A new exhibit at the aquarium in Niagara Falls is both a trip to another world and a journey in time.
"Jellyfish were an opportunity for the aquarium to embrace its future direction, which is modernizing all the exhibits and bringing in new animals that will inspire a desire to learn more about aquatic conservation,” Gary Siddall, Aquarium of Niagara’s executive director says.
From the lights to the customized soundtrack, The Aliens of the Sea exhibit at the Aquarium of Niagara provides an up-close look at four jellyfish species. Siddall said the exhibit is the second-largest project in aquarium's five decades.
"They're very unique compared to anything we have here,” Siddall said. “These animals move a lot differently, they look very different and the way we care for them is very complex."
That's where Lauran Jozik, the zoological supervisor, and her team come in.
"They are very interesting creatures for something that seems so simple,” Jozik said.
Made up of 95 percent water, jellies certainly are fascinating.
"They don't have a brain and they don't have a heart, yet they still eat and swim," Jozik said.
They can swim around five miles each hour, using water spit from their mouths, and can grow up to 20 feet in length.
"A group of jellies is called a swarm or a smack," Jozik said with a laugh.
That’s just one of the fun facts to be learned at the exhibit, but it’s not the only one the staff at the Aquarium of Niagara wants visitors to take home.
Jellyfish “are very delicate creatures who depend on healthy oceans for survival,” Jozik said. “Hopefully they will take that message of conservation and run with it."
The Aquarium of Niagara will be adding exhibits featuring sting rays and sharks, but the timeline for those projects is yet to be finalized.