Just heard about this exhibit last week and wanted to go see it.
A story from the Chicago Tribune.
"A temporary Brookfield Zoo exhibit designed to teach children about aquatic animals remains closed after 16 stingrays died when temperature controls malfunctioned on a 16,000-gallon saltwater tank, a zoo spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The "Sharks at Stingray Bay" exhibit, which had a total of 33 stingrays, eight sharks and three horseshoe crabs, was staged by a 3-year-old San Diego company called Living Exhibits. Mike Yeakle, the company's president, said he flew to Chicago on Monday to inspect the equipment and believes a fluctuation in the power supply caused the tank's heater to kick on.
When the stingrays were found by two Living Exhibits employees early Monday, the water temperature was almost 90 degrees10 degrees hotter than normal, said Yeakle and zoo spokeswoman Sondra Katzen.
"Any good animal person takes it hard when you lose your animals," Yeakle said. "It's always tough."
The exhibit is closed while Brookfield Zoo staff investigate what caused the life-support system to malfunction. Yeakle said the equipment was being "re-engineered" to prevent the tank from overheating again. It had a back-up generator to power a cooling unit, but the voltage never dropped low enough to kick it on, he said.
Commonwealth Edison investigators were at the zoo Monday and Tuesday, said ComEd spokesman Luis Diaz. So far, no problems had been detected on ComEd equipment, he said, but he declined to comment about any possible power fluctuations.
Yeakle said his company, which has a total of seven exhibits on display in North America, may ship out more stingrays when the Brookfield Zoo exhibit is cleared to reopen."
A story from the Chicago Tribune.
"A temporary Brookfield Zoo exhibit designed to teach children about aquatic animals remains closed after 16 stingrays died when temperature controls malfunctioned on a 16,000-gallon saltwater tank, a zoo spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The "Sharks at Stingray Bay" exhibit, which had a total of 33 stingrays, eight sharks and three horseshoe crabs, was staged by a 3-year-old San Diego company called Living Exhibits. Mike Yeakle, the company's president, said he flew to Chicago on Monday to inspect the equipment and believes a fluctuation in the power supply caused the tank's heater to kick on.
When the stingrays were found by two Living Exhibits employees early Monday, the water temperature was almost 90 degrees10 degrees hotter than normal, said Yeakle and zoo spokeswoman Sondra Katzen.
"Any good animal person takes it hard when you lose your animals," Yeakle said. "It's always tough."
The exhibit is closed while Brookfield Zoo staff investigate what caused the life-support system to malfunction. Yeakle said the equipment was being "re-engineered" to prevent the tank from overheating again. It had a back-up generator to power a cooling unit, but the voltage never dropped low enough to kick it on, he said.
Commonwealth Edison investigators were at the zoo Monday and Tuesday, said ComEd spokesman Luis Diaz. So far, no problems had been detected on ComEd equipment, he said, but he declined to comment about any possible power fluctuations.
Yeakle said his company, which has a total of seven exhibits on display in North America, may ship out more stingrays when the Brookfield Zoo exhibit is cleared to reopen."
