GALVESTON -- Moody Gardens has delayed the opening of the Aquarium Pyramid and Discovery Pyramid until Friday October 3. The Moody Gardens Hotel opened on September 23 as planned.

The other Moody Gardens attractions will open as available following repairs to the roof in some areas as well as other clean-up from Hurricane Ike that caused some damage on the property September 13.

“We continue to have some intermittent issues with power,” said Moody Gardens President Mike Riley. “We want to be sure the power issue is resolved before we invite our guests back to the attractions. We also have some additional clean-up that we would like to take care of before we open the doors.”

Another reason for the delay is the preparation needed to open the Bones: An Exhibit Inside of You exhibit at the Discovery Pyramid. This interactive exhibit explores the basics of bone biology as it teaches children and adults the importance of taking care of themselves and ways to improve their overall health.

Employees are still needed to assist with the recovery process. Moody Gardens buses continue to meet at 7:00 a.m. daily at the Factory Stores of America Outlet Mall located at 11001 Delaney Street, just off the Gulf Freeway in LaMarque. The buses will shuttle employees back to the Outlet Mall at 7:00 p.m. daily.

“Moody Gardens has always had a great team dynamic,” said Riley. “This will be a joint effort and we encourage those employees who are able to return to join us on the buses just as soon as possible.”

Over the past week, more than 400 animals were sent to the Houston Zoo to be transported to other zoos and aquariums across the country as the facility continues to assess the damage received at the Rainforest Pyramid as a result of Hurricane Ike. The assistance comes from other members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The majority of specimens are fish from the Rainforest Pyramid and animals from the facility’s Education Department. Houston’s Downtown Aquarium and Dallas World Aquarium also received a variety of freshwater fish.

Current reports indicate that the majority of the Aquarium Pyramid’s 10,000 marine animals survived the catastrophic storm due largely to staff providing life support with oxygen tanks and air rocks until power was regained with emergency generators and then stabilized with the property’s own emergency power.

A small number of cold water fish were lost from the aquarium. Despite exhaustive efforts by staff to provide support to animals in the Rainforest Pyramid, early assessments indicate that approximately 80 percent of the Rainforest Pyramid’s freshwater fish collection did not survive storm surge. Flooding caused saltwater to rise through the building’s basement and into the exhibit threatening the freshwater fish.

Other animals that have been transported to other facilities include an ocelot, civet, kinkajou, prehensile tail porcupines, a cotton top tamarin, two-toed sloth, turtles, sugar gliders, snakes, lizards, squirrels, 40 Egyptian Fruit Bats, 30 Short Tail Bats, 12 Vampire Bats, 23 parrots and macaws, an Electric Eel, Asian Arowanas, Freshwater Stingrays, as well as numerous African Cichilds.

“There is some very good news. Three species of Lake Victoria Cichlids survived the storm,” said Animal Husbandry Manager Greg Whittaker adding that these are the only specimens of the nearly extinct Lake Victoria that exist in the world. “The survival of this species and the possibility to still breed these fish is the good news to report out of the very unfortunate situation we have with the Rainforest Pyramid freshwater fish collection.”

An Asian Arowana, an Arapaima and a Freshwater Stingray were also lost due to the stress of transporting the animals combined with the added stress from the storm as well as capturing and moving the animals.

“Transport is very stressful for animals and is avoided whenever possible,” said Whittaker. “However, it is in the best interest of the animals to move them to other facilities temporarily as we put things back together at the Rainforest Pyramid.”

Employees who are currently working can obtain their paychecks at the Moody Gardens Hotel. Paychecks will be available for employees located off the island at the South Shore Harbour Hotel in League City at the property’s front desk on their regularly schedule payday. Those with direct deposit will experience no problems with checks being deposited in employee accounts as usual.

Riley also advised that the property’s phone service is not in operation. Employees should listen for news reports on the status returning to Galveston Island.