As many of you may have noticed from the news or from my Twitter feed (@echinoblog), the National Zoo's Invertebrate House (here in Washington DC) will be closing its doors for good on Sunday, June 22nd. So, if you're in DC on Saturday GO see it before its gone!
The official Press release explaining the closure can be found here. Since the closure, the Washington Post has written a very nice Requiem for the Invertebrate House.
A very passionate and concerted effort to save the Invertebrates Exhibit was started by Terri Jacobsen. As of this writing (Friday, June 20) it has garnered the support over over 2,281 signatures! While this may not change the outcome on Sunday, I hope that her good efforts will result in some influence and/or demonstration that invertebrates are worthy of a full presence in ANY "zoological park"...
I dropped by to give my regards to my friends (both vertebrate and invertebrate). Everyone I spoke to was disappointed and like myself, sad to see the exhibit go.
But in the meantime, as we proceed to the weekend, I thought I would offer some of the things/critters that I will miss after the closure...
1. Stomatopod!
ANT TRAFFIC!
Nautilus!
Japanese Crustacean Art!
Minoan Stirrup Jug with octopus motif!
4. BIG HERMIT CRAB!
6. Ctenophores & other Jellies!
7. The AWESOME behind the Scenes where the zoo folk work! !!!
8. That BIG spider that they let live out in the open without any glass!
9. Watching them feed that AWESOME Cuttlefish!
10. Those AWESOME colored cerianthid sea anemones!
11. Sunflower Stars! (Pycnopodia helianthoides)
12. And of course, the AMAZING coral reef exhibit..
My BEST to everyone at the Invertebrate House!
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