
As the Florida Marlins continue to design the nuances and luxuries of their new $515 million Miami Ballpark, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have taken issue with the team’s decision to place two giant aquariums – featuring live exotic fish – behind home plate. In a letter to Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, PETA implores the Marlins to instead use artwork or technology to showcase ocean life. Perhaps a Snorks DVD box set would make our favorite tree-huggers happy.
The aquariums were announced last week, and they have been designed using high impact bullet-proof glass so that errant foul balls don’t lead to the fish being spilled into the stands or the field. PETA representatives insist that the strength of the glass isn’t the problem, as much as the unnatural environment that will surround them.
Tap on our glass casings to stir up terror, Miami Herald:
“Being exposed to the loud crowds, bright lights, and reverberations of a baseball stadium would be stressful and maddening for any large animals held captive in tanks that, to them, are like bathtubs,” wrote PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman in the letter.
But PETA said the Marlins should explore alternatives, such as “artist-designed aquariums full of beautiful blown-glass animals,” “high-definition plasma screens showing underwater footage of sea animals,” and even “robotic fish that can ‘swim’ through water.”
Loud crowds. Marlins stadium. It’s clear that PETA has its pulse on the attendance figures of Major League Baseball these days. Reiman added that he hopes the Marlins leave these animals in the ocean “right where they belong.” As the Marlins currently have no intentions of changing their plans, Marlins President David Samson called the matter a philosophical issue, and stated that the animals they use will be treated great, possibly even better than those in the ocean.
And you know what, PETA? He might have a point.


Those fish will have a better view than people who paid $80 for their tickets. Of course, it will still be to a Marlins game, but hey, at least it’s not the Mets.
They should be humane and put the fish back in the ocean full of oil and tar.
I for one welcome our new robotic fish over lords.
Troy McClure approves.
Lobster dog has great range as a second baseman but he never wants to give up the ball to turn two.
The only flounder I’ve ever seen behind home plate is Jim Joyce.
/boooooooooooo
Aquariums wouldn’t make me want to attend a Marlins game any more than I normally would.
Then again, by that standard, aquariums wouldn’t make me want to get an optional vasectomy any more than I normally would.
Hey betta betta betta!
Lobster Dog has a higher UZR than Dan Uggla.
The slight potential of a foul ball shattering the glass and having sharks enter the field of play (or better yet, the stands) is giving me a raging boner.
What they should really do is put a shark tank on the front of the first tier, so the audience in the box seats below can look up and see sharks swimming from below. Also they should make the glass really thin so if a foul ball hits it they will have tons of broken glass and sharks falling down from the sky.