SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Families can now get a close-up look at ocean life without leaving town thanks to a new touch tank exhibit at the San Antonio Zoo.<\/p>\n
Touch tank visitors can interact with marine invertebrates while learning about coral conservation and the threats facing reef systems at the Brewer Ocean Conservation Lab.<\/p>\n
The touch tank is open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Wednesdays through Mondays.<\/p>\n
Inside, visitors can see animals such as cleaner shrimp, a chocolate chip sea star, a horseshoe crab and Halloween hermit crabs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a stigma around a lot of these animals, that they don\u2019t look like animals like we think of like dogs and cats, but they do still have really big personalities,\u201d San Antonio Zoo senior aquarist Samantha Mehr said. <\/p>\n
Through viewing windows, visitors can also look at the zoo\u2019s coral conservation work. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s simply to educate that there\u2019s another part of the ocean that we desperately have to take care of,\u201d Robert Brewer, a donor for the Brewer Ocean Conservation Lab, said.<\/p>\n
One of the world\u2019s healthiest coral reef systems, the Flower Garden Banks, calls the Texas coastline home. <\/p>\n
Zoo officials warn it could decline rapidly over the next 20 years due to climate change. Their plan is to grow the coral for research to help it withstand warmer waters with the goal of one day restoring it back to the gulf. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s important that people understand that, around the globe, coral reefs are so important for so many countries and so many people for living,\u201d Brewer said. \u201cFor sustaining their lives.\u201d <\/p>\n
The coral exhibit is included with regular zoo admission. <\/p>\n
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