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Monday, November 21, 2005
Our ocean — discovered
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was a day of a dozen glitches drowned out by a thousand cries of “Wow!”
The Georgia Aquarium opened its doors to the paying public for the first time Monday, and scores of Georgians rushed in to stare into the faces of whale sharks, beluga whales, sea otters and 100,000 or so other exotic critters in the world’s biggest fish tank.
“Wow, wow and wow,” said Liz Lonergan, who with her husband, Dennis, was one of the first visitors to see the massive window that fronts the 6.2-million gallon Ocean Voyager tank. “This is amazing.”
The couple, expecting twins in April, left their Toco Hill home early Monday to get a glimpse of the big window and the creatures behind it, which include whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, giant grouper and thousands of golden trevally.
“It’s like diving, but you don’t have to worry about your oxygen running out,” said Dennis Lonergan.
Aquarium officials unveiled the ship-shaped aquarium in downtown Atlanta to annual pass holders as part of a two-day “soft opening.” The limited opening is intended to iron out problems and determine if aquarium officials need to tweak the time-ticketing system they have in place. The system requires visitors to book their visits by their arrival time. (Once inside, they are allowed to stay as long as they wish.)
General admission ticket holders will not be allowed into the aquarium until Wednesday, and they, too, have to reserve a time slot to get inside. Aquarium officials said most time slots for the first week are already booked.
Crowds logjammed quickly Monday morning in front of the Ocean Voyager window and near the belugas’ tank in the Cold Water Quest gallery. There also were large crowds near the sea otters and in front of the large coral exhibit in the Tropical Diver exhibit.
“We figured we could handle about 3,500 people at a time in here,” said Jeff Swanagan, the aquarium’s executive director. “We want to make sure everyone has a quality experience, so we’ll be monitoring it closely the first few days and making adjustments as we need to.”
Aquarium officials estimate about 14,000 people visited Monday.
There were 30-minute waits at one point in the early afternoon to exit the aquarium’s 1,600-space parking garage. And some season pass holders showed up without the special bar codes they were supposed to print out for entry. Swanagan said some aquarium e-mails apparently got stuck in pass holders’ spam filters.
There were hourlong waits to get laminated season passes, and many visitors opted to come back for those. They have 90 days to get the permanent passes.
The aquarium’s Web site (www.georgiaaqurium.org) crashed at one point because of heavy volume, and the call center had trouble keeping up with callers trying to purchase tickets.
But those snags didn’t seem to bother most of those who braved the rain and chilly temperatures. Many said they wanted to be a part of what they considered a historic day for the city.
“It’s the nicest thing next to the ocean without having to put the kids in the car,” said Susan McGlennon of Buckhead, who brought her children, Seamus, 2, and Fiona, 10 months, to the opening. “We’re coming three times this week.”
People stood 10 deep in front of the belugas’ window at time. Small children waved and chanted, “Gasper, Gasper” as the injured beluga rescued from a Mexico City amusement park quickly became a crowd favorite, turning his ghost-white head and appearing to look his human admirers right in the eyes.
Six-year-old twins Madeleine and Morgan Kahn of Roswell arrived shortly after 9 a.m. in matching pink-and-fuchsia dresses. Each wore pink-and-lavender eyeshadow and silver-sequined fishnet caps.
“We’re mermaids,” Madeleine explained as she danced around on the sidewalk, oblivious to fact that she was standing at the back of a line that wrapped from the front entrance to behind the building.
The day began with some major-league exposure that kicked off a week of worldwide publicity for the aquarium. NBC’s “Today” show personalities Matt Lauer and Al Roker did more than a dozen cut-ins from the fish tank.
At day’s end, Home Depot co-founder and aquarium benefactor Bernie Marcus, 76, was still bounding through the crowds, showing off exhibits to individual visitors. Marcus spent $250 million of his fortune on the $290 million facility.
“Isn’t this something,” he grinned. “I just love this.”
— Staff writers Bridget Gutierrez and Stacy Shelton contributed to this article.
