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MERMAIDS, MARINE LIFE & TROPICAL FISH
At AQUARIUM In LAS VEGAS

By: Jeff Weiner ©2021 BY JEFF WEINER
Photos: Ron McGee @ramvisions | FB RAM Photographics

Fins Magazine CEO took to the RR have any diseases or parasites. And
microphone and interviewed So basically it’s for ages seven to then, if any one of the animals are
Ryan Ross, curator at the Silverton twelve. It’s an hour and a half long, sick, we can pull them out and nurse
Aquarium in Las Vegas, NV. and there is a half-hour behind-the- them back to health.
scenes tour which basically covers
********** what it takes to keep an aquarium We pull the stingrays out and give
JW like this going. them physicals two times a year and
First, thank you for taking the time. weigh them. Then, we feed them
It’s a pleasure to meet you. We’re We have a half-hour stretching two times a day with a very specific
really excited to find out what’s been warm-up session and then a amount of food. So, it keeps us very
going on at the Silverton. This is a half-hour in the water. We have busy.
great environment and aquarium, mermaids get in their tails and swim
so if you would first, just tell me your along with the children and coach JW
name and what you do here and a them and teach them, and the kids What’s the best part of your job?
little background on yourself. seem to absolutely love it.
RR
RR JW To be able to create this environment
My name is Ryan Ross. I am the So this swim is done in the aquarium? is incredible. Sometimes I stand in
aquarium curator here at Silverton When is it going to start up again? the crowd in street clothes and just
and have been here since 2005, listen to the people talk about how
soon after the aquarium opened. RR amazing it is. I just want to make the
I’m in charge of [the] 117,000-gallon Yes. Hopefully, [we] start up soon, best exhibit possible.
saltwater aquarium, 1000s of tropical but we are not sure when.
fish, and over 100 different species. JW
We also have 500 gallons of jellyfish. JW Do you think the exhibit helps kids
Is there a level of danger in this? develop any kind of environmental
JW For example, there are sharks in the awareness? Is there a broader
What’s your background? How aquarium. message that can be achieved when
would you be trained to be able to they can see this kind of thing?
do this? RR
The particular species of sharks RR
RR we have aren’t the big, nasty shark I hope so, because that’s how I got
I never in a million years thought I’d attack ones that you hear about in into this. We are involved in cleanups
wind up in Las Vegas in the middle the news. They’re not the great white around the valley, Lake Mead, and up
of the desert, but my degree is in sharks; they are small and live on the on Mount Charleston. The aquarium
marine biology. So after school, I bottom, and don’t even eat fish. So has been here for 16 years, and we’ve
jumped around, did different jobs, this is important for the mermaid only ever done one water change.
and eventually moved out here to school, as well as for the mermaids We are constantly recycling the
Vegas. I have worked my way up the that swim inside daily. water for conservation.
ladder, and I love it. I’ve been here 16
years now. JW The Stingray feeding shows are
What’s the toughest part of your job interactive. The biologist in the
JW here? water has a full-face mask on with a
The Silverton has mermaids, which microphone inside of it. It broadcasts
makes it unique in Las Vegas. RR on the speakers to the audience.
Managing the animals. So many fish
RR in the aquariums. Thousands of fish We try to educate the public—you
Yes, that’s right. The mermaids natively live on a coral reef. So what know, make an impact. I was always
evolved from an underwater happens is they start picking at that kid that loved to go to zoos
show that we had for a couple of the backs and tails of the stingrays, and things like that. I always loved
years. Between performances, the which will open wounds on the animals.
mermaids would swim and interact animals. So we have to find who’s
with the audience. doing that, and we have to pull the And so, if we can impact some kids—
stingray out and let it heal. So it’s whether it’s through the mermaid
The show didn’t last, but the constantly juggling animals. school or the interactive Stingray
mermaid swims did, and it’s really feedings to get the conservation
taken off. We have three mermaid JW message out there—[and they]
shows, three interactive Stingray So you have an animal hospital on become interested in animals or
feeding shows, and we will soon start the side. science, I think we’re doing our job.
up our mermaid school again, which
was growing in popularity before the RR JW
pandemic. Yeah, absolutely. We have a Okay, so what’s the best part of
quarantine facility in the back having mermaids in your exhibit?
JW where, when we get new animals in,
Okay, let’s talk about the mermaid we put them through a quarantine
school for a second. What is that? procedure, make sure they don’t

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