Vandals poison aquarium fishlife

A WELLINGTON aquarium lost more than half its marine life in an act of vandalism on Friday night.

Arriving at work about 10am yesterday, Island Bay Marine Education Centre discovery programme manager Julian Hodge found the water system had been dosed with chlorinated detergent, poisonous to many of the species in the tanks.

‘‘I found a whole load of bubbles coming out of our tanks and gutters and a whole lot of our fish were dead, and many were in the process of dying.’’

Distressed fish were moved to uncontaminated water while centre staff, volunteers and the Fire Service were called in to flush out the tanks with fresh sea water, but it may have been too late for some.

‘‘We expect over the next two or three days, there will be quite a few more casualties as well,’’ Hodge said. ‘‘ We’ve lost fish here that have been with us for 16 years.’’

He said it was a ‘‘deliberate act’’ that killed between 70 and 80 fish.

A large ship’s anchor chain was also taken from outside the centre, which is located in the historic bait shed on Wellington’s south coast.

Hodge said the vandalism saddened and infuriated him, not just for the centre staff, but also for the community volunteers who gave so much of their time to the aquarium.

‘‘ It’s absolutely devastating – very, very upsetting. Our focus now is making sure all the existing fish are alive and healthy and in the best possible environment.’’