First arrivals awed, proud
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The allure and fear of the deep sea were the bait Monday for Lisa Crawford and Carey Overby.
The 29-year-old friends from Decatur were the first season pass holders to enter the Georgia Aquarium on Monday. They had planned for two years for this moment, and set up camp in the rain at 4:45 am.
Crawford wore a blue felt hat in the shape of a fish for the occasion. She loves the ocean and has vacationed at “every beach in Florida.”
Overby wore a pink octopus hat. Being underwater scares her. On a scuba trip to the Cayman Islands, she had a panic attack.
“This is a way that I can closely experience the ocean all around me,” she said just before walking in.
Also at stake for them was their hometown’s reputation. Both were born and raised in metro Atlanta and roomed at UGA. When people say there’s nothing to do in Atlanta, they think that’s unfair — and hope the aquarium will help change that image.
“I want to be wowed and know that we did it right,” said Crawford, waiting for Deepo the orange mascot fish to welcome her in.
At 9 a.m. the sea opened to landlocked Atlantans. The friends had only an hour before Overby had to leave for work.
They headed directly to the Tropical Diver coral reef exhibit. Waves crest over the top of a tank that curves across the ceiling to the floor, and a spectrum of colorful fish and coral.
“That was the experience I wanted to have — underwater,” Overby said.
She wasn’t claustrophobic. Later in their whirlwind tour, she even entered a little cave and popped her head into a glass enclosure to see African penguins and have her picture taken.
The aquarium, and her investment in time and money, lived up to her hopes and expectations.
She walked through the gift shop on the way out. “I know where everyone’s getting Christmas from this year,” she said.
As season pass holders, they’ll spend hours here in the future. Monday was just their first dip in the inside ocean, soothing and enthralling like the real one.
Rallies push for animals, homeless
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In weather fit for, well, a sea otter, dozens of demonstrators lined up outside the Georgia Aquarium to protest everything from the plight of the homeless to the plight of, well, sea otters.
“They use words like education, conservation and research, but it is all part of the same cycle,” said Susan Sherwin, campaigns manager for the World Society for the Protection of Animals at a news conference. “Even well-intentioned facilities add fuel to the fire.”
Sherwin’s WSPA, represented part of the alphabet soup of organization’s protesting the opening of the aquarium, or “fish prison,” as it is known by the folks of PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“If the aquarium really wanted to preserve the oceans, they wouldn’t be ripping fish away from their homes and imprisoning them in the equivalent of a bathtub,” said Karin Robertson, manager of PETA’s Fish Empathy Project. They brought Freeda Fish, a 6-foot clue mascot.
But at least the Beluga whales, leafy sea dragons and whale sharks had a home. “We are calling on the city of Atlanta to rearrange our economic priorities and house people before fish,” said Heather Bargeron, press secretary for the group. “Our priorities should be about caring for people dying on our streets.”
Nearby, state Rep. “Able” Mable Thomas (D-Atlanta) led about a dozen protesters positioned on Luckie Street in singing freedom songs and carrying signs reading “House People Before Fish.”
“This aquarium symbolizes corporate greed,” said Thomas, who was with a group called The Movement to Redeem the Soul of Atlanta. “It gives you a chance to see suffering in communities a miles from here, while they are asking people to pay $22 a pop to see fish in an unnatural inhabitat.”
NBC show includes big dippers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
7:04 a.m. — Standing just inside the front doors of the Georgia Aquarium, NBC’s Matt Lauer is bantering via satellite with his “Today” show co-host, Katie Couric in New York. He is flanked by two dozen radio contest winners, many of whom are clearly more interested in Lauer’s looks than the 8 million gallons of water surrounding them. “Matt, Whale you marry me?” gushed one of the signs in the background.
7:09 — Lauer’s sidekick, weather guy Al Roker, is across the aquarium’s atrium, perched atop a staircase near the Cold Water Quest exhibit.”We’re talking about water inside today,” he chirps on-air a few seconds later, “and we’ve got water outside,” noting the steady drizzle.
