A small leak in the 140,000 gallon North Rock tank at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo will soon be repaired.

Patrons of the Aquarium might recently have noticed a small bucket propped next to the large North Rock tank with a sign saying, ?we?ve sprung a leak?.

Last Saturday afternoon as zoo staff rushed to secure animals, the zoo was still open for business and patrons might also have noticed that blue paint at the back of the tank is badly peeling.

Roger Sherratt spokesman for the Aquarium said this will also soon be remedied, and was only visible because of hurricane preparations.

?We have had a leak for a little while in the tank,? said Mr. Sherratt.

?It is caused by a sealant problem at the top of the tank. It has been repaired a couple of times. It isn?t a crack. It is just a leak in the sealant. We have been unsuccessful in stopping it completely. Right now we have reduced it.?

The Exhibit was opened in the mid-1990s is made up of a coral reef section with fishes such as wrasses, angelfish and damselfish, and an open sea section with the jacks, pompano and ever popular sharks.

Mr. Sherratt said repairing even a small leak in the tank could be complicated.

?Ideally, we need to seal it in dry conditions,? he said. ?It is close to the top of the tank. We need to drop the level of the water down by a couple of feet. Then apply the sealant in dry conditions. It has to cure for a couple of days.?

Unfortunately, summer is a bad time for such a project because the heat and sunny weather has an adverse effect on the sealant.

?We are just leaving it until cooler weather when we can work on it over a weekend, and redo the sealant.

?We won?t have to take the marine life out of the tank. We would be reluctant to take animals out. The tank is also under a tremendous amount of pressure from all the water in it.?