Employees worked through the night to quarantine and acclimate seized animals
Nearly 1,000 trafficked marine animals have arrived at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach this summer after wildlife officials intercepted two box-truck smuggling operations, according to the aquarium and the Associated Press.
“This is one of the largest hauls the aquarium has handled in years,” said Nate Jaros, the facility’s vice president of animal care.
The first operation, in June, led authorities to a box truck carrying roughly 2,000 animals — a mix of reptiles, fish and invertebrates being smuggled for sale on the black market. The aquarium received about 500 marine animals from that operation on June 19, including an array of fish, sharks, clams, shrimp, prawns and tiny snails.
The facility was short-staffed the day the animals arrived. Employees worked through the night to move the creatures into specialized quarantine areas, where staff tested their shipping water for pH, dissolved oxygen and ammonia levels — byproducts of the animals’ waste — before slowly acclimating them to their new tanks.