GULF SPECIMEN’S PICKLELARIUM

The exhibit features creatures from deep in the Gulf, preserved and on display

Visitors Emily Pendley and Gracie Terrell with the Picklelarium exhibit.


Jessica Haubrick and son Franklin at the Picklelarium exhibit.

Story & Photos By LINDA ANN McDONALD Correspondent

The opportunity to observe creatures that live in the Gulf’s great depths, where light never penetrates, where temperatures are just above freezing point is now available at Gulf Specimen Marine Lab’s newest exhibit, the Picklearium.
Jack Rudloe, founder, and president of the Marine Lab said, “On December 11, 2022, by way of a 110-foot shrimp trawler, at 220 fathoms deep, with one single four hour drag, m(the ship) Our Mother out of Bon Scours, Alabama, caught 84 creatures and donated them to Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in effort to bring the dead back to life in the imaginations of visitors to Picklearium.”  
Organisms collected for this exhibit are all mini monsters who lived in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico. Because of the enormous depths from which they live, the opportunity to see live specimens is impossible due to the pressure drop of being hauled to the water’s surface. The exhibit was funded by a $25,000 grant from the Division of Cultural Affairs, from Florida’s Department of State.
Because there is no practical way to keep creatures such as deep-water spider crabs, starfish, cookie cutter sharks, and elephant skates alive, the specimens are pickled with formalin, a saturated formaldehyde solution, suspended in lit aquariums within a darkened room. Alongside the displayed creatures are educational videos for visitors to further research. QR codes associated with the displays are available for visitors to capture. Specimens display a dark glowing bioluminescent light.
All sharks were positively identified by Dr. Dean Grubbs, a renowned shark specialist at University of Florida along with Dr. Gavin Naylor. Just a Geek’s Josh Thompson is credited with the computer and lighting expertise associated with the exhibit. Volunteers from the AmeriCorps worked on injecting, mounting and securing the exhibits on platforms with monofilament line. Branson Balanjee , a world-famous artist shared his art work. A large octopus is painted on the ceiling by Carrie Hamburg.
“It is a big world out there,” said Rudloe. “There are many things to explore and to see, with Pickelarium, visitors will get to see things they would never get to see firsthand elsewise. Fact is, live creatures don’t last forever, but when you pickle them, they can last for a hundred years, and you don’t have to feed them. This exhibit is a work in progress, we want to make a real museum for visitors to enjoy.”
Gracie Terrell and friend Emily Pendley, visiting the aquarium from Indiana, said, “This is completely different than what we have in Indiana, this is really cool and unique.”