From the top of the Giant Ocean Tank to the chilly water in the Penguin Exhibit, feeding time at the Aquarium takes many different shapes. Penguins are hand fed fish, cownose rays in the Giant Ocean Tank are hand fed squid while the loggerheads are fed squid on a long feeding stick.
Take a look at just a few of the meals happening around the Aquarium this weekend.
Visitors get front row seats to watch these fascinating animals nosh their seafood. After your holiday feasts, plan a visit this weekend to see how the animals do their feasting. Buy your tickets online and skip the line at the Box Office.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Host Your Holiday Party at the Aquarium
More animals. More exhibits. More unforgettable events.
The holiday season is nearly upon us. It's time to plan your company’s seasonal celebration at the New England Aquarium. Give your guests the opportunity to dine privately among penguins, sharks and sea turtles or beside Boston’s scenic skyline. Our event management team will assist you every step of the way – from finding the ideal space for your event to creating the perfect menu.
Please call our Events Department at 617-973-5205, email us at events@neaq.org or fill out our online event inquiry form to reserve your selected date today.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Celebrating plastic bans at State House
Women Working for Oceans, Massachusetts Sierra Club and the New England Aquarium invite you to celebrate
Join us for an awards ceremony, speakers that will inspire you and light refreshments. We will honor the individuals behind the success of municipal bans on single-use plastic bags, bottles and polystyrene packaging across Massachusetts in the following municipalities:
Amherst, Barnstable, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Falmouth, Great Barrington, Harwich, Manchester-By-The-Sea, Marblehead, Nantucket, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Provincetown, Somerville, South Hadley, Wellfleet
Lend your voice and raise the rafters to demand additional state- wide legislation to stop plastic pollution from single-use plastic packaging to microbeads.
Heroes of the Ocean
Boston State House-Grand Staircase
Thursday, November 12, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Join us for an awards ceremony, speakers that will inspire you and light refreshments. We will honor the individuals behind the success of municipal bans on single-use plastic bags, bottles and polystyrene packaging across Massachusetts in the following municipalities:
Amherst, Barnstable, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Falmouth, Great Barrington, Harwich, Manchester-By-The-Sea, Marblehead, Nantucket, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Provincetown, Somerville, South Hadley, Wellfleet
Lend your voice and raise the rafters to demand additional state- wide legislation to stop plastic pollution from single-use plastic packaging to microbeads.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Petition to Protect the Aquarium and Boston's Waterfront!
Sign the petition to voice your support for responsible development of Boston's Waterfront!
As you may know, the City of Boston is currently planning the development of the Downtown Boston Waterfront, specifically at the Harbor Garage site adjacent to the Aquarium. Having been on the Waterfront for 45 years, the Aquarium is heavily invested in the planning of the area and concerned about any impacts increased development might have on our beloved institution.
The Aquarium supports development that enhances our waterfront as a destination with safe and affordable access and where visitors and residents can enjoy open spaces and walk along the water. And we need your help to make sure that future development is moving us forwards.
We have been working diligently to make sure that our position about waterfront planning is heard, and feel that now is the time to amplify our message.
Can we count on you to join our voices by signing this petition to stand with the Aquarium and support responsible Waterfront development?
Sign the petition and share with your friends.
As you may know, the City of Boston is currently planning the development of the Downtown Boston Waterfront, specifically at the Harbor Garage site adjacent to the Aquarium. Having been on the Waterfront for 45 years, the Aquarium is heavily invested in the planning of the area and concerned about any impacts increased development might have on our beloved institution.
The Aquarium supports development that enhances our waterfront as a destination with safe and affordable access and where visitors and residents can enjoy open spaces and walk along the water. And we need your help to make sure that future development is moving us forwards.
We have been working diligently to make sure that our position about waterfront planning is heard, and feel that now is the time to amplify our message.
Can we count on you to join our voices by signing this petition to stand with the Aquarium and support responsible Waterfront development?
Sign the petition and share with your friends.
Special offer for veterans on Veterans Day
In honor of Veteran's Day, we are extending our active duty military discount to all veterans and their dependents on Wednesday, November 11, 2015, and offering a 10% discount to veterans in our Harborview Café. Celebrate this holiday with your family as well as penguins, seals, sea lions, sea turtles and fish.
The discount is available for tickets purchased at our Box Office only. Veterans must show proof of former military status (a driver's license with a veteran designation, for example). Adults will receive $10 off admission, and children receive $5 off. This discount does not apply to non-dependent guests coming with military personnel and veterans. Veterans will receive 10% off in our Café on Veterans Day by showing their ticket stub.
Thank you to all our service men and women, veterans and their families.
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| A fur seal waves a flag in the marine mammal center. |
The discount is available for tickets purchased at our Box Office only. Veterans must show proof of former military status (a driver's license with a veteran designation, for example). Adults will receive $10 off admission, and children receive $5 off. This discount does not apply to non-dependent guests coming with military personnel and veterans. Veterans will receive 10% off in our Café on Veterans Day by showing their ticket stub.
