Thursday, November 18, 2010

Aquarium's New Animal Care Center in Quincy Hosts Open House for Donors

24 rescued sea turtles, 9 baby bonnethead sharks and a school of cownose rays among first residents of new $3.7 million facility

Quincy, Mass. - November 18, 2010
The 240 by 100 foot brick industrial building was formerly used in shipbuilding, but it is now the futuristic looking home to dozens of rescued and endangered sea turtles, [Note: The number of sea turtles now convalescing in Quincy has drastically increased! Get the latest on patient counts on the Rescue Blog.] a school of cownose rays, and a nursery for nine baby bonnethead sharks. The New England Aquarium tonight will host an informal open house for trustees and donors of its new Animal Care Center in the Quincy Shipyard. The new $3.7 million facility is the new state of the art, private, offsite holding facility for the Boston aquarium.


A rescued sea turtle is examined for treatment at the Animal Care Center. Click on photo for hi-res version. (Photo: C. Leblanc)


Left: A sand tiger shark swims in a holding take.
Right: A rescued sea turtle rests on a towel while being examined.
Click on photos for hi-res versions. (Photos: C. Leblanc)


The New England Aquarium is located on Central Wharf in dense, downtown Boston where it dedicates as much space as possible for exhibit and visitor uses. There had been a desire for an off-site holding facility for rescued marine animals, animals in quarantine and for animals that were arriving for later display. After a year long search, the Aquarium came to an agreement with Quincy Shipyard owner Jay Cashman to renovate one of the old fabrication plants in the stories South Shore shipyard. Construction began in September 2009 and is still ongoing, but the new facility is nearly up to full operations with the onset of the cold stunned sea turtle stranding season on Cape Cod.

Here's some video footage of the Animal Care Center from The Boston Globe:

2 comments:

  1. dear bost aquiram i am looking to help volenter is there way i can contact you
    i am currently enroled north shore cap programe at north shore comunitny college it is vet tech progam for next fall i am looking into vol;enter work that might help my interwison torde my program ever since i was chiled i have had big interst in become a extoctic veternairnin
    during my childe hood i have been rabite owner i aslo have intership expereics as wells as vollentering is there way i can contact you like phone number thank you :P

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your interest in volunteering at the Aquarium! We have a lot of opportunities for people who want to learn about marine animal, how to care for them and how to protect them in the wild. Contact our Volunteer and Internship office via email at vols@neaq.org and on the telephone at 617-973-5235.

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