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- My name is Kat McFadden
and I am a senior aquarist here at Georgia Aquarium.
And I have the privilege
of working with our Ocean Voyager exhibit,
which is one of the largest aquatic habitats in the world.
It's over 6.3 million gallons of temperate salt water.
It's also home to some of the largest fish in the world,
including our four whale sharks and three manta rays
and about 8,000 other smaller fish as well.
A lot of people have asked what it takes
to keep all of these animals happy and healthy
on a day-to-day basis.
So I thought I'd share with you guys
just a little glimpse of what my day looks like
in Ocean Voyager.
Follow me.
Welcome to the deck of Ocean Voyager.
It is even bigger than it looks like
when you're down in front looking at all the animals.
It is nearly the length of a football field.
And so we have all of those
6.3 million gallons of salt water,
and you can't see so well,
but behind those walls is all the life support systems
that it takes to keep that water clean and comfortable
for the animals that live in here.
So a tank has quite a bit of food
that we have to get through throughout the day.
He is a very large turtle,
we're talking 400 pounds plus,
and his entire diet is vegetarian
which means he eats a lot of lettuce.
He also gets cabbage,
today he's got some red cabbage.
He also has some bok choy in there.
We try to vary up the vegetables quite a bit.
But let me tell you, this animal definitely loves his salad.
There are seven species of sea turtles in the world.
Every single one of them are endangered.
Green sea turtles are one of my personal favorites
and Tank is a great ambassador for his species here.
Sea turtles can live
very similar to a human's life expectancy, 80 years plus,
so he's got a home here absolutely forever
and Ocean Voyager is a large enough habitat
to accommodate that.
So our food is prepared for us every single day
by our wonderful commissary team.
And so this is Tallulah's food right here.
Tallulah is our largest of the three manta rays.
And on top we have her vitamins ready.
So even though Tallulah is a very, very large fish,
she actually eats really tiny foods.
This is superba krill,
it's kind of like a really tiny shrimp.
And as you watch the manta feed
you'll see how we offer that exact amount of food
right to the mantas in this huge habitat.
And one of the tools that we use
is this large ladle on a stick.
So we can put the food right in here,
and every single one of our mantas
knows what color their ladle is.
So Tallulah is our blue ladle
and she will line up right to it
and we can offer that krill directly her mouth.
I am convinced they're the smartest fish out there.
They have one of the largest brain to body ratios
in the fish world.
They've got fantastic vision,
they have learning ability,
and we're really wanting to see
what we can learn about their cognitive abilities as well.
And that's not something you traditionally
see with a lot of species of fish,
but the mantas are definitely in their own genre.
They're fantastic.
We are the only aquarium in North America
to house mantas here,
so you're gonna get a very special experience
when you come to see them.
Even just seeing these animals in real life,
I mean, nothing compares to it.
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We have nearly 8,000 smaller fish in here
and we certainly don't forget them every day too.
And you could see the batfish know that it is feeding time.
We are just over top of our large theater viewing window.
It is one of the largest aquatic viewing windows
in the world,
it's over 23 feet tall.
So hopefully
the guests that are standing right underneath me
are gonna get a really nice view.
And it looks like today
we've got some more gel food for them.
Again, this is a super healthy diet.
It's got all the vitamins that they need
to keep their color and their health up.
And you can see all this reflection
on the surface of the water,
that's not just the lights on the exhibit.
We have a natural skylight in here.
That's really unique
'cause it allows our animals to get the sunlight,
get the vitamin D and the UV rays
that they need for overall health.
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Just like our mantas,
we have these whale sharks which are very, very large fish.
However, they too are eating super tiny food here.
So if you look in those bins,
you'll see very similar to what you saw in the manta bin.
We've got a lot of superba krill,
we've got some of that gel food in there, some vitamins.
We also have maybe some small fish
I see a layered down there in the bottom
just to make sure they get that varied
and nutritionally appropriate diet.
And I've talked a few times about,
when we have so many animals,
making sure that they all know
where to go to get their food is very important.
The whale sharks are absolutely no exception to that.
So each of our feeders,
they go to a specific line,
and each whale shark knows where their boat is
and what their ladle is.
So right now you are watching Yushan eat.
He he's got a red ladle
and Kayla is feeding him on the second line over.
The whale sharks definitely go through quite a bit of krill.
So even though their food is very small,
they still need to eat quite a lot of it.
We're looking at up to 50 pounds of food a day
per whale shark,
and they're still growing.
Whale sharks, despite their name, they are true sharks.
However, they are the largest fish in the ocean.
They'll usually hit just over 30 feet.
Even the record sizes can get a lot bigger than that.
So these are very large fish
and it takes up quite a bit of food
to keep them happy and satiated.
I've talked to many guests who,
they see these whale sharks
and they ask if they're whales.
And when they find out, nope, they're sharks,
that can be kind of a scary thing,
a shark that is that big.
However, these are incredibly docile creatures
despite their ginormous size, that huge mouth.
The only thing they care about
is plankton that is about this big.
I'm hoping that by coming to the aquarium
and seeing all of our beautiful creatures,
that our guests will start to just get an idea
of how unique and varied
and what is out there in these oceans,
and even by changing one small thing that we do
in our day-to-day routines,
whether that's making sure that we're recycling
or being mindful of our carbon emissions,
even just taking a carpool,
that can have collectively a huge impact,
not only on the ocean
but on all these animals that live in it.
I'm truly thankful that you got to join me
for a glimpse into our routine every day at Ocean Voyager,
and I encourage you to come visit us in person,
let us share these beautiful creatures with you.
And if you can't make it in person, that's okay too.
Visit our website at GeorgiaAquarium.org
and take a look at all the virtual offerings
that we have available for you as well.
Thanks, have a great day.
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