The Georgia Aquarium is gathering much attention with its unique "SEA MONSTERS REVEALED: AQUATIC BODIES" exhibit that features preserved bodies of giant sea creatures including sharks and other undersea giants.
Flesh stripped to expose the muscular and skeletal systems as well as the visceral organs underneath, visitors of the Georgia Aquarium exhibit are sure to delight over a unique experience of viewing preserved cadavers.
The "SEA MONSTERS REVEALED: AQUATIC BODIES" exhibit is quite similar to two popular exhibits that display dissected human bodies: "BODIES" and "BODY WORLDS." Bothe exhibits have already toured around the world to give people life-like display of their organs as cadavers.
According to Yahoo! News the exhibition will open Friday and the show includes at least 18 big underwater creatures including a 15-foot-long mako shark and another 18-foot-long, a 6-foot devil ray, and a 3,000-pound whale shark. Alongside these giants are 150 individual animal organs as well as smaller zoological species.
Each giant display is designed to feature the two facets of the cadaver: the original or unaltered side and the one exposing the sub-layers of the integument and muscle networks. For example, the giant whale shark has one side displaying its gray skin with prominent white dots and the other showing its muscular system. A large cavity is seen on the unaltered side; this shows how the comb-like structures along the gills are being utilized by the said shark in filtering the sea water for its food.
Meanwhile, the silky shark display even reveals several embryos inside its abdomen on its altered side.
"These are creatures that historically, in the early days when they were first discovered, were considered monsters because early sailors who saw these animals really didn't know what they were," Aquarium Spokesman Cary Rountree said. "Over time, it's been revealed that they're actually some of the most marvelous animals in our ocean."
Rountree added that aside from cadaver displays, visitors can also find live examples of devil rays and whale sharks in the exhibit, for them to identify and see how the bodies of such animals work.
In accordance with animal protection standards, the aquarium maintained that all the preserved cadavers in the display were from animals recovered from fisheries and other sources and no necessarily from the live ones found in the Georgia Aquarium.
Just like how the human specimens in the "BODIES" exhibit, the cadavers used in this rare exhibit were preserved using plastination, a polymer-based preservation procedure. Plastination hampers decomposition by altering some components of the cells such as water and fatty acids with acetone and plastics such as silicone rubber, epoxy resin, or polyester.
According to Rountree, although the preserved giant animal bodies are very durable due to plastination, they should still be handled with care as parts could "easily break off."
The Georgia Aquarium is reportedly the second stop of the world's largest exhibition of plastinated sea creatures. The first stop of the unique exhibit was at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida early this year.
The "SEA MONSTERS REVEALED: AQUATIC BODIES" exhibit will also showcase videos and text displays on the history of man's interaction with the said giant creatures.
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