas. One is rocky and features a waterfall, the other is earth and planted. Branches hang over the whole exhibit. A large pool is also present (with submerged viewing). The whole building takes a bend to the right. On the left hand wall of the bend is a large exhibit for Malayan Water Monitors (no subspecies status). Part of the viewing is straight onto land, the rest submerged. Half of the exhibit is earth with heavy planting, the rest a large pool. A log overhangs, and one of the individuals regularly sits here. Once past the Water Monitors, you leave the building and head into Northern Seas (walkthrough to follow). Keeper access to all of the exhibits on the left, is via a corridor running along the back. On the two amphibian exhibits, the glass slides back. For the Mata Mata, a bit of the rock above the tank, folds up. An access door is used for the Water Monitors. This exhibit took heavy influence by the Reptile exhibit at Flamingo Land (they share the same name even, although when naming the exhibit, I didn't actually remembered Flamingo Land's being called Reptile River). Here are some pictures by zoogiraffe: http://www.zoochat.com/495/new-reptile-exhibit-353317/ http://www.zoochat.com/495/view-water-monitor-exhibit-353320/ Hope you enjoyed!
