The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is an aquarium run by the Audubon Nature Institute. The aquarium specializes in aquatic life of the Americas. The exhibits feature regions throughout North and South America, with 10,000 animals representing 530 species,[1]
Coverage[]
The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is featured in Waters of Death.
It was introduced in 1 day after people when the death count begins at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, just a stone throw from the Mississippi River. The show gave information that the aquarium can support over 12,000 marine animals in one million gallons of fresh and saltwater. In the first few days after people, some fish will starve but the real problem is the sudden lack of electricity to the aquarium pumps. 50 pumps kept the fish healthy during the time of humans by adding oxygen to the water and removing waste every 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. James Arnold stated that after people, the emergency generator would run for about a week and after the fuel run out, no one would fix it.
The jellyfish were the first casualties.
In 1 week after people, the emergency generator has shut down and the first animals begin to die, being the jellyfish. The jellyfish are unable to keep themselves afloat and were depend on water currents. When the artificial currents stop, the bloodless nerveless creatures sink to the bottom where water pressure pushes through their gelatinous bodies and the jellyfish disintegrate. The aquarium one million gallons of water was cleaned and re-circulated through a 100 miles of plastic piping in the time of humans. The waste was not dumped, instead they were eaten by trillions of bacteria called nitrosomonas placed in the pipes by the aquarium staff. The ammonia-gobbling nitrosomonas produce their own waste which was consumed by another bacteria called nitrobacter. The system worked perfectly as long as it was operated by trained people. James Arnold stated that after people, the system would slow down and stop. In the confines of an aquarium, the ammonia waste crowds the tank as the oxygen is depleted, and when the fish breathe, the ammonia poisons their systems from shark to sapper, who gasp for air and hemorrhage internally.
The dead fish after the aquarium was evacuated.
Dead fish after Hurricane Katrina.
It already happened the last time when the aquarium was left without people, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, flooding neighborhoods and knocking out power around the city, including at the aquarium. Standing on ground several feet above sea level, the aquarium wasn't flooded, but police evacuated the nine person support team left behind to care for the marine life, 3 days after Katrina. This cause the emergency generator to shut down, the recirculating pumps stopped, and the catastrophe began when the fish used up the tanks oxygen and then suffocated or choked on their own waste. The aquarium staff returned on the 4th day after the power shut down. Tom Dyer recalls that they could the smell of the Gulf of Mexico exhibit before entering the building and when they went on top of the exhibit with the flashlight, they could see very large sharks and redfish floating, along with out dead animals that covered the whole surface. The flashlight couldn't penetrate more than an inch into the warm, blackened with decomposing fish, then something broke the surface. Tom Dyer recalls that they saw that and they were all thinking "what the hell was that?" The answer was a tarpon, a saltwater fish that can grow up to 6 feet or longer. The fish can breach the surface to gulp air, making the tarpon's dual ability to saved its own when all its water breathing companions died. In fact, all the air breathers survived including the 2 river otters, the penguins, and the rare blue eyed alligator.
With people gone forever, the aquarium generator loses power in a week and as the fish die, the waste eating bacteria have an ammonia banquet and the Katrina disaster is repeated, but without last minute rescues.
In 1 year after people, the aquarium has suffered little outside deterioration after a year but inside there is only one survivor, the white alligator. Alligators can survive a year without food by conserving energy in extreme situations by reducing their heart rate to 1 or 2 beats per minute. After people and a year, there will be few heartbeats left and the white alligator finally dies. Although it is not mentioned, the aquarium can be seen in the background during 150 years after people, where it is still intact.
Gallery[]
