The Tennessee Aquarium says a water main break caused its chillers to go down, resulting in the deaths of some of its animals.
Ice was placed in many of the exhibits in the Ocean Journey building to keep the animals comfortable. The Gentoo and Macaroni penguins seemed to enjoy the extra ice.In a statement Friday, aquarium spokesman Thom Benson said four fish, some urchins, Anemones and sea stars in the Vancouver Island exhibit died.
Staff members worked overnight to get the chillers up and running. During that time, attempts were made to cool the tanks with ice. Benson said the animals are sensitive to warming waters and did not respond to the ice.
Benson added that the chillers have been restored in "both buildings and the situation has drastically improved in the past few hours."
"The Tennessee Aquarium would like to thank everyone for their concern," he said. "We will reopen when this water line is repaired."