St. Lucie County Aquarium / Smithsonian Research Station
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| Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History |
420 Seaway Dr.
Fort Pierce, FL 34949
772-462-3474
Fort Pierce, FL 34949
772-462-3474
AT A GLANCE: St. Lucie County Aquarium / Smithsonian Research
Station
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Parking
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Free, onsite parking. Keep in mind that many tourists pass
through this area.
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Amount of time needed
to peruse exhibits:
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1 hour
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Amount of time needed
for gift shop
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5 – 10 minutes
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Dress code
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Just about anything
goes. Beach wear is appropriate here.
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Be sure to…..
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Get a shrimp manicure
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Nearby/other
establishments to visit
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·
Family-oriented beaches and parks
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Manatee Observation and Education Center
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Walkability, general
downtown area / amount of traffic
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You will need a car,
or other transportation.
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Safety, in terms of
type and number of crimes committed in general area
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Generally safe. Please keep valuables out of site and lock
your car, to keep the honest people honest.
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St.
Lucie County Aquarium / Smithsonian Research Station (Aquarium)
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| Great places to relax are adjacent to the Aquarium |
* The restrooms are located in the back, behind the Aquarium *
to locate camouflaged species in different settings. A volunteer happened along at the right time to help us out, because I saw nothing.
The
Discovery Room is at the halfway point of the Aquarium, and is a good place for
children to blow off some steam. There
are interactive stations requiring identification of different species, and
assigning a species to the correct ecosystem.
One of the
exhibits after the Discovery Room teaches us about varying
wave lengths of light, and why it’s best to use a light with a red filter. My favorite display is the tank with the
jelly fish. The Aquarium provides
benches in the event that you’d like to spend more time contemplating these
unique watery worlds. I think that I
could sit and watch them for 20 – 30 minutes.
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| Red filters to watch fish |
You
are at the end of the displays, yet there’s something you still need to
experience: the “Touch Tank.” No need to worry, all of the species here are
harmless and a trained volunteer is always
present and won’t let anything harm
you. I touched a sea cucumber and contrasted
its squishiness with the armor-like nine-armed starfish. Stick your fingers in the fish bowl that’s on
the counter. These little shrimp will
clean up your manicure by eating the dead skin around your fingernails. It’s tingly, creepy, and kind of cool.
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| The Touch Tank; History of Coral Reefs |
The
gift shop disappointed me. It wasn’t the
small size that I found disturbing, but its lack of merchandise available for
anyone other than a 3 – 13-year old child.
The majority of the gift shop had plush toys and inexpensive jewelry for
sale. There were no refrigerator magnets
or shot glasses, just a few hats, coffee mugs, one tote bag, and one t-shirt
design. You’ll be through the gift shop
in less than 10 minutes. I wish I could
write more about it, but my photos tell the remainder of the story.
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| Toys for children |
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| The t-shirt and tote bag |
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| Children's t-shirts; Grab bag items for children to purchase for themselves |
It’s
time for lunch.
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| The Original Tiki Bar, Ft. Pierce, Florida |
The
Original Tiki Bar (OTB)
Don’t hate the waitresses because they are all tan,
thin and young. Think about it,
though. Wouldn’t that be the best job? Remember back to when all of us were tanner,
thinner and younger then we are now.
Admit it; you’re already thinking about yourself as one of the wait
staff. Carefree, kind of wild, and
spending your time in Florida. Sign….where
have the years gone?
By now, you have seen the menu item “Cuban Sandwich”
often in your travels in Florida. It
consists of roasted pork, smoked ham, swiss cheese, pickle, mayo, and mustard
served on Cuban bread. The one at the
OTB isn’t bad if you’ve had a hankering to try one. Just so you know, this sandwich is better at
any of the Cuban restaurants in Central and Southern Florida. Trust me, it’s a wonderful sandwich; yet don’t
make a habit of eating these often. They
have 352 calories, which isn’t that bad, but oh, the sodium: 1,000 mg.
The OTB sells t-shirts, sweat shirts and similar
wearables. It’s as if Florida is telling
you that you
don’t have to stop shopping while you’re eating lunch. Sit back, sip your adult beverage, and get
some of your holiday shopping done. Many
would enjoy finding an OTB t-shirt in their stocking or pile of packages. It’s all good. Advertisement from folks wearing the OTB garb
that they’ve paid money for is always good in the marketing world. Especially if those people are tan, thin and
young.
