Ocean Park Aquarium

We visited Ocean park Aquarium. Marine bioligists take you through the various tanks and explain about the sealife in each. Really great.

We started at the morey eel tank. Apparently, don't put you finger in their mouth. It's not going to happen unless you are feeding them for example. He said to google the video of man feeds Morey eel sausages. He puts his thumb in. They have a secondary set of jaws. You hear a "pop". This is his thumb going at the joint.

There are 3 times as much Calamari as there are humans, weight for weight. You can eat these - it's a very sustainable thing to eat.

Sea snake holds it's breath for 2 hours. They can shut cardiac supply to parts of their body. Each has enough venom to kill all 30 of us on the tour. Most venomous creature.

The manta rays have a poisonous spike that will hurt but not kill. They are like arrows and barbed. They go in easily but do not take them out as they will rip out your flesh. Leave the tips in, then go to a doctor, who will cut in to the point end and drag it out forwards. Steve Irwin was very unlucky to get struck in the lung area. Plus he pulled it out, and would have suffered serious injury from that. It is possible he would have died anyway. The larger ones are less venomous.

Golden trevally can see above water. They attack birds, bugs and flying fish. Watching them race to get the feed thrown over the water was very impressive, like some sci fi super power.

Sharks are misunderstood. They will only attack sick, weak or dead fish. They don't eat much. 200 people die from selfies each year, but very few from shark bites. Don't pay attention to the scary movies.

The pretty brown fish with the feathery quills are quite poisonous. They are in plague proportions where they've been introduced in other parts of the world. In Australia, the sharks are smart enough to eat them from the fleshy side, to avoid the darts.

Stone fish are the most venomous fish on earth. The spikes are intensely painful. The pain can last for 80 hours. They can kill. The way they kill is not due to effects of poison directly. People die from cardiac arrest due to pain. He's asked mothers who've been bitten to compare the pain. They said being stung is ten times worse. It's some kind of enzyme muscle break down toxin, I think?

There is an antivenene, but no cure for the pain. Morphia will not dull it. You can put your foot into hot water, say 55 degrees, to deactivate the enzymes. This is the only help. Don't do it too hot, or you cook your foot off, as has happened to many people. These guys occupy any tropical area, including the East Coast, as we found out after Louis asked. They have gone south to Trigg Beach in Perth, I guess due to the heating climate. The spikes are as sharp as a needle, and as tough as a nail. If they kill, it is due to the extreme pain. The victim goes into cardiac arrest.

Turtles are in trouble, from climate change, habitat loss, mainly from plastics in the ocean. They mistake plastic bags for jelly fish. They cannot burp or fart. Undigested food can cause gas that causes them to float. They cannot then dive to the depth to get food. They are magnificent creatures.