7:45 — Aquarium staffers use ladders to help Roker into a stingray tank, where he jokes with the crowd about the “shrinking effect” of the 76-degree water. Lauer takes off his shoes, dons waders and dips into the water for a live hit at the top of the hour. “I hope nobody bites them,” jokes aquarium benefactor Bernie Marcus.
8:15 — Lauer now is helping feed the sea lions while interviewing their caretakers. Technicians have spent days preparing each of the choreographed segments, making sure the lighting and other elements are just right. At the last minute, Lauer decides to squat instead of stand to get closer to the animals. “Lower that light! We need the light lowered!” shouts a producer, as technicians scurry to adapt.
8:30 — Roker and Lauer are back together in the Ocean Voyager gallery, where a pair of whale sharks looks on curiously. “Katie, we ought to get the Windex concession here. We’d make a fortune,” Roker jokes.
9:07 — Lauer says goodbye to Katie and leaves it to Roker to finish out the show’s third hour.
Life in the tank: Ask a whale shark
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I am the ocean voyager, the one they call “Ralph.� You can distinguish me from my comrade, Norton, by the golden trevally that swim by my face, buoyed by my current. They do not bother me. I may inhale one with my krill during second breakfast, but I spit him out again. No harm done. We watch out for each other.
The trevally say something strange is going on this morning, but I can already sense the change. The potato cod are skittish, and the rays have migrated south to the viewing window.
What is happening over there? The one they call “Bernie� has come early, far earlier than usual. Yes, we all recognize him. We know he must be the biggest fish on the other side, because he, too, has a posse of trevally-like creatures following him wherever he goes. Perhaps they are swimming lazily in his current. Perhaps they are hoping to share his krill.
But now the air-breathing trevally are schooling in numbers we have never seen. They have brought their fry. They point devices that flash and sparkle like bioluminescent plankton. They gasp and shriek. The goliath groupers bulge their lips in fury. The hammerhead sharks contort their bellies against the window to protest the presence of these intruders.
Norton and I try to calm the frantic fish swarming alongside our flanks. The cubarra snappers whisper stories of a dark abattoir called the sushi bar; I assure them there is no such thing. Besides, we are safe on this side.
But now vast lights shine through the window. The leader of the othersiders, the one they call “Matt,� stands before them. He is, well, skinnier than I would’ve thought but seems a gentle sort. Let us hear him out.
Matt addresses the othersiders as well as an invisible one he calls “Katie.� Bernie speaks with him, which calms us all. Something about this Matt makes me think he understands the inside of a fishbowl.
Perhaps today won’t be so strange after all. Othersiders school beyond the window throughout the day.
Most of the fish stop watching them, but a few remain on edge. I try to calm them. This aquarium has been built for months, I explain as gently as I can. It was about time they’d think of stocking it.
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Sights and sounds
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sights and sounds from the opening
• Sarah Meyers, 6, of McDonough won her family a trip to Georgia Aquarium to see the filming of the “Today” show in a call-in contest to Radio Disney. But during the 45-minute wait for the segment to begin filming, her little sister Rachel, 4, became whiny and antsy. She was on the verge of being escorted outside by her mother, Nancy, when an actor dressed as mascot Deepo walked by. “Can I give him a hug, Mommy?” Rachel asked. The hug did the trick.
• After “Today” show host Matt Lauer, standing in front of the Ocean Voyager big window, warned the crowd to turn off their cellphones, one loudly went off. It belonged to his cameraman.
• For one “Today” segment, Matt Lauer and Al Roker put on waders and climbed into the ray tank in front of the Georgia Explorer exhibit. Most of the fans standing around held up cute hand-lettered signs — “Matt, whale you marry me?” — but a couple took advantage of the advertising potential. One person held up a sign for an Atlanta-based interactive marketing and technology firm. Tricia Woodall, a media buying agent for Comcast, held up a banner for her company until aquarium associate Andy Schell made her put it away. “That’s just because BellSouth is a sponser here,” said Woodall. “They’re scared to death of us.”
