The Aquarium recently hosted a very special Google+ Hangout on Air for our awesome members. The live webcast on Tuesday, March 19, at 4 p.m. took viewers behind the scenes of the little blue penguin temporary exhibit with our penguin experts. The director of Project Management and Design—the guy in charge of the massive the Giant Ocean Tank renovation—also chimed in with information about the construction progress.

Little blue penguins in the temporary exhibit on Central Wharf.

While only members had the opportunity to ask questions and watch this event live, we invite everyone to take a gander at this archived hangout. There's a lot to learn about the penguins on vacation, the little blue penguins on Central Wharf as well as the construction project. Our members had some great questions—like what do penguins feel like, what do they eat and what did it take to create their vacation home in Quincy!



Members who listened to the whole webcast were invited to take a survey about the experience. One lucky person who complete the survey got to win a one-of-a-kind piece of art and New England Aquarium memorabilia. Congratulations to Ian from Cambridge, whose name was randomly selected from those who watched our Member Hangout with the Penguins live and completed our survey within the allotted time. He’ll receive a unique artwork created from parts of the coral sculpture that were in our Giant Ocean Tank from 1984 until we started construction last fall, along with a letter of authenticity from Bud Ris, the President and CEO of New England Aquarium.

A one-of-a-kind artwork featuring old coral from the Giant Ocean Tank.

Ian and his family first became members of the New England Aquarium in 2010. He told us he’d like to see our staff discuss the rays or the Giant Ocean Tank if we do additional Hangouts, and commented that he would have liked it if we showed more video of the penguins to hold his young children’s attention. We had some great video to share, but technical difficulties limited what we were able to show during the event. Check out videos of the rockhopper and African penguins swimming in Quincy and the little blue penguins splashing around in their temporary exhibit on our Penguin Blog.

We want to thank Ian and everyone who joined us for this, our first online event. If you didn’t get to catch it live you can watch the video above. We’d welcome your feedback when you do!

Consider becoming a member of the Aquarium. Not only will you be able to visit your favorite animals as much as you want within the year, you'll hear about exciting member-exclusive events like webcasts, open houses and more.