Field of Fish Dreams: Is a Major League Ballpark Aquarium a Bad Idea?

By Dr. Gregory A. Lewbart, vetstreet.com

Bam! The sound is easily heard by the first 20 rows of fans cheering wildly in the 11th inning of a tie game between the Miami Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Thwump! A speed-of-sound vibration courses through a 250-gallon tropical marine aquarium embedded in a cement wall that's located between third base and home plate. A dirty smudge persists, like an erasable tattoo, on the bulletproof glass from the loud impact of the 95-mile-an-hour foul tip.

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Major League Animal Drama

The place is the shiny new Marlins South Florida Park, home to the National League's Miami Marlins. Despite protests from animal welfare activists, animal behaviorists and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the ballpark is set to open with two large saltwater aquariums full of tropical fish, crabs, snails, sea urchins, sea stars and a host of other creatures native to the Caribbean and the western Atlantic Ocean.

Your initial knee-jerk reaction to this might be, "Are you kidding me? Ornamental fish on display in a busy, loud and perhaps even dangerous ballpark? What about all the noise? And bats and balls hitting the glass? Or unruly fans spilling beer and who knows what else near the aquariums?"

You wouldn't be alone.

Now let's remove the emotion from the discussion and review the evidence-based data that we can apply to the situation. As you might imagine, the scientific literature isn't rich with papers about how flying baseballs, screaming fans and nighttime game lights can impact tropical marine fish and invertebrates. But there are some articles and data that can be applied.

Fish don't possess external ear openings, but they can detect sounds quite effectively. Many fish species, like grunts, croakers and drums produce sounds as a means of communication or warning. Certain taxonomic groups of fish, such as cyprinids (minnows, carps, shiners, danios), are more sensitive to sounds than other groups, like percids (perch).

Stress Can Also Take a Toll on Fish

Disturbing noises can apparently affect immune function in rainbow trout. A 1994 study identified decreased white blood cell activity in trout exposed to confinement and prolonged noise. Researchers examining the impact of motorized boat racing on wild fish in an Austrian lake found that largemouth bass can also become stressed - showing a markedly elevated heart rate and increased cardiac output - when exposed to boating noises. Certain fish were even able to detect and react to watercraft that were up to several hundred meters away.

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It seems clear that fish can not only pick up on noises, but the disturbances can have at least a temporary negative effect, especially if the sounds punctuate the status quo of background noise and vibrations.

Underwater ship noise in two Austrian lakes and the Danube River led to increased plasma cortisol levels (an indicator of stress) in several fish species - but the same fish did not appear to be affected when exposed to Gaussian (random or background) noise. This may explain why fish living in more traditional captive environments, like aquariums and ponds, can survive - and even thrive - despite constant noise from pumps, aerators, filtration equipment, crowds, loudspeaker announcements and even music.

Aquarium Success Factors

When I queried two professional aquarists about the Marlins ballpark matter, they brought up the topic of Gaussian noise and wondered how that might compare to the baseball game noise experience.

They also pointed out that, in their own major metropolitan public aquarium, people bang on the aquarium glass (despite signs condemning this activity), scream, take flash photographs and attempt to interact with the aquarium inhabitants as much as possible. And there's the issue of after-hours social functions, including wedding receptions, birthday parties and sleepovers, which generate much-needed revenue for aquariums.

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Of course, noise isn't the only factor to consider when examining the matter of aquariums in a major league ballpark. For the project to succeed, species selection is critical.

The aquarium inhabitants should have a history of thriving in captivity and be captive raised, as opposed to being taken from the wild. They should also be native to Florida, if the Marlins hope to provide an enriching educational experience for fans and players. And there should also be dedicated and experienced staff charged with the care and maintenance of the animals and their life-support systems.

I have reservations about this initiative, but since it's so unusual and unique, it's hard to predict success or even anticipate potential pitfalls. If the decision is made to implement the aquariums into the permanent ballpark structure, then I recommend a contingency plan in case problems such as power outages and hurricanes arise. These aquariums should not be thought of as decorative but as windows into a world of natural Floridian beauty and wonder.

Dr. Gregory A. Lewbart, MS, VMD, Dipl. ACZM, is a veterinarian and professor of aquatic animal medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University. Dr. Lewbart is also the author of four veterinary books and two novels, Ivory Hunters: A Novel of Extinction and Pavilion Key. Dr. Lewbart shares his Raleigh home with several pets and his wife, Diane, who also happens to be a veterinarian.

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Source of Original Article: Field of Fish Dreams: Is a Major League Ballpark Aquarium a Bad Idea?