• Most of the first-day attendees made a beeline for Ocean’s Journey to check out Ralph and Norton. But Andrea Davis, 16, a junior at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, was most curious about the ballroom. “I’m so excited. I want to see the ballroom, but I don’t want to see it. I want to wait till prom night.”
• A staffer for the “Today” was overheard saying that Al Roker was joking he would “be in a rowboat chumming the water for sharks” when Matt Lauer took his dive.
• “Yeah!” “¡Mira!” “That’s awesome!” “Woo-hoo!” — a few of the reactions as people turned the corner and first saw the big window in Ocean’s Journey.
• Friends Betrand Williams and Sandy Mahathirath of Lawrenceville took off work today to be, in their estimation, “among the first 50” season pass holders in line for the 9 a.m. entry. They waited since 7 a.m. in the rain. Once inside, they waited again outside Ocean Voyager because they wanted to be in the first group admitted. They wondered how they would tell the whale sharks apart. “Are they labelled?” asked Mahathirath. “I think they wear name tags,” answered Williams.
Rubber shark accompanies family
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was only 11 a.m. but Susan McGlennon, of Buckhead, had already shepherded her children, Seamus, 2, an Fiona, 10-months, through the entire Georgia Aquarium.
“I keep walking in circles so he’ll think it’s something new,� said McGlennon, 37, of her son as she rested on a padded bench inside the Tropical Diver exhibit.
Seamus pressed his hands against the glass and marveled at the hundreds of multi-colored fish swimming among the coral reef. Underneath the stroller, a foot-long rubber shark peeked out of a mesh basket — a decoy planted by his mother for when the family was ready to leave the aquarium, which can only be exited through the gift shop.
“I figured if he brought his shark from home,� McGlennon said, “he wouldn’t need anything [at the gift shop.]�
A traffic jam — inside
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The underwater spectacles on display at the Georgia Aquarium are creating traffic jams of another kind inside the $290 million facility.
At the Ocean Voyager tank, as many as 250 adults and children were gawking at the three-story high window into the world of whale sharks, giant grouper, rays and hammerhead sharks. Many applauded upon witnessing the scene within the world’s second largest aquarium window.
Amphitheater seating just across from the window encouraged many to watch the watery wildlife for over an hour.
Dennis Lonergan, 45, from Toco Hill, sat with his wife Liz.
“Wow! This is amazing,� said Liz Lonergan.
“It’s like diving,� said Dennis Lonergan. “We went to the Caymans for our honeymoon two years ago and this is a lot like that.�
Aquarium director Jeff Swangan said the flow of visitors through the downtown attraction was “pretty good� but the situation would be monitored and perhaps adjusted through the week.
The marine mammals — sea lions, sea otters and beluga whales — are also creating a bit of a logjam with fascinated spectators, he said.
Fish fans brave rain, protests
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Standing in line outside the new Georgia Aquarium shortly after 9 a.m., the Westmorelands, a family from Mableton, looked on as protesters across the street raised signs and chanted, “House people not fish!�
The social commentary didn’t dampen the spirits of the family, who will be among the first to see what is being touted as the world’s largest aquarium.
“I’m excited to see what their reactions are,� said Shirley Westmoreland, 42, of her children, Mason, 9, and Gavin, 4.
The Westmorelands, who are among the season ticket holders being granted entrance for the first time today, already had been standing in line for about 25 minutes without coats. No one was complaining about the chilly, rainy weather.
“We’re hoping to come three of four times this year,� Westmoreland said. “At least.�
The line outside the Georgia Aquarium continued to grow Monday morning. As many as 200 annual pass holders were clustered outside as a steady rain began falling around 8, an hour before the aquarium opened its doors for annual pass holders. “Today� show audience members were let in a few hours earlier.