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| Continue shopping during lunch |
Upon exiting the OTB, you will come face-to-face
with a souvenir/gift shop. There’s
nothing unique or exciting about the merchandise for sale here. In fact, the front half of the store is
schlocky. I advise you to skip it, as it
is not worth the time. Fortunately, you
have one more stop to make and it has the quality shopping you have come to
expect from me. Read on.
Related website:
Manatee
Observation and Education Center (MOE)
I’ll admit that so far today I have not provided any
quality shopping opportunities. That is
about to change. Go north (turn right) as
you leave the OTB parking lot, and minutes ahead is the Manatee Observation and
Education Center. There’s no denying
that it looks like the many souvenir stands that you pass on Highway 1. Give
this one a chance. The path from the
parking lot to the entrance does a good job educating and the importance of
preserving this species. You can read the informative signs that line the path
to the MOE and The Vanishing Mermaid Gift Shop. 
Manatees are considered threatened / vulnerable by
the organization that keeps tabs on such things: the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature (IUCN). This importance of
education you receive about preserving manatees lets you know that their
numbers are few, so please make it a point to learn about manatees while you
are in Florida. Manatees are slow moving
and gentle, and have the energy of a lazy Basset Hound. Go up on the
observation platform, and sit a bit on the benches provided and gaze at this
unique view. Walk back down the stairs
and look over to your right. Look past
the boats and the marina, and locate the building with the blue roof. The OTB is that long thatched rough in front
of it.
* Read more
about population status and the various levels conservation status at the end
of this blog.
Back to shopping.
The Vanishing Mermaid Gift Shop is part of the building that houses MOE.
Walk in.
Stop. A plush manatee wearing an “I
L♥VE MANATEES” t-shirt greets
you at the display closest to the entrance.
It will make you smile and tug on your heartstrings, often at the same
time. On your right immediately inside
the MOE, and surrounding my little manatee with the cute t-shirt are themed
plush toys, including hammerhead sharks, manatees, sand crabs and mermaids. The majority of children’s’ clothes and toys
are found along this wall, all the way to the back of the shop. The Vanishing Mermaid has many items for adults. Boutique-style tops and skirts, jewelry, and sassy hats are all there. We visited at an opportune time, because we found many things were marked down and “on sale.” I bought a $20 pair of earrings that had beenmarked down to $4.99. You know that I love a good deal. You might want jewelry that is fancier than my earrings, and that is behind the glass counter. I was about to spend over 30 minutes in the Vanishing Mermaid, but I was pulled away before my shopping mojo kicked into high gear. Their website offers online shopping for most of the items found in the shop. Enjoy the photos below.
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| Manatee slippers and a flamingo neck pillow |
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| Hammerhead shark, manatee, and mermaids |
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| Squiggly pens for children to purchase |
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| Refrigerator magnets; boutique items for ladies |
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| Metal flip flops for your home or office. I love these! |
Related
websites:
More manatee information
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This is a graphic courtesy of Wikipedia, and shows the varying levels of extinction. It is not certain how long it will be before manatees become extinct. If you'd like to find out more about the IUCN, click here.
Different
Ways to Perform Population Counts
As
an example, let’s say we have 200 manatees.
- · 140 of these are over 35 years old
- · 15 are younger than 1 year old
- · 20 are male, 25 are female
Here
are some assumptions we can make before we tackle the population count:
- · Manatees have a life span of 60 years
- · They breed when they are 5 – 9 years old
- · One calf is born every 2- - 5 years
- · Calves are dependent on their mothers for 1 – 2 years
- · Calving after 30 years old is rare
- · Each breeding female manatee has approximately five calves in here lifetime
Simple
question: what is the count of the
manatee population?
Answer
1: Count all manatees, and you can report
that you have 200 manatees.
Answer
2: Count only those manatees that are capable
of breeding right now, and your answer changes to 45.
Answer
3: Count only those manatees that are,
or will be, capable of breeding soon.
This amounts to 60 manatees.
All
of these answers are correct. You now
know to question simple population statistics to determine which answer is
appropriate for the subject asked. People will be awed by your insight.
Above graphic and information
are courtesy of "All the Sea" and Manatee From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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