The "National" title should be held to higher standards and represent the United States, not just anybody to use for marketing purposes.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore or Americas' aquarium should be the best America has to offer. They should be a National example of the highest standards in America or even the world. The freedom everyone keeps talking about is the liberty to come together and do the right thing as Americans. There is a fine line between democracy and hypocrisy. We the people of the United States of America have a constitutional responsibility to right any wrongs we know to be true, pledging our allegiance to the flag and our country. We are one nation under God with liberty and justice for ALL ON EARTH.
Facts
A National aquarium wouldn't support a fish wholesaler that ships our American sharks over to other countries. The wholesaler claims to sell them responsibly, when in fact they still sell these large sharks to die in pet stores.
A National aquarium wouldn't have to continuously replace the Look Down Fish in the Atlantic coral reef exhibit. They would know that the reason for this death rate is because the wholesaler they buy from uses doses of high chemicals on them before arriving to the aquarium.
A National aquarium would participate in conservation of all creatures, not just sea turtles and the rainforest.
A National aquarium wouldn't order in a third Giant Pacific Octopus if they've already killed two in the past eight months, as quoted by one of their tour guides.
What does "National" mean?
The term "National" refers to our nation as a whole owned and controlled by a central government. They call themselves "Americas" aquarium and this in itself is problematic. According to the definition in the New World English dictionary, the use of the word "America" to mean the United States is offensive to people from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America. If Baltimores' aquarium is going to be "National" it should be helping to participate in things such as getting rights for fish and stopping the sale of Nurse Sharks to pet stores. They should be willing to listen if new ideas involving what's right for fish. The death rates of the fish should be public information so that the people who support the aquarium know how successful they are! (Or unsuccessful if that be the case). Fish keeping has been done the same way for over 40 years now, but newer, better ways of treating the fish (chemical free) have been found and could easily be implemented. We are asking the Baltimore Aquarium to live up to the standards of "National" if they want to keep that title.
In Conclusion
Supporting those wholesale facilities that do not practice conservation and continue to strip the oceans of its life is not what we the people agree with, nor do we believe that just anybody should be able to use "Americas' Aquarium" or "National" without being held to higher standards. The aquarium should develop methods of sustainable fish keeping to protect these creatures.
