Featuring replicas of nine of the most famous sea creatures in the world - dolphins, walrus, sea lions, killer whales, emperor penguins, hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, pelicans and great white shark in their natural habitat in the different areas of Sky Garden from April 27 until may 31, 2012.
Dolphin Lagoon
Dolphins are marine mammals closely related to whales and porpoises. Half of their brain can sleep at a time, leaving the other part fully awake to keep them afloat and aware of dangers. They also need to be partly awake so they can breathe. This makes them very unique from most mammals who lived on land.
Dolphin Lagoon |
Have you gone dolphin watching? You might ask why they have to jump out of the water when swimming? This sounds funny but dolphins jump in the air to save energy, as it consumes less energy traveling through air than water.
Walrus Shores
Unlike the dolphin, a walrus can sleep while it swims. When it's time to sleep, the walrus fill its throat sacs with air for them to function like floaters and keep them on water.
Walrus Shores |
Walrus can eat up to 120 pounds of food a day! They can consume 3000-6000 clams in one go! Sadly, walruses have been close to extinction for some time, because they are hunted for their tusks, oil, skin and meat.
Orca, the Great Killer Whale Pool.
Orca is a toothed whale belonging to the ocenic dolphin family . Although they're tagged as the killer whales they are not considered a threat to humans. They're the largest of the dolphin family. Orca are called the killer whales not because they feed on humans but because they do sometimes kill other whales, hunting them in packs.
Orca, the Great Killer Whale Pool. |
An Orca is literally larger than life! Imagine they can stretch up to 32 feet long and weigh 12,000 lbs - thats roughly 600 times our size! With that, they all have the second-heaviest brains among marine mammals - all those brain neurons make them easily trainable.
Sea Lion Coast
Sea Lions are known to be highly intelligent animals - we see them in parks- performing tricks not all animals can do. They are so smart they have also been trained to assist the United States navy!
Sea Lion Coast |
Have you seen Sea Lions cry? That's not because they're sad - their tear ducts are simply removing the salt water from their eyes. They do have clear eyesight but are nearsighted. But unlike us, they can see better in the water than on land.
Did you know that even if they live in water, sea lions don't actually drink water? they get all the water they need from their food! Amazing!
Emperor Penguin Park
Among the 17 species of penguins, Emperor Penguins are the largest. Being the only penguin that can survive the Antarctic's icy weather all year round, they live in the Antarctic with an average life span of 20 years. To identify them, they are penguins with tall stature and yellow color around their necks.
Emperor Penguin Park |
Their wings have the highest feather density of any bird species, but they cannot fly. Sad, right? But even if they cannot fly as seabirds, they can dive deeper than any other known bird species, and they use this skill to catch their food deep in the ocean.
Did you know that a group of penguins are called differently when on land and at sea? On land they are called a waddle of penguins, while at sea, a raft.
Pelican Aviary
If its not a typical bird and not a plane, it could be a pelican! Unlike other birds, pelicans have bold, black and white markings, blue legs, an enormous bill with pink pouch and yellow eye rings. All pelicans have elongated bills and throat pouches. they have the largest bill among birds at 18 inches. They use this to catch fish and rainwater for drinking.
Pelican Aviary |
So what are you waitin for? Definitely there are more reasons to go malling and enjoy summer at SM City North EDSA!