Recipe for Success: Fish, bats, bugs, and more By Jessica Downey New Aquariums Worldwide What: Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada Where: Niagara Falls, Ontario When: 2006 Add to Ripley’s vast empire of attractions an enormous entertainment center at one of the most-visited natural attractions in the world. Part of the $200 million entertainment facility to be built on a 25-acre area of Niagara Falls, Ontario, will be Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. The company is adding to its portfolio of aquariums with state-of-the-art aquariums in Tennessee and in South Carolina. The 115,000-square-foot Niagara Falls Aquarium is set to open in 2006, according to Tim O’Brien, spokes-person for Ripley’s Entertainment. The entire venue will include a Great Wolf Lodge and an indoor waterpark, which will both be owned by Ripley’s and managed by The Great Lakes Companies, Inc. Bob Masterson, president of Ripley’s Entertainment, says this project best illustrates the company’s goal to enter the resort business and strengthen its presence in the aquarium market. A highlight of the new aquarium will be the Greenland shark, one of the largest predatory sharks in the world. Other interactive exhibits will showcase colorful and exotic species from around the world, taking visitors on an exploration through the Ancient Savage Sea and the Canadian Seas. And the journey will take visitors through time to see the evolution of the water world, O’Brien says that one of the most spectacular exhibits in the aquarium is an acrylic tunnel with a moving walkway under a 1 million-gallon aquatic habitat that features a wide variety of sharks, eels, and brightly colored tropical fish. The aquarium will also house an interactive discovery center, classrooms for students, a wetlab, and both public and curriculum-based educational programs for all ages. What: Oltremare Where: Riccione, Italy When: June 5, 2004 Just three hours south of Venice on the Adriatic coast of Italy, Oltremare, a new 27-acre park, dolphinarium, and farm is opening next month. Adjacent to one of the most popular waterparks in Europe, Aquafan, Oltremare will debut with the most advanced dolphin lagoon on the planet. Oltremare tells the story of the Earth’s evolution. Designed by the Canadian firm GA Lorenzon, Oltremare was a $175 million investment, says Barbara Migani Pearson, spokesperson for Oltremare. “At the moment we have a total of nine dolphins, five of which were part of the Delphinarium of Riccione,” she says. “The remaining four come from two other dolphinariums and they will alternate in daily performances and will show all their talent, as they have for decades.” Visit www.oltremare.org for more information. What: Georgia Aquarium Where: Atlanta, Ga. When: 2005 The 20-acre area just north of Centennial Olympic Park, which was part of the 1996 Olympic festivities, will become the Georgia Aquarium in less than one year. The $200 million project, which is being designed tolook like an ark, will include 400,000 square feet of aquatic exhibitions and more than 5 million gallons of freshand salt water. It will be one of the world’s largest aquariums and will contain 500 different species and more than 50,000 fish. Predicted to bring 2.2 million people to the area of downtown Atlanta, the development will also include a new World of Coke, due to open in 2006 (in time for the one hundred and twentieth anniversary of the popular beverage). Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus, one of the aquarium’s benefactors, has continued to lobby heavily for greater state participation in the project. Speaking at the ground-breaking celebration, Marcus said, “We’re going to have to make some very strong investments in infrastructure.” Nevertheless, the project is moving ahead on schedule. For more information aboutthe aquarium, go online and visit www.georgiaaquarium.org World’s Largest Cylinder Aquarium in Germany The AquaDom, located in the center of Berlin, adjacent to the historic Berlin Cathedral, opened in late 2003. The AquaDom is a multi-use development that houses a four-star hotel that includes retail, recreation, living, and office space. The complex uses water as its architectural theme, and this is punctuated by the impressive AquaDom aquarium situated in the center of the hotel complex. The base of the aquarium tank sits 29 feet above the ground floor. Visitors ascend through a column of water as they ride a glass elevator through the center of the aquarium. Along the seven-story ascent, visitors can see an array of colorful corals, basalt rock formations, and fish. The AquaDom aquarium rises more than 52 feet above its concrete base and is 36 feet in diameter. International Concept Management, Inc., partnered with Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc., to engineer, manufacture, and install the acrylic tank. This engineering marvel required more than 150 tons of acrylic to construct, including 26 acrylic panels for the outer cylinder and 15 acrylic panels for the inner cylinder. The panels were shipped from the RPT production facility in Grand Junction, Colo., to Berlin and then bonded together on-site. Disney Scientist Leads Cotton-Tops to the Future Project Director Anne Savage heads the 18-year-old conservation effort of the cotton-top