Environmental holidays have already become traditional at the Primorsky Aquarium. This year, another important observance, World Walrus Day, was included in the Aquarium’s event calendar on November 24. It was an excellent opportunity for everyone to learn more about Pacific walruses and the dangers and threats these animals face in their natural habitats.
The first minutes of the holiday showed that the Aquarium had not seen such a surge in visitors for a long time. All who arrived at the celebration started with an interactive trail entitled “A Day in the Walrus’s Life”, which connected five education stations across the Aquarium. Two stations were in the Pinnipeds exhibit, one in the lobby near the Medusa cafe, and the other two ones in the Polar World and the Sea of Japan/East Sea exhibits. Each station highlighted specific topics such as where walruses came from and who their closest relatives are, how and what they eat, why walruses have tusks and others. After a fascinating story from our educator, each visitor who answered a control question received a piece of a puzzle and, upon finishing the trail, could assemble the picture of a walrus. We mixed the education with some fun surprises. Kids were enraptured by an activity that made them feel like a walrus: they put on two pairs of rubber flippers and tried to mimic the walk of this animal.
Elena Medelian, Principal Specialist of the Education Department, stated that the interactive trail had been enticing not only for children, but also for their parents and grandparents. Whole families came to learn about the lifestyle of these amazing animals. The young and the old listened to the stories from experts and watched a video about the life of walruses in the wild. They could also say hello to Misha the walrus, the hero of the occasion and the public heartthrob, who observed them from his large tank. After finishing the interactive trail, the visitors tested their knowledge with the quiz “I’m not a Bear”. The questions varied from the physiology and lifestyle of the walrus to the history and mythology associated with this animal. How many people know what a keglyuchin is and why is it dangerous? Or how to determine the age of a walrus? Though the questions were quite challenging, young guests managed to answer all of them and won their prizes.
Another activity of the celebration, a creative workshop “From Tusks to Flippers”, took place at the Art Gallery. The children used slime to create the imitation of fish in ice glaze, a common food for walruses, and folded origami models to write their wishes on. The Pinnipeds exhibit was the center of festive activities. Here, Ekaterina Raevskaia, Head of the Tour Department, guided the most impressive tour “Meet the Pinnipeds”. And it was the place where Vladimir Maslov, Senior Trainer, Misha's mentor and friend, answered numerous questions from journalists.
The culminating moment of the event was the demonstration of marine mammals’ skills in the Dolphinarium. It was almost a solo performance of Misha. Five trainers who had worked with the star of the Primorsky Aquarium since the day he appeared here took part in the presentation.
“It was a pure delight!” shared one of the visitors, Oksana Kochneva. “We came to the celebration together with my granddaughter, the student of the Belyok club. The Aquarium is a place where you can both observe sea creatures and learn a lot about them. And it is fascinating not only for children, but for adults, too. We wish our beloved Misha good health and unbelievable achievements. May he find his true love and start a family, like the other inhabitants of the Dolphinarium.”
“This year, World Walrus Day is celebrated at the Primorsky Aquarium for the first time,” summarized Mikhail Kornienko, Head of the Environmental Education Division. “We are glad that the holiday, primarily meant for children and teenagers, brought together people of all ages. The open access to the Pinnipeds exhibit added a certain zest to the celebration. Our team always strives to diversify events at the Primorsky Aquarium, and we are going to introduce such holidays as International Pinniped Day and Vitus Bering Day to the public next year.”
