Some days, manning the seawater touch table is very exciting for me, and even more so for the animals. Small kids play Toss the Sea Star. Slightly larger ones build Sea Star Corrals to trap hermit crabs. Mostly boys mount Hermit Crab Races, handicapping a limping contestant. Toddlers poke tiny fingers into sea star mouths, or scrape across rows of delicately extended tube feet. Older children poke fingers into anemone mouths, or rapidly stir the anemones’ tentacles. An adult grabs and lifts the sea cucumber with both hands.

Ouch and double ouch. I’m wincing, and re-directing. The animals are heading for the deeper side of the tank, hiding under seaweed, retreating into shells or, in the case of the anemones, closing up entirely. Of course they don’t escape for long, because what good is a seawater touch table sans creatures?

Most days, there are few enough guests that the few rules are easily enforced. Most guests of all ages touch gently and spend long minutes observing. However, one can’t help wondering whether these animals’ lifespans are reduced. Although scientists still have much to learn about them, anemones in the wild can live hundreds of years, while sea stars live to 80 or older. Both of these animals have much shorter lifespans in captivity.

Zoo animals are said to live longer than their wild counterparts, though this is controversial, especially in the case of relatively long-lived, large species such as elephants, which are often acquired as adults. No one on any side of the zoo debate would argue than elephants have higher quality of life in zoos. These are social animals that mourn their dead, create complex systems of roads, communicate over miles using their feet, and adapt to habitats including savannah, forest, and riverine.

All of these animals share subjugation to the One Animal to Rule Them All. Humans can and have made plenty of species extinct, starting way before the industrial revolution, and have several such projects ongoing. But we are intelligent creatures, and we can stop doing that.

Another thing we observe at the touch table is the Aha moment when a visitor of any age connects to an animal. Our animals may not have chosen their sacrifice, but some of us feel that the best chance for survival of their species and preservation of their habitats is to demonstrate to humans that they are worthwhile planet-mates, one person at a time.