Environmental activists and conservation scientists will gather at Detroit’s Belle Isle Aquarium on April 9 to discuss the Flint River as part of the aquarium’s annual Conservation Day Symposium. In response to the Flint drinking water crisis, a representative from the Flint Watershed Coalition will discuss the health of the Flint River and correct misperceptions that the river caused the crisis.
“The Flint Watershed Coalition wants the public to know it’s not the river that caused the lead contamination in Flint’s water supply,” said Rebecca Fedewa, executive director of the Flint Watershed Coalition. The FWC is also getting the word out by using “#itsnottheriver” on its Twitter feed. “We want to make sure people know the Flint River has an abundance of recreational, environmental and economic opportunities.”
Organized by Wayne State University Professor Jeff Ram, the symposium will also feature a keynote lecture by Jason Smith, a conservationist working with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa to restore fisheries on Little Traverse Bay. Fish are also the focus of a talk about the DNA of gars and the impacts of dam removal on invasive round gobies and other fish in the Rouge River. Gars are a featured attraction at the aquarium, the only one in the world with all seven species.
For children, a scientist from the United States Geological Survey Science Center in Ann Arbor will present a poster in the main gallery of the aquarium on “We were all little once: Where big fish come from.” The story tells how the study of fish has helped scientists and engineers successfully recreate habitats for fish to spawn and grow in the St. Clair and Detroit rivers.
“In this era of mass extinctions of species, aquariums serve a vital role in conservation and in raising awareness about how the public can help,” said Ram, who in addition to his role at Wayne State also serves as the Belle Isle Aquarium’s director of science education.
The symposium is free and open to the public. Belle Isle Aquarium is open Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission and parking are free.
The Belle Isle Aquarium, a creation of renowned architect Albert Kahn, opened in 1904. Its Beaux-Arts style stone facade features Neptune and the emblem of Detroit. With its beautiful green glass ceiling, the aquarium’s interior simulates entry into an underwater world. Focusing mainly on freshwater fish from around the world with its unique collection of gars, multimedia display of electric eels, rare African “living fossils,” beautiful cichlids and invasive species, the aquarium also has ocean fish, including a moray eel, clown fish, sea horses and upside-down jellies.
More information about the April 9 symposium and directions to the aquarium can be obtained from the Science Saturday link on the aquarium’s home page.