Checking out Moody Gardens after the hurricane

Moody Gardens reopened on Friday after the staff spent the last two weeks cleaning up after Ike. Surprisingly, some of the staff never left the popular Galveston animal attraction - even when the rest of the island was shut down.

"Emergency staff was here the whole time," said Kuriko Hasegawa, Moody Gardens Public Relations Coordinator.

Not that I expected them to leave the animals to fend for themselves. I mean, it's obvious when you're there that the staff loves the fish and creatures that make Moody Gardens their home. But when the rest of the island is forced to evacuate, you have to wonder.

Turns out, we didn't have to worry. Greg Whittake, the Animal Husbandry Manager for Moody Gardens, practically lived there during the storm. In fact, he was there checking on the animals even as the eye of the storm passed over the island.

Quick thinking kept them alive

Kuriko took me on a quick tour of the Aquarium to show me how the animals fared. While walking around, she told me that staff was already there the morning after the storm to make sure things were okay. She also let me in on some of the secret stuff they did in order to keep the animals alive.

"We had to dump bags of ice into some of the tanks to keep the cold-water fish cool enough," said Kuriko.

But while the reef fish were okay with the warmer temperature - even after the emergency generator shut down when it got contaminated by seawater - it was the oxygen levels that had staff worried. For this, they used oxygen tanks and air rocks.

All their hard work paid off. They only lost one sickly shark who couldn't handle the stress and a couple dozen fish. Not too shabby, considering the thousands of fish and creatures that live there.

But what about the penguins?

Sure penguins can walk through blizzards in Antarctic and somehow find their way around in the snow, but can they survive a hurricane in Houston?

"They all made it," said Kuriko. "We didn't lose any."

I know some of you are breathing a sigh of relief. I did, too.

After the storm, the Moody Gardens staff had to struggle to keep the penguin water below the 58 degree threshold, but they did it.

I checked out the little guys from all angles just to make sure - from the rocks, in the water, and from below. Aside from the water still being a little cloudy from days with they had no power, they all looked happy and content, as if the storm and the warm water were just a bad dream.

I wasn't the only one making sure they survived. Joseph Shepherd's wife came to Moody Gardens just to see them.

"My wife always wanted to see the penguins. We came mainly because she wanted to see them," said Joseph.

Shepherd and his family were visiting from Horizon City which is by El Paso, and they weren't the only ones there on opening day. Douglas and Maureen Biggs from Kentwood were also visiting the exhibit after checking to see if their Galveston beach house survived the storm.

"We heard it was open and thought it might be a good time to support the Galveston economy," said Douglas Biggs.

The Biggs said they were lucky. After seeing the destruction on television, they were worried about what they would see when they got to the island.

"Our beach home is still standing. We just lost a few shingles," said Douglas.

So what's open and what's not?

Sadly, not all of Moody Gardens fared as well as the Aquarium. The Rainforest Pyramid was badly damaged during the storm and parts of it flooded.

Kuriko told me that it could be months before they will be able to reopen that portion again. But don't worry...she said the animals are doing fine and are currently vacationing at other zoos.

"Some are at the Houston Zoo, but some are at other zoos across the nation," said Kuriko.

The IMAX and 4D Theater are also closed until further notice.

But what is opening on October 10 is a new exhibit called Bones: An Exhibit Inside You inside.

In this exhibit, you'll learn about health issues. But of course, it's much more exciting than that. There are humans transformed into skeletons, hands-on activity areas and other cool stuff.

Reduced rates for a limited time

Because not everything is open, Moody Gardens is offering special rates for a limited time.

Pyramid Aquarium:

$9.95

Ride Film Theater:

$5.25

Paddlewheel Boat:

$5.25

Bones Exhibit:

$5.25