Aquarium volunteers handed out more than 50 umbrellas, but there was not enough to shield everyone from the rain.
Aquarium director Jeff Swangan said he was pleased to see season pass holders stream through the front door of the attraction at 9 a.m.
“It’s so great just to have regular people coming in,� he said.
Asked if she thought the aquarium would help revive downtown, Kathi Paul, of Sandy Springs, replied “Yes, tremendously! It will attract people from all over, and most will stay to see what else Atlanta has to offer.�
“I grew up in Mobile, on the Gulf, but I’ve never seen some of the creatures I will see today, especially Ralph and Norton,� said Eileen Malatino, of Decatur, an employee of the Centers for Disease Control, referring to the giant whale sharks and Jackie Gleason Show namesakes.
“I know I’ll never get a chance to see them, and a lot of other marine life besides, in the wild,� she added.
Dan Delanty and his wife Sydney, of Canton, arose before dawn to bring their sons Jack, 8, and Max, 5, and the boys’ grandparents, Jack and Sharon Delanty, of Acworth, to the downtown attraction.
“My son Jack wants to see the sharks, especially the big hammerhead,� Dan Delanty said.
“I like sharks,� the boy beamed.
Group advocates for more housing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Downtown has gone to the fish, homelessness protesters shouted this morning at Centennial Park.
“House people before fish!” chanted the raucous crowd of about 50 that began arriving at about 9 a.m., many wearing blue cardboard shark heads.
“A sad day for Atlanta when we choose fish over thousands of homeless,” one protester’s sign read.
“We’re calling on the citizens of Atlanta to redirect their priorities. Before we find the money for a fish house we should find the money to house the poor. We’re concerned that more public housing is being demolished and the residents aren’t being taken care of,” said Heather Bargeron, with the Martin Luther King Campaign for Economic Justice.
The group also shouted out their disdain for Atlanta’s new anti-panhandling ordinance which bans beggars in the downtown area. Fake dollar bills featuring “Barnacle Marcus,” aka aquarium sponsor Bernie Marcus, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and aquarium mascot “Deepo,” bemoan the ban, saying it limits free speech and led to the “unjust jailing of hundreds of Atlantans.”
Mike Vosburg-Casey had a sign that said, “How much is that fishie in the window? $280 million.”
“We need to build an economy that’s sustainable for all people as opposed to the anomaly of this place. We need a living wage, good jobs and health care for the poor,” Vosburg-Casey said.
Protesters from as far away as California were on hand.
“In L.A. we have similar problems, such as the Disney concert hall, which are all about building expensive projects to serve people who have money, so they can spend money, and this type of thing is going on all over the country,” said David Gardner.
The protesters are being watched closely by members of a private security force that oversees the park, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority Police. Officers on bikes scan the crowd from beneath a Brand Atlanta sign featuring the image of a fish and the slogan “Every Day is Opening Day.”
Hey, Mom! I’m pregnant
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Allison Zafft’s mom got a pleasant surprise Monday morning, compliments of national TV.
Zafft, who lives in Buford, held up a sign during “The Today Show,” reading, “Hi, Mom. Surprise. I’m pregnant.”
Zafft stood near to aquarium mascot Deepo, and “Today Show” personalities Matt Lauer and Al Roker, who were wading with cownose stingrays.
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Protesters have their say
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As the sun struggles to shine on Centennial Olympic Park this morning, a man dressed as a blue fish flaps a sign saying, “Fish in Tanks? No, thanks!”
Morning commuters rush by the intersection of Luckie and Thurmond streets, honking in appreciation, or is it disdain? It is hard to determine intent from a car horn.
“I’m Freeda Fish,” cries the marine mascot.
Freeda’s less fishy-friends, Karin Robertson, founder of PETA’s “Fish Empathy Project,” and Dino Blanchos, from Chamblee, flap a large sign — “The Whales say ‘No tanks!’”
Another member of the group Georgia Animal Rights Protection passes out animal rights literature.
