A 700-Gallon Upgrade at Cabrillo High School Aquarium
A new 700-gallon tank will mean more room to swim for some central coast sharks at Cabrillo high school.
The Cabrillo High School Aquarium proposed a $75,000 CREF (Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund ) grant. The proposal was to get the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to vote in favor of the grant. The county did vote in favor of it.
On Wednesday, students at Cabrillo high school are were working on the aquariums mini-expansion as they brought in parts of a new 700 gallon shark tank.
Students will transfer two juvenile leopard sharks, one swell shark, and two horn sharks into the tank by the end of the week.
Greg Eisen, Cabrillo High School aquarium director, said “We’re very excited to have a bigger shark exhibit to accommodate our growing shark population here.”
They will move the sharks from a 350 gallon tub to this 700 gallon tank.
Ashley Small, a senior at Cabrillo, said ” The little kids won’t be hovering over the tank, they’ll be able to look at the sharks swim past their face.”
The new shark tank is part of Ashley’s senior project.
Ashley said, “now they’re just kind of laying around, in the new tank they’ll be able to free swim.”
Ashley said the aquarium has taught her a lot. It’s a chance for students to work hands on with marine animals. She hopes the new exhibit will encourage others to get to know marine life.
” I want to go up to Monterrey for marine science and hopefully work at the aquarium there.”
The $75,000 dollar grant will help replace the warm water reef tank, and add two new wet lab stations.
