Category Cities

In which city was the world’s first public aquarium built in 1853?

On May 21, 1853, the first public aquarium was opened as part of the London Zoo. First called the "Fish House" in Regent's Park Zoological Gardens, it was made possible by English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse.

On any occasion when you’ve seen an aquarium, have you ever thought about how it came to be? No, not that particular aquarium that you visited or saw at someone's house. We are talking about the entire concept of aquariums as a vivarium of any size to house aquatic plants and animals.

The idea, in fact, is less than 200 years old. While a number of people were involved in the invention of the marine aquarium, English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse is credited with promoting the glass tank as a novel way of housing marine creatures. What's more, he was also responsible for using "aquarium" for this glass vessel, a term that still remains in use. 

Love for natural history

 Born in Worcester, England in 1810, Gosse was the son of Thomas and Hannah Gosse. Even as a boy, Gosse explored the sea life around Poole, a coastal town in southern England. His love for natural history awakened very early, he was encouraged by his aunt Susan Bell to observe and draw wildlife.

It was from his aunt Bell that Gosse learned about the metamorphosis of insects and the name of the common red sea anemone. Bell even suggested to Gosse that he should try to keep sea anemones alive in vessels of fresh seawater- an inception of sorts for an idea that he later championed. Gosse also took scientific inspiration from Bell's son Thomas, a naturalist who went on to become professor of zoology at King's College, London.

Finding his way across the Atlantic to Newfoundland, Canada, Gosse became a clerk in a seal-fishery at Carbonear harbour in 1827. In his early twenties, Gosse began to collect and document insects wholeheartedly in his spare time. When a couple of ventures he tried in Canada failed, he Books give him voice

Having received an invitation from a society to write An Introduction to Zoology, his research led him to write another, The Ocean. The unexpected success of his books earned him a fully-financed collecting expedition to Jamaica and his time there led to several more books. By this time, Gosse had not only developed the nuances of being a naturalist, but had also established himself as an important voice in the field.

By the 1840s, Gosse was collecting marine specimens in earnest, going about his business in two main fashions. As the eroding tides had created habitats for diverse lifeforms in the geologically varied shores of Dorset and Devon, Gosse explored these areas on foot. Additionally, he also collected marine species by coastal dredging from a boat.

By combining his love of observing with collecting, studying, drawing, and writing, Gosse became a Goliath in the field. He knew that in order to create reliable records that captured public imagination and led to scientific progress, he needed to keep his collection in good health and have a clear view of them. And so it was that Gosse became an authority in setting up a home-based aquarium, making artificial seawater, and even maintaining the set-up.

World's first public aquarium

It therefore comes as no surprise that Gosse was one of the most important people in setting up the first public aquarium in the world. Called the "Fish House", it was set up in Regent's Park Zoological Gardens as part of the London Zoo and thrown open to the public on May 21, 1853.

In his 1853 book A Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast, the word "vivarium" was used interchangeably with "marine aquarium". A year later, however, Gosse firmly believed that "aquarium" best described it. He mentioned that the word should be "neat, easily pronounced and easily remembered" in his 1854 book The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea, thereby setting it stone.

Additionally, he also stated the following: "Let the word AQUARIUM then be the one selected to indicate these interesting collections of aquatic animals and plants, distinguishing it as Freshwater Aquarium, if the contents be fluviatile, or a Marine Aquarium, if [the contents are salt water-based]."

Against evolutionary concepts Gosse was a contemporary of celebrated English naturalist Charles Darwin and the latter even turned to Gosse when setting up an aquarium of his own. Even though a lot of their work actually overlapped, Gosse firmly rejected the evolutionary concepts proposed by Darwin owing to his own religious beliefs.

Even though his creationist theories marginalised him, Gosse spent his entire lifetime observing the world around him, until his death in 1888. His work and practical contributions to marine zoology were important to the scientific establishment of his times. And the aquariums that he envisioned still enable us to bring a tiny slice of ocean life home.

