WHY AUSTRALIA?
With hundreds of aquatic environments around the world, why did the National Aquarium in Baltimore chose to interpret an Australian river gorge for its new exhibit?
Australia is well known for its unique flora and fauna. In fact, many of the 100,000 species found there aren’t found anywhere else in the world – a result of this island continent’s millions of years of isolation. The continent is relatively flat, with low mountains and rivers on its eastern, northern and western rims.
With very few mountains to stimulate the production of rain clouds or to provide runoff, the continent is generally quite dry. In fact, only Antarctica experiences a lower annual rainfall. The interior is largely desert. Australian plants and animals have developed unique strategies to thrive in a drought-plagued, inhospitable environment.
The new exhibit:
supports aquatic educational themes. Water is the most precious resource and life cannot exist without it. These educational themes are currently woven throughout the Aquarium’s graphics and messages. Australia presents opportunities to share how its unique flora and fauna survive through long periods of drought, fire and flooding. Human mismanagement of this resource can have detrimental effects on wildlife and people, especially in an ecosystem with a minimal water supply.
complements existing exhibits. This exhibit offers a stark contrast to the Aquarium’s tropical rain forest exhibit (an environment with abundant annual rainfall). Australia is truly the “water-challenged” continent. Its plants, animals and native people have had to adapt to changing seasonal conditions of excessive heat, arid conditions, fires and major flooding during the monsoonal wet season.
is unique. Many of Australia’s flora and fauna are found nowhere else in the world. This is a unique assemblage of both aquatic and terrestrial animals. No other institution has attempted to interpret this particular ecosystem on this scale and level of detail. We endeavored to accurately interpret a slice of Australia in Baltimore.
depicts a beautiful environment. Seasonal monsoon rains and their resulting powerful flash floods move car-sized boulders and sandblast the lower gorge walls to a polished smooth texture. The ancient, water-carved rocky walls and rich colors of an Australian river gorge are breathtaking. Complemented by beautiful flocks of rainbow lorikeets and Gouldian finches, the rocky gorge is visually stunning.
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