FASTIDIOUS ZOO FISH

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 80, 28 December 1929, Page 27

FASTIDIOUS ZOO FISH

A curious example of the varied cargoes carried by barges on the Grand Union Canal in England is provided by the arrival in the Regent’s Canal Dock of a supply of sea water for the Zoo Aquarium. . Common fishes might be satisfied with any kinds of water so long as it bore some resemblance to their native element. Not so, however, the highclass fishes that disport themselves for the edification of visitors to the Zoo. For these aristocrats of the sea a specially pellucid water is needed, and, even though it comes all the way from the Bay of Biscay, it has to go through an elaborate process of purification at Regent’s Park before the denizens of the Aquarium’s tanks will so much as look at it. The Zoo authorities pander to their taste because among them are specimens which, if they drooped and died, would be expensive, and in some cases difficult, to replace. Even the “stars” at the Zoo Aquarium, however, are dependent in the last resort on the common water barges which carry fresh supplies of tiie "Bay of Biscay’s best” on the last stages of the journey from the Regent’s Canal Dock to the Zoo. Here the curious cargo is transhipped through a 650-foot hose into the Aquarium’s underground reservoir where it remains until it is purified. There is a characteristic quality associated with water from the famous Bay. It is crystal clear and enables visitors to the Zoo to get a better view of the exhibits than would be afforded by the use of water from other sources.