Picture Credit : Google 

Cities can be wildlife havens too

Scientists say that even in urban environments, when we create the right conditions, things get better environmentally, and native species come back. Detroit’s sprawling metro area illustrates how such human actions can boost rewilding. In five points, let’s look at how urban rewilding happens and what its benefits are

WHAT IS REWILDING?

Rewilding generally means reviving natural systems in degraded locations -sometimes with a helping hand. That might mean removing dams, building tunnels to reconnect migration pathways severed by roads, or reintroducing predators such as wolves to help balance ecosystems. But after initial assists, there’s little human involvement. The idea might seem best suited to remote areas where nature is freer to heal without interference. But rewilding also happens in some of the world’s biggest urban centres, as people find mutually beneficial ways to coexist with nature.

DETROIT IS AN EXAMPLE

Hundreds of thousands of houses and other structures in Detroit, the U.S., were abandoned as the struggling city’s population fell more than 60% in the 1950s. Many were razed, leaving vacant tracts that plants and animals have occupied. Non-profit groups planted trees, community gardens, and pollinator-friendly shrubs. With this, urban rewilding in Detroit has been more organic than strategic.

THE BENEFITS

Conservation projects reintroduced ospreys and peregrine falcons. Bald eagles found their way back as bans on DDT and other pesticides helped expand their range nationwide. Anti-pollution laws and government-funded clean-ups made nearby rivers more hospitable to sturgeon, whitefish, beavers, and native plants such as wild celery. The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, just a half-hour drive from downtown, consists of 30 parcels totalling 6,200 acres, including islands, wetlands, and former industrial sites. It’s home to 300 bird species and a busy stopover for ducks, raptors, and others during migration.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING

The project in Detroit connects wildlife with local residents, some intrigued by coyotes and raccoons in the neighbourhood, others fearful of diseases or harm to pets. But people can also learn about proper trash disposal, resisting the temptation to feed wild animals, and the value of healthy, diverse ecosystems. It is also a chance to prepare communities and environments and societies to anticipate the presence of more and more wildlife in urban areas as we’re changing their habitats. Studies also show that time in natural spaces improves people’s physical and mental health.

 OTHER EXAMPLES

The German cities of Hannover, Frankfurt, and Dessau-Rosslau designated vacant lots, parks, lawns, and urban waterways where nature could take its course. As native wildflowers have sprung up, they’ve attracted birds, butterflies, bees, and even hedgehogs. In a 2.7-km stretch of the Kallang River has been converted from a concrete-lined channel into a twisting waterway lined with plants, rocks, and other natural materials and flanked by green parkland. In the U.S., Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and the non-profit Urban Rivers are installing “floating wetlands” on part of the Chicago River to provide fish breeding areas, bird and pollinator habitat, and root systems that cleanse polluted water.

Picture Credit : Google 

Where is Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake located?

Lake Titicaca is located at 3,810 metres above sea level in the Andes Mountains of South America along the border of Peru and Bolivia to the west and the east, respectively. It is the world’s highest lake navigable by large vessels. By volume of water, Lake Titicaca is the largest lake of South America.

Over 25 rivers end up in Titicaca, of which the largest is the Ramis River, which occupies about two-fifths of the entire Titicaca Basin. It enters the north-western corner of the lake. Another small river, the Desaguadero, merges with the lake at its southern end.

Before the arrival of the Incas many other cultures lived on the lake. A team of international archaeologists and divers excavated the ruins of an underwater temple in the year 2000. It is thought to be between 1,000 and 1,500 years old, most likely built by the Tiwanaku people. The ruins have been measured to be 200 by 50 metres. There was a village along with the temple and it had some roads, terraces for farming and a retaining wall, which was 800 metres.

Although the meaning of the name Titicaca is uncertain, it has been translated as Rock of the Puma or Crag of Lead.

Picture Credit : Google