Tidepool Disaster Averted

Wednesday May 27, Pacific Science Center animal caretaker Dan Warner had five minutes between a staff meeting and lunch time, and decided to check in on our Puget Sound Saltwater Tidepool animals. It turned out to be a smart decision that saved the animals from hours of stress, and might have saved some of their lives.

When Dan checked the tidepool, the water looked "wrong". He didn't see the patterns of ripples that indicate it is being circulated. The animals were oddly motionless. Checking the recirculating water pump, Dan found that it appeared to be barely functioning. Instead of recovering, it failed completely when he tried to restart it.

A replacement pump must stand up to saltwater, and must operate 24/7 without problem. Our old pump was just about perfect, but wouldn't you know, they don't make it any longer. The new pump fits all the criteria, and should last us for many years. The old pump is being sent back to the manufacturer who offered to make repairs so that it can become our backup system in the future.

Facilities Technician Kirk Vanfossen knew as well as Dan did that this was an emergency for the animals involved. He was cleaning the ponds, but dropped his pressure washer and met Dan and Life Sciences Manager Sarah Moore in the tidepool back room within minutes, where it was quickly determined that the pump was no longer operable.

Because they are intertidal, our animals can tolerate more extremes of temperature and water conditions than deep water animals. But the combined stress of being handled, residual chemicals from products that do not rinse off of visitor hands and a broken pump would be too much for them. Without circulation to bring deliver oxygen, filter out contaminants and bring the temperature down, the animals would quickly become stressed and eventually die.

Don Sundgren, Maintanence technician, was able to adapt the system to the new pump, and we started it up.

Once the new pump was in place, we ran it for 24 hours to make sure there were no problems, and to let the water chemistry settle down after slower circulation caused some drag on the natural biological filter. The water was then tested, appeared to be in good condition and the animals were examined and found to be healthy and ready to go.

The healthy, happy tidepool was reopened for visitors to enjoy!