Parents Aquarium Adventure

-Don't know what to do with your kids while they're not in school? Why don't you take them to the aquarium? I'm here at the New York Aquarium with assistant curator of education Lisa Mielke. Hi, Lisa? -Hi. -And why should parents bring their children to the aquarium? -It's a great educational experience. It's also lots of fun. Kids will get excited when they see animals that they wouldn't normally see like sharks and sea turtles, sea horses, walruses. It's great. -What should parents know before they bring their kids to the aquarium? -It's really great if parents take the time to read books with them or to them or maybe go in the internet to some sites. You can, even a lot of aquariums have information on their websites. You can check out your local aquarium, see what you're gonna see ahead of time. -Well, I'm excited for what we're going to see today so let's get started on our aquatic adventure. Come on. -Terrific. -From walruses to sea otters, the aquarium is full of fun water-dwelling creatures, like these little guys. Penguins are one of the most popular animals. How do they fare here? -They are. They do very well here. We're kind of unique. A lot of places have emperor penguins and Adélies that have to be kept in kind of a refrigerator, but our penguins are black-footed penguins or African penguins; they're from Africa, and they're just fine in our temperate climate. -They seem very comfortable out here. -Yes, they are, they are. And they have their little-- these penguins in the wild would find to create burrows for their nest, and so here in the aquarium we provided them with their own little case. -And these guys eat fish. It seems like they eat a lot, right? -They do eat quite a lot, you know. We have to buy thousands of pounds of fish. We also buy squid and clams and sometimes crabs. We keep our animals very well-fed. It takes a lot of energy to be an aquatic animal. -And speaking of a lot of energy, kids love the high energy show the aquariums offer. -It gives us the opportunity to reach hundreds of thousands of kids and adults every year. I think we do a really great and unique mix of conservation and entertainment. -This one features a very special sea lion named Osborne. Osborne ends the show with a kiss for each willing audience member. He even planted one on me. But you wouldn't want a kiss from these guys. So now we're at the shark tank and what kinds of sharks are these? -Well, we have some big ones that are continuously swimming called sand tigers, and they can get to be about 10 feet long and then if you look over there on the floor are nurse sharks. You know one of the things about sharks if you look at the sand tigers' teeth they're very, very sharp. They're like what you think of. But if I could open the nurse shark's mouth, you'd see flattened teeth. -Really? -A shark's teeth actually depend on what they feed on, and sand tigers spear fish with those teeth whereas the nurse sharks they grab things like crabs and crush the shells. -Wow and what are other things swimming around there? How do they keep from being eaten? -Yes. You know the permits are a schooling fish and they're really fine because we offer our sharks food every day. In fact, you can come and see a shark feed, and sharks not only have teeth in their mouths, but they've got teeth on their skin. -Really? -A shark's skin is covered with dermal denticles which are really tiny, tiny teeth. So if you were to rub that shark kind of going the wrong way it would feel very rough. -At the shark tank, we caught up with mom Heather Leonard, and her 2 boys, Bobby and James. Why did you bring your kids to the aquariums? -They love fish, sharks, and what else do you like, the penguins, right? -Yes. -It's good learning experience, hands-on. -Yes. -Another kid favorite are these graceful little seahorses and hey there's that sea otter again. Now this is the same guy we saw above the water, but now we can see him swimming. -It's a wonderful design. You can see the animals above the water and then you can come down and some of the animals like the walrus will just come right up to the glass here literally inches away from you. I think it's vital. If we want them to care about the wild world and the animals in it, they have to have some experience that touches their heart and this is it. -Well at least that there really is so much to see and do here at the New York Aquarium. -Oh, thanks. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. You know there are aquariums all around the country and they all offer great opportunity for parents to teach their children about wild places and wild animals. -And to both educate and entertain them. -Right. -So now that you've seen the New York Aquarium, we hope this inspires you to go out and check out your local aquarium. Have fun.