![]() I want you right there with me in the bush. I’m not a scientist, but I am a conservationist. Irwin was untroubled by this inhospitality, reassuring The Washington Post’s Fern Shen in an interview outside the tank that being “bitten, chomped, nipped, groped” was all a part of the job. The famous Crocodile Hunter posed with the animals for several minutes, until a particularly irritable gator snapped at his shin. In 2002, the National Aquarium welcomed conservationists Steve and Terri Irwin into their alligator tank. “Clerks worked yesterday in the Commerce Building, unaware that a six-foot alligator-equally unconcerned-was roaming loose somewhere in the basement.” ~The Washington Post SPECIAL GUESTS At least some of the subjects were among the unfortunate ranks of the aquarium’s stock who had leapt to their deaths. Artists could take paint and a roller to a recently deceased fish and make a print to bring home. In 1983, the National Aquarium became a spot where visitors could learn and practice the Japanese art of gyotaku, or fish printing. A naming contest was held for the five newcomers. In 1932, three gators named Pay Cut, Furlough, and Dismissal had “free run” of the basement, and in 1941, another gator escaped its enclosure and remained at large for several hours. In 2000, five American alligators were donated to the aquarium to replace Gitcha and Gotcha, former residents of the gator tank who had become too big for the space and were being relocated to Florida. The alligators were particular stars of the aquarium from the very beginning, attracting visitors and press attention. The aquarium hosted a retirement party for Spunky, where children could win prizes for guessing the turtle’s weight. Spunky, a 3 ½ foot green sea turtle, lived in Washington for 21 years before being relocated to a science center in Florida in 1990. Many animals called the aquarium home for decades. The carp were a gift from a former Japanese Prime Minister to President Richard Nixon. Some denizens of the tanks were rare or endangered species, like the four blueback trout native to the Rangeley Lakes region of Maine who were brought to the aquarium with the help of Maine’s Rep. The spoiled amphibian enjoyed hand feedings from aquarium staffers. Most of the residents were stocked from National Fish hatcheries, although others, like the beautiful Japanese carp who moved into their new tanks in 1973, were gifts from foreign dignitaries. The creatures who filled the aquarium varied from tropical fish to turtles to alligators, and even included a giant frog from Louisiana named Popeye, who was too lazy to catch his own food. ![]() ![]() Reptiles like Spunky the Green Turtle were fan favorites at the aquarium.
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