- My name is Kat McFadden

and I am a senior aquarist here at Georgia Aquarium.

And I have the privilege

of working with our Ocean Voyager exhibit,

which is one of the largest aquatic habitats in the world.

It's over 6.3 million gallons of temperate salt water.

It's also home to some of the largest fish in the world,

including our four whale sharks and three manta rays

and about 8,000 other smaller fish as well.

A lot of people have asked what it takes

to keep all of these animals happy and healthy

on a day-to-day basis.

So I thought I'd share with you guys

just a little glimpse of what my day looks like

in Ocean Voyager.

Follow me.

Welcome to the deck of Ocean Voyager.

It is even bigger than it looks like

when you're down in front looking at all the animals.

It is nearly the length of a football field.

And so we have all of those

6.3 million gallons of salt water,

and you can't see so well,

but behind those walls is all the life support systems

that it takes to keep that water clean and comfortable

for the animals that live in here.

So a tank has quite a bit of food

that we have to get through throughout the day.

He is a very large turtle,

we're talking 400 pounds plus,

and his entire diet is vegetarian

which means he eats a lot of lettuce.

He also gets cabbage,

today he's got some red cabbage.

He also has some bok choy in there.

We try to vary up the vegetables quite a bit.

But let me tell you, this animal definitely loves his salad.

There are seven species of sea turtles in the world.

Every single one of them are endangered.

Green sea turtles are one of my personal favorites

and Tank is a great ambassador for his species here.

Sea turtles can live

very similar to a human's life expectancy, 80 years plus,

so he's got a home here absolutely forever

and Ocean Voyager is a large enough habitat

to accommodate that.

So our food is prepared for us every single day

by our wonderful commissary team.

And so this is Tallulah's food right here.

Tallulah is our largest of the three manta rays.

And on top we have her vitamins ready.

So even though Tallulah is a very, very large fish,

she actually eats really tiny foods.

This is superba krill,

it's kind of like a really tiny shrimp.

And as you watch the manta feed

you'll see how we offer that exact amount of food

right to the mantas in this huge habitat.

And one of the tools that we use

is this large ladle on a stick.

So we can put the food right in here,

and every single one of our mantas

knows what color their ladle is.

So Tallulah is our blue ladle

and she will line up right to it

and we can offer that krill directly her mouth.

I am convinced they're the smartest fish out there.

They have one of the largest brain to body ratios

in the fish world.

They've got fantastic vision,

they have learning ability,

and we're really wanting to see

what we can learn about their cognitive abilities as well.

And that's not something you traditionally

see with a lot of species of fish,

but the mantas are definitely in their own genre.

They're fantastic.

We are the only aquarium in North America

to house mantas here,

so you're gonna get a very special experience

when you come to see them.

Even just seeing these animals in real life,

I mean, nothing compares to it.

(peaceful music)

We have nearly 8,000 smaller fish in here

and we certainly don't forget them every day too.

And you could see the batfish know that it is feeding time.

We are just over top of our large theater viewing window.

It is one of the largest aquatic viewing windows

in the world,

it's over 23 feet tall.

So hopefully

the guests that are standing right underneath me

are gonna get a really nice view.

And it looks like today

we've got some more gel food for them.

Again, this is a super healthy diet.

It's got all the vitamins that they need

to keep their color and their health up.

And you can see all this reflection

on the surface of the water,

that's not just the lights on the exhibit.

We have a natural skylight in here.

That's really unique

'cause it allows our animals to get the sunlight,

get the vitamin D and the UV rays

that they need for overall health.

(peaceful music)

Just like our mantas,

we have these whale sharks which are very, very large fish.

However, they too are eating super tiny food here.

So if you look in those bins,

you'll see very similar to what you saw in the manta bin.

We've got a lot of superba krill,

we've got some of that gel food in there, some vitamins.

We also have maybe some small fish

I see a layered down there in the bottom

just to make sure they get that varied

and nutritionally appropriate diet.

And I've talked a few times about,

when we have so many animals,

making sure that they all know

where to go to get their food is very important.

The whale sharks are absolutely no exception to that.

So each of our feeders,

they go to a specific line,

and each whale shark knows where their boat is

and what their ladle is.

So right now you are watching Yushan eat.

He he's got a red ladle

and Kayla is feeding him on the second line over.

The whale sharks definitely go through quite a bit of krill.

So even though their food is very small,

they still need to eat quite a lot of it.

We're looking at up to 50 pounds of food a day

per whale shark,

and they're still growing.

Whale sharks, despite their name, they are true sharks.

However, they are the largest fish in the ocean.

They'll usually hit just over 30 feet.

Even the record sizes can get a lot bigger than that.

So these are very large fish

and it takes up quite a bit of food

to keep them happy and satiated.

I've talked to many guests who,

they see these whale sharks

and they ask if they're whales.

And when they find out, nope, they're sharks,

that can be kind of a scary thing,

a shark that is that big.

However, these are incredibly docile creatures

despite their ginormous size, that huge mouth.

The only thing they care about

is plankton that is about this big.

I'm hoping that by coming to the aquarium

and seeing all of our beautiful creatures,

that our guests will start to just get an idea

of how unique and varied

and what is out there in these oceans,

and even by changing one small thing that we do

in our day-to-day routines,

whether that's making sure that we're recycling

or being mindful of our carbon emissions,

even just taking a carpool,

that can have collectively a huge impact,

not only on the ocean

but on all these animals that live in it.

I'm truly thankful that you got to join me

for a glimpse into our routine every day at Ocean Voyager,

and I encourage you to come visit us in person,

let us share these beautiful creatures with you.

And if you can't make it in person, that's okay too.

Visit our website at GeorgiaAquarium.org

and take a look at all the virtual offerings

that we have available for you as well.

Thanks, have a great day.

(peaceful orchestral music)