tamarin in Colombia, South America, and at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando. The cotton-tops, which were declared endangered in 1973 after thousands were exported in the early 1970s, have a crest of long, white hairs on their heads, giving them a 1980s punk rock look. With the support of Disney, Savage runs a program that assists in the long-term conservation and research of the one-pound cotton-top tamarin in its native Colombia. Funworld interviewed Savage to find out what the fuss is about these creatures. What is Proyecto Titi (Project Tamarin) all about? Conservation is what we’re all about. It’s really grown from a small project to a full-fledged conservation program. We have to work with landowners and local people so we can preserve these habitats for the long term. But how do you go about doing that when you’re talking about saving this tiny one-pound monkey that’s found only in Colombia? It gets a little crazy at times. We set up a long-term field study where we’ve been collecting data on these little monkeys, and we probably know more about them than you could ever imagine. We try to share that with folks who think cotton-tops might be as common as squirrels. Most of the people we surveyed in Colombia don’t realize cotton-tops are endangered. So it’s quite a struggle for us to save a species that no one thinks is endangered. What kind of personality do cotton-tops have? They’re incredibly charismatic. They live in monogamous families. They have to learn how to be parents. It’s not instinctual. Cotton-tops help take care of their brothers and sisters. Both males and females participate in child rearing. The female alone can’t possibly take care of her babies. They also breed really well in captivity. How does Disney support Project Tamarin? Disney continues to support the operations and has been helpful in developing educational materials that focus on increasing awareness with kids who come to our field groups. They also fund all the research we’re doing. How can you measure your success? We can talk about different levels of success—we’ve had lots of moments where we’ve achieved certain things. The ultimate success would be to ensure the cotton-tops a place in the future. At this point, we’re getting ready to do the first census in Columbia. Now we’re going to go back and count monkeys, so that will be a major step. For information on the project visit www.csew.com/proyectotiti. A Mixed Bag for Six Flags Six Flags has launched a national advertising campaign that will introduce a new icon to represent the company. National television spots feature a lively character with a colorful bus who beckons families to escape their over-scheduled, hectic lives and give families some playtime together at Six Flags. The national campaign began airing in March 2004, during several primetime programs, such as FOX’s American Idol, ABC’s Hope & Faith, and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU. Six Flags timed the regional ads to coincide with each park’s opening schedules. Six Flags also introduced the media to the new live show that opened last month at Six Flags Great America and Wild Safari in Jackson, N.J.—Batman vs. Catwoman: Catfight—and a new 3D simulator ride that debuted at the country’s largest regional theme park. Catfight features the caped crusader and his sidekick, Robin, saving Gotham City from villainous Catwoman’s claws. The new show and 3D ride will be accompanied by major park enhancements that will mark Great America’s thirtieth anniversary. The renovations include improvements to all 15 rest room locations, new landscaping, theming, and a major upgrade to its sound system. When Nature Calls Next year, the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans will debut its Insectarium, a bug-themed attraction, and Joan Rivers is bugging out about it. Few celebrities are better at getting the word out than Rivers, star of the interactive theater experience Awards Night, featuring Rivers as Joan Riversfly. The CG-animated film, produced by Hollywood-based computer graphics studio Super 78, features Rivers performing her colorful preshow red-carpet interviews. The show was commissioned by the Audubon Nature Institute, which hopes to attract an estimated half million visitors the first year. The Insectarium will open this fall and plans on offering a glimpse of the most revered and reviled creatures in the world, from the local pests to exotic critters. Designed and built by Scenery West, Termites: The Second Battle of New Orleans and the Louisiana Swamp and Field Camp use humor to educate folks about the insects, which have been magnified 100 times. Life Underground shrinks guests to bug size by using gigantic animatronic insects to demonstrate the impact bugs have on the ecosystem and our own backyards. Other featured exhibits include Prehistoric Wonders and the Cooking Show, where celebrity chefs cook up insects du jour. From camel crickets to long-horned beetles, the Insectarium presents more than 1 million species of insects. The 23,000-square-foot museum presents live insects as well as interactive exhibits that explore the habitats and behaviors of bugs, and it employs several entomologists to ensure accuracy and timeliness. For more information, visit www.auduboninstitute.org/insect..