Thank you to all our service men and women, veterans and their families.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Aquarium Does Necropsy on 800 Pound Sea Turtle
Media Release — Dead Endangered Leatherback Found off of Woods Hole, Live Leatherback Freed from Entanglement in Truro by Center for Coastal Studies
On Sunday, New England Aquarium biologists and head veterinarian, Dr. Charles Innis, conducted a necropsy on an 813-pound leatherback sea turtle that was found floating Saturday about one mile south of Woods Hole. The necropsy results showed abrasions and tissue tearing on the left front flipper and around the neck that are consistent with entanglement with marine gear. The adult female, which was over 6 feet in length, also had a two foot section of marine rope in her mouth. She appeared to have been dead for at least two to three days. She also had tags that had probably been fastened on her when she had nested on an eastern Caribbean beach. That exact location should be learned Monday.
On Saturday, while the dead leatherback on the southwestern corner of Cape Cod was being towed to land by a Massachusetts Environmental Police vessel, marine animal rescue experts from the Center for Coastal Studies were busy successfully disentangling a slightly smaller, live leatherback off the northeast side of the Cape in Pamet Harbor in Truro. Click here for more details.
Leatherback sea turtles migrate to New England each summer to feed on the abundant sea jellies found in offshore waters, but these endangered animals also often become entangled in the gauntlet of vertical lines that extend from surface buoys to boat moorings, lobster pots and other fixed fishing gear. In the plankton rich, darkened waters of the region, the leatherback’s enormous 2-3 foot front flippers can come into unexpected contact with a fixed line that then spins the animal, which often results in a wrap of rope around the flipper or the head. Being a reptile and an air-breather, the leatherback must occasionally reach the water’s surface to survive. These enormously strong swimmers can sometimes haul a huge amount of weight to the surface trying to survive. Unless discovered by boaters or blessed with enormous luck, these sea turtles eventually tire and drown.
On Saturday, the good and bad results of this all too common struggle were apparent on the same day on opposite sides of Cape Cod.
Both of these leatherbacks were at the tail end of the leatherback migration out of the Gulf of Maine, past the Cape and the Islands and down the eastern seaboard to tropical waters for the winter. With local ocean temperatures in the low to mid 50’s, leatherbacks are unique among sea turtles in that they are able to raise their body temperatures above the surrounding water temperatures and remain active.
At over 800 pounds, the turtle autopsied by the Aquarium is just average sized for adults of this endangered species! Leatherbacks are the largest turtle and one of the largest reptiles in the world.
These giant, black, soft-shelled leatherbacks appear to be prehistoric, and that is because they are. They have survived the disappearance of the dinosaurs, cataclysmic climatic events and the Ice Age, but they may not survive the Anthropocene – the very short window that humans have dominated the Earth.
Further research on turtle sight and technical modifications to marine gear might help leatherback populations recover.
Keep reading to learn more about leatherback rescues by the New England Aquarium.
On Sunday, New England Aquarium biologists and head veterinarian, Dr. Charles Innis, conducted a necropsy on an 813-pound leatherback sea turtle that was found floating Saturday about one mile south of Woods Hole. The necropsy results showed abrasions and tissue tearing on the left front flipper and around the neck that are consistent with entanglement with marine gear. The adult female, which was over 6 feet in length, also had a two foot section of marine rope in her mouth. She appeared to have been dead for at least two to three days. She also had tags that had probably been fastened on her when she had nested on an eastern Caribbean beach. That exact location should be learned Monday.
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| The necropsy results showed abrasions and tissue tearing on the left front flipper and around the neck that are consistent with entanglement with marine gear. | Photo: New England Aquarium |
On Saturday, while the dead leatherback on the southwestern corner of Cape Cod was being towed to land by a Massachusetts Environmental Police vessel, marine animal rescue experts from the Center for Coastal Studies were busy successfully disentangling a slightly smaller, live leatherback off the northeast side of the Cape in Pamet Harbor in Truro. Click here for more details.
Leatherback sea turtles migrate to New England each summer to feed on the abundant sea jellies found in offshore waters, but these endangered animals also often become entangled in the gauntlet of vertical lines that extend from surface buoys to boat moorings, lobster pots and other fixed fishing gear. In the plankton rich, darkened waters of the region, the leatherback’s enormous 2-3 foot front flippers can come into unexpected contact with a fixed line that then spins the animal, which often results in a wrap of rope around the flipper or the head. Being a reptile and an air-breather, the leatherback must occasionally reach the water’s surface to survive. These enormously strong swimmers can sometimes haul a huge amount of weight to the surface trying to survive. Unless discovered by boaters or blessed with enormous luck, these sea turtles eventually tire and drown.
On Saturday, the good and bad results of this all too common struggle were apparent on the same day on opposite sides of Cape Cod.
Both of these leatherbacks were at the tail end of the leatherback migration out of the Gulf of Maine, past the Cape and the Islands and down the eastern seaboard to tropical waters for the winter. With local ocean temperatures in the low to mid 50’s, leatherbacks are unique among sea turtles in that they are able to raise their body temperatures above the surrounding water temperatures and remain active.
 |
| The turtle autopsied by the Aquarium is just average sized for adults of this endangered species. Photo: New England Aquarium |
At over 800 pounds, the turtle autopsied by the Aquarium is just average sized for adults of this endangered species! Leatherbacks are the largest turtle and one of the largest reptiles in the world.
These giant, black, soft-shelled leatherbacks appear to be prehistoric, and that is because they are. They have survived the disappearance of the dinosaurs, cataclysmic climatic events and the Ice Age, but they may not survive the Anthropocene – the very short window that humans have dominated the Earth.
Further research on turtle sight and technical modifications to marine gear might help leatherback populations recover.
Keep reading to learn more about leatherback rescues by the New England Aquarium.