Curious City
Hooked on Island Bay’s aquarium
Step through the doors of the Bait House Aquarium in Island Bay, and founder Victor Anderlini will greet you with a story.
‘‘What we’re trying to do is give people the chance to see what lives in the Cook Strait. Twenty-one years, we’ve been doing this, and we’re still enjoying it.’’
The Island Bay Marine Education Centre’s aquarium, housed in an old bait shed, sits bang in the middle of Taputeranga Marine Reserve. It houses the sea life of Cook Strait, from octopuses to anemones.
Anderlini says hundreds of species come through the centre, from a variety of sources.
Octopuses can make their way into lobster pots around the coast, and fisherman often drop their unexpected catch at the aquarium. The creatures usually stay there for about five months – being fed on live crabs – before being released back into the wild.
Other aquatic life, such as a selection of red-eared slider turtles, came to the centre as former pets, while a tank full of kahawai is regularly topped up by one particular family.
But it’s the octopuses that are the main draw, and they’re making quite a splash with visitors.
One of them, nicknamed Octomum, laid more than 1000 eggs three months ago and had carefully tended to them until they hatched a week and a half ago.
Most of the babies are gone now, washed back out to sea by the aquarium’s filter system.
Hidden behind a plain, brown door at the back of the aquarium are the pipes and pumps that move the seawater around. ‘‘This is basically a channel off the ocean,’’ Anderlini says.
The water flowing in and out keeps the sea life happy and healthy. There’s no dedicated veterinary service at the centre, so keeping the creatures safe is vital.
Up to 10 volunteers help out on Sundays – when the centre is open to the public. During the week, Anderlini and partner Judy Hutt care for the fish and crustaceans.
From 10am to 3pm every Sunday, a couple of hundred people step through the open doors. Anderlini tells his story to children especially. They are the ones who need to be invested in the sea life, to help fix the mistakes of earlier generations, he says.
The centre started life at Victoria University in 1996, where it functioned as a marine laboratory. In 2004, Anderlini and Hutt converted the derelict bait shed into an aquarium.
Each year, about 15,000 people visit on Sundays. Education sessions bring a further 8000 guests. All this is done in a 70-square-metre space. ‘‘We need a new centre,’’ Anderlini says – and he’s optimistic they will find more space nearby ‘‘within my lifetime’’.