Using Visitor Observation to Evaluate Exhibits at the Rotterdam Zoo Aquarium

Figures & data

Figure 1 Coral Tunnel.

Figure 2 Grouper Aquarium (left) and Deep Reef Aquarium (right).

Figure 3 Seahorse Aquarium (left) and Green Moray Aquarium (right).

Figure 4 Live Coral Tank.

Figure 5 The Caribbean area and its aquarium exhibits.

Table 1 Age category and gender of observed visitors for each aquarium exhibit

Aquarium exhibit	Gender	Child	Teenager	Adult
Coral Tunnel	Male	14%	6%	23%
	Female	16%	3%	37%
Groupers	Male	21%	4%	21%
	Female	14%	6%	36%
Deep Reef Aquarium	Male	16%	6%	26%
	Female	13%	4%	36%
Seahorses	Male	13%	3%	29%
	Female	17%	4%	36%
Green Morays	Male	11%	3%	33%
	Female	14%	3%	36%
Live Coral Tank	Male	15%	2%	31%
	Female	8%	3%	42%

Table 2 Average attracting power (AP), and average attracting power during busy (APB) and calm (APC) observation periods followed by their respective number of observation periods (OP) in hours ^a

Aquarium exhibit	N	AP	OP	APB	OPB	APC	OPC
Coral Tunnel	3,984	56%	10	54%	4	55%	6
Groupers	3,460	36%	10	33%	5	43%	5
Deep Reef Aquarium	4,320	43%	10	47%	5	42%	3
Seahorses	3,940	27%	10	19%	3	32%	5
Green Morays	2,990	58%	10	58%	2	58%	4
Live Coral Tank	3,160	58%	10	56%	5	60%	4

Table 3 Average dwelling time at each exhibit

Aquarium exhibit	n	Average exhibit dwelling time (sec)	Median (sec)	Standard Deviation (sec)
Coral Tunnel	305	44.0	21	64.3
Groupers	334	22.9	16.5	18.1
Deep Reef Aquarium	380	23.9	17	18.0
Seahorses	305	23.4	18.5	19.7
Green Morays	266	47.0	42	31.1
Live Coral Tank	267	37.8	27	31.5
Note . n = Total number of 10th observed visitors. Average exhibit dwelling time column excludes highest and lowest values.

Table 4 Summary of relationships between variables, n.s. means no significant relationships found

	Coral Tunnel	Groupers	Deep Reef Aquarium	Seahorses	Green Morays	Live Coral Tank
Time of day × proportion of visitors who watched exhibit (morning > afternoon)	p < .05	n.s.	p < .10	n.s.	p < .01	p < .05
Age × proportion of visitors who watched exhibit (adults > children)	p < .10	p < .05	p < .10	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
Time of day × exhibit dwelling time (morning > afternoon)	n.s.	p < .05	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
Time of day × proportion of visitors who attended to educational sign (afternoon > morning)	p < .10	p < .05	n.s.	Not observed	Not observed	n.s.
Age × proportion of visitors who attended to educational sign (adults > children)	n.s.	p < .10	n.s.	Not observed	Not observed	n.s.
Crowdedness × proportion of visitors who Watched exhibit (calm > busy)	n.s.	p < 0.05	n.s.	p < 0.05	n.s.	n.s.