When my daughter was about 18-months-old she became enthralled with fish (actually, she loved anything that loved water). So I decided that we should celebrate her second birthday at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. I wrote about our experience in a previous blog, but what I failed to share was the incident that almost got us booted from the world famous facility.
It happened near the beluga whale tank. We had just watched the dolphin and whale trainers give the animals their lunch and were leaving to get something to eat ourselves. The whales live in a gigantic clear tank so those under 4-feet can see the animals frolic in their “natural” environment. However, the entire surface of the pool is exposed. At the time my daughter was 28-inches tall so as much as she desperately wanted to join the whales in their tank, there was no way she could accomplish the feat. Given those circumstances I let her toddle off while I reorganized the stroller and dug out my wallet to buy lunch. In the four minutes that it took me to do this, my daughter had made it over to the sea lion area (a few yards away). As I started to stroll towards her I heard a deep voice sternly call: “Ma’am, ma’am.” I didn’t bother to look in the direction of the voice because, one, I was trying to retrieve my daughter, and two, I couldn’t imagine that someone would be trying to get my attention. Moments later I found out I was the “ma’am” the voice was referring to (it was the firm grip on my arm that gave it away). Apparently, my daughter who constantly complains about having to carry her “oh-so-heavy” sippy cup for more than a minute, somehow mustered enough strength to hurl a bag of fruit snacks into the beluga whale tank… and I was about to pay the price for it.
Long story short I was reprimanded and escorted out of the area while the animal trainers rushed to fish the fruit snack pack out of the water before the whale decided that he needed a shot of Vitamin C. The reason I am sharing this travel tale with you is that I was reminded of this incident when I heard about the teddy bear someone dropped into a pool at a New Hampshire fish hatchery—and killed all 2,500 rainbow trout living in the pool.
Unquestionably, that incident had a much more devastating ending than our Shedd experience. The state’s Fish and Game Department hatcheries supervisor told local reporters the teddy bear, dressed in a yellow rain coat and hat, clogged a drain at the Milford hatchery, blocking oxygen flow to the pool, and suffocated the fish. The trout were worth a total of $1,232.50.
So may this serve as a warning to those of you who may be planning a trip to the New Hampshire attraction (the site provides a recreational fishing opportunity for people who purchase a fishing license). A new sign has just been posted there–it reads: “RELEASE OF ANY TEDDY BEARS into fish hatchery water IS NOT PERMITTED.” Workers there are also urging anybody who drops objects into a hatchery pool, to find an employee to remove it. “They might save your teddy bear, and keep it from becoming a killer,” workers said.
I felt bad enough that my daughter tried to “help” feed the whales. I’d hate to have the death of more than 2,000 trout on my conscience.
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