Page 68 - August 2016 Life In Naples Magazine

ROOKERY BAY

TECHNOLOGY AND NATURE

WORK TOGETHER

TO KEEP MARINE LIFE HEALTHY & HAPPY

AT ROOKERY BAY

ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER

S ome exciting things are happening in the watery world at
Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center. Located
between Naples and Marco Island, the 16,500 square-
foot center features a two-story exhibit hall and was developed to
serve as an interactive gateway into the 110,000-acre Rookery Bay
National Estuarine Research Reserve. The center’s exhibits, nature
store, art gallery and more provide a comfortable environment
for kids of all ages to learn about the estuary. The center is also
responsible for keeping many species of fish and other marine life
comfortable in its seven aquarium tanks.

It features an 18-foot tall lifelike mangrove tree sculpture extending its
leafy canopy skyward while arching prop roots provide structure for fish
swimming below the water’s surface. Kids can even crawl into a ground-
level bubble to see what life is like for the fish living among the protective
prop roots.

The most engaging exhibit in the center is the marine life touch

The aquaria in the center introduce visitors to the amazingly
diverse community of animals found in the estuary and nearshore
marine environment. Three 50-gallon focus tanks enable close-
up views of some of the younger, smaller fish and unique marine
life. Tank residents have included hermit crabs, barbfish (a native
venomous species), seahorses, polka-dot batfish (the Center’s
mascot) and a southern stargazer, which is a fish that is able to emit
an electric charge as a defense mechanism.

Because oyster reefs are a primary habitat in Florida’s shallow
coastal areas, a 300-gallon tank displays a sculpted reef that provides
habitat for a small school of goldspotted killifish and sheepshead
minnows, as well as tulip snails and other mollusks of the reef.

The 400-gallon seagrass tank has a life-like bed of turtle grass,
an important habitat for sea turtles and fish, and houses flounder,
seatrout and southern puffer, to name a few.

The center’s largest tank is the 2,300-gallon mangrove aquarium.

68 Life in Naples | August • September • October 2016