“This aquarium is teaching … teaching children disrespect for animals,” says Blanchos. “If you want to teach respect for animals, don’t kill, eat, wear or put them in captivity where you shorten their lives in a cruel and inhumane fashion.”
“Originally, they said there would not be mammals,” says Blanchos, “but they lied. Imagine the good that could have been done for humans and animals with the $280 million spent here.
“Too bad Bernie Marcus didn’t buy a sports franchise like his partner.”
A topless mermaid is promised for Wednesday’s protest, the first day the attraction will be open to general admission ticket holders.
The animal rights activists have been told to not leave their corner of the park. Nearby, two anti-protest protestors keep watch on the fish-friendly foursome. They wave signs saying, “We support the Georgia Aquarium” at protesters and aquarium visitors alike.
A small boy, one of about 200 waiting in line to get into the aquarium at 8 a.m., seems intent on testing aquarium safety measures.
“Shark bait!” his sign warns.
In the tank with the rays
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s 7:45 a.m. and Matt Lauer is running late for his next live shot, where he will join Al Roker — and three dozen stingrays — in a tank at the Georgia Explorer exhibit.
Finally, with six minutes to spare, Lauer arrives, takes off his shoes and hops in a pair of rubber waders.
As Lauer and Roker joke with the crowd seconds before air time, aquarium benefactor Bernie Marcus looks on.
“I hope nobody bites them,” Marcus jokes.
Crowds arrive in predawn chill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Weather fit for a fish wasn’t enough to deter hundreds of Atlantans — from babies bundled up in their strollers to their parents — from lining up in the wet, 48-degree chill to get into the Georgia Aquarium to see the live broadcast of the “Today” on NBC.
“I was here at 4:45 a.m. and already there were 15, maybe 20, people lined up,” said aquarium volunteer Clay Rising.
By 5:50 a.m., more than 300 people were lined up and waiting patiently to be in the popular morning show’s audience.
Lesley and Sean Goodwin of Senoia brought their children Seth, 8, and 3-year-old J.T., to see the opening day of the watery wonder in downtown Atlanta.
“I think they’re going to love it,” Lesley Goodwin said. “I know I will.”
18-month-old Skyler Melton peered wide-eyed from his stroller while gobbling up fish-shaped candy. His parents, Allison Melton and Daniel Wilkins, waited in line. Like many, the couple said they had won tickets to be in the “Today” show audience.
The Today show started at 7 a.m. The first visitors were allowed into the aquarium at about 6 a.m.
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All eyes on Matt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s 32 minutes before “Today” begins. And Tarryn Reinagel and her three girlfriends can’t wait any longer.
The four Woodstock High seniors drove in from Cherokee County to get a glimpse of Matt Lauer and Al Roker. As the TV lights warmed up in the aquarium’s atrium, Reinagel and friends were looking for the best place to hold their signs.
One of them said, “Matt, whale you marry me?” The other read, “Pucker up, Matt, today is my birthday and I am 18.”
The crowd of about 100 early visitors then broke into a chorus of Happy Birthday. A trim-looking Lauer quietly made his way through the atrium behind them, going unnoticed.
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You know it’s big when Al Roker is here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s 6:09 a.m., and WXIA-TV meterologist Flip Spiceland is going over the lineup for “11 Alive News Today.”
“Steve will do the Roker cut-ins, and I’ll do the cheap gas story, right?” he says into his microphone.
Spiceland, one of the few people inside the Georgia Aquarium at this hour, is in the main atrium under a sign reading “Georgia Explorer: Discover Our Coast.”
On the other side of a curved wall, 50 radio contest winners are eager to get inside for a front-row seat at the “Today” show. NBC’s Matt Lauer and Al Roker are broadcasting from the aquarium this morning.
“I’m a scuba diver, so this is way cool,” said Dollie Villa, 56, of Smyrna.
Her pal, property manager Helen Smith, had her thoughts elsewhere.
“I’m hoping to get a kiss on each cheek — one from Matt and one from Al,” Smith said.
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