Look out Dora the Explorer, here comes Dora the Octopus: Canberra’s new wildlife ambassador! | HerCanberra

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Look out Dora the Explorer, here comes Dora the Octopus: Canberra’s new wildlife ambassador!

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New fishy friends are now calling the National Zoo and Aquarium home thanks to its recent revamp.

Dora the Pale Octopus and a bloom of Moon Jellyfish are giving visitors a glimpse at the more exotic residents of the sea while the new-and-improved temperate saltwater pond now shell-ters an array of sharks and stingrays.

Dora kept us enraptured for most of the visit. Turns out she’s made quite the comm-ocean with the starfish in her tank. During our visit we watched as she came close to throwing tentacle-punches when one nauti-cal starfish stole her toy!

She is also one well-organised lady, rearranging the greenery and objects in her aquarium to give herself the perfect hiding spots and vantage points. One thing’s for shore, if Dora joined the workforce she’d be a fin-tastic businesswoman.

Being anchored more than two hours away from the ocean, Canberrans may feel that they are not the strongest swimmers. Turns out Moon Jellyfish are quite the same! The aquarium curators explained to us that these squishy sea creatures need a “circular tank with circular flow, just to make sure they don’t get caught in any corners” (how cute-sea)!

Besides the kriller design of the new pond which echoes the natural environment, there is also a designated quiet spot for when the animals get stressed and need to clam down.

Aquarium Director Renee Nasserpour hopes that, as sea-ggested by Dora’s name, these new additions to the aquarium could be a “great ambassador for wildlife conservation and really capture that younger audience and expose them to the wider environment”.

By working hand-in-fin with our fishy friends, we can learn from, protect, and en-shore the long-term preservation of our natural wildlife.

So, we hope to sea you there!

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