Coral Collection Brightens National Aquarium

Coral Collection Brightens National Aquarium

November marks a special occasion for the National Aquarium of New Zealand when it opens its doors to one of the largest coral collections on display in New Zealand.

The creation of this new display is due to the generous donation by Invercargill coral collector Clif Carson, who gifted his beloved collection to the aquarium in May.

The collection is extensive and is made up of some rare species which Mr Carson acquired over a ten year period. It contains a variety of hard and soft corals from all over the world.

National Aquarium of New Zealand manager Rob Yarrall says once he heard about the gift, they quickly put a plan in place to freight the fragile specimens from Invercargill to Napier.

“We had to work to a very tight timeline”, says Rob.

“The collection needed to be transported through a mixture of road and air freight to get to its new home within a 24 hour period. We had a logistical challenge in front of us, but one we were eager to overcome as we knew this new collection was a tremendous asset for the aquarium”.

Since arriving, the coral has been placed in a holding tank while a new tank and display has been designed and constructed to house the impressive collection.

Now that the hard work is complete, the aquarium team is ready to move the coral to its new home, a three metre purpose built acrylic tank located on the first floor, next to the existing marine exhibit.

“We have had to either make ourselves or commission the making of other specialist equipment to maintain the coral closely to its natural habitat including a specialist lighting and filtration system,” says Rob.

“Individual corals require different amounts of UV light and strength of current to thrive, therefore we have had to carefully plan where individual corals are placed in the tank.”

A further consideration for the aquarium team when placing coral in the tank is the compatibility of coral with their likely neighbour. Coral species can fight with each other. They can reach out with their tentacles and sting each other – it’s all about competing with space and food on the reef.

There’s definitely more to coral than meets the eye!

Rob Yarrall says despite the collection of coral being a wonderful asset for everyone to enjoy, it represents an important environmental message.

“Coral worldwide is reducing in number due to pollution. They are a very delicate living organism and there is a very fine balance between survival and non survival. It is so important how we look after the oceans, or we stand to lose them all,” says Rob.

“The good news is that cuttings of coral can be propagated in captivity leaving no need to disturb coral in the wild. Many coral in this collection are excellent examples of propagation.”

The opening weekend represents an opportunity to celebrate the significance of this unique ‘jewel’ that has been hidden away for many years. Thanks to one man’s generosity it will now be on display at the aquarium for everyone to enjoy.

Coral Collection Opening Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 November

9am – 5pm each day

Marine Parade, Napier.

Prepared by No 9 Marketing & Design on behalf of the National Aquarium of New Zealand.

ENDS

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