But the water is land-locked and it needs to obviously be cleaned every once and a while, normally in the springtime. The person leading this operation is Adam Adamson, head of the AAI. Janitorial Services. “However, we do much more than just janitorial work,” says Adam proudly. “My job features all the duties of not only a major janitor company, but also a housekeeping company and a major zoo. After all, there are hundreds of animals on campus to care for, both above and below the water.”
Hearing that Adam was heading another aquatic cleaning operation, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I decided to learn more about the procedure. Adam was happy to talk to us. “Keeping the lake clean is no easy task,” Adam says, “for we have to make sure its clear of trash and other debris, make sure about 10-20% of the water is replaced, measure the amount of acidity or alkalinity in the water, keep a healthy balance of salinity in the water, keep enough fresh water running into the lake and...well, there are a lot more things we have to do too.”
I asked Adam about why water salinity was important. He is quoted for saying, “Well, we have...[a] wide variety of animals in the lake. Unlike a natural lake, our artificial lake hosts both fresh and saltwater creatures. Actually, that's not quite true: you see, many of the animals living in the lake are saltwater, but several others are semi-aquatic, like the platypus, beaver and Spinosaurus. And there are loads of other animals that like to spend time playing, bathing in or drinking water from the lake, like elephants, sauropods (long-necked dinosaurs), tapirs, tigers and humans – us. The problem is that with animals drinking, playing and swimming in the lake is that they can't all stand the same level of salinity. This is why we have salinity monitors installed. They make sure the salt in the water isn't too great so that the water is undrinkable, but its salty enough for saltwater animals to survive.”
Adam also took time to explain why it was important to keep the water clean of debris. “When plastic bags or other translucent trash (or sometimes balloons) is thrown into the water in the wild, creatures like sea turtles (specifically leatherback sea turtles) sometimes mistake them for their favorite food, jellyfish...They try to consume the plastic bag and unless they are helped, they choke on the bags. It's really sad. This is why we don't like trash to get into the lake. We have to be very vigilant to watch for trash. Animals living in the lake also look out for trash and clean it up before it becomes a problem.”
Adam loves to clean the lake because he likes to provide a clean living environment for all the wonderful aquatic creatures living at AAI. However, this job also reminds him of the importance of taking care of the habitats of creatures that live in nature too. “God Himself instructed the first humans, as well as us, to care for nature and the rest of His creation,” Adam explains. “Genesis 1:28 says,
'God blessed them [humanity]; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' (Words in the brackets are my own)“It clearly explains that we need to care for the earth He created. After all, wouldn't it be terrible for our children to not have a clean ocean or clean air? Great forests and jungles? It wouldn't be nice at all.”
I completely agree with him!
Written by: Mr. Smiley
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian Ryan
Weekly Cartoons
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