There are plenty of ways to spread the love this time of year, and you don't have to wait until Valentine's Day (... although it is nice). Here are a few ways to surprise that special someone:

Surprise Someone with an Animal Encounter
Everyone loves going face to face with a seal through the panes of the Harbor Seal exhibit on the front plaza. Now imagine surprising your seal fanatic with a chance to get even closer! An Animal Encounter is a great gift if you're looking to have less things and more meaningful experiences. From seal kisses to feeding Myrtle, we have some exciting opportunities.

Check out our Animal Encounters.


Gift Shop Goodies
Of course, there's nothing like receiving a soft, huggable plush animal from your sweetie. We have penguins and seals cute enough to drop your jaw. But we also have fabulously unique plushies! Stuffed octopus anyone (just look at it!)? How about a snuggly shark? Have you ever seen a plush stingray?

And if stuffed animal toys aren't your thing, there's always penguin sweaters or sea star housewares or ocean-friendly reusable water bottles for the ocean protector in your life.

Find these goodies and more at our Gift Shop.

Planning to tie the knot?

Learn more about weddings and engagements at the Aquarium.


Sponsor an Animal
If your Valentine is all about one ocean animal in particular, consider gifting them an animal sponsorship. From dapper penguins to majestic sea turtles to smiling cownose rays, there are a variety of animals to sponsor. And you can feel good about this gift. Sponsoring an animal helps with the daily cost of care — including the best possible medical treatment, food, and habitat upkeep.

See the full list of animals available for sponsorship.


Whether you celebrate Valentine's Day or not, there are plenty of ways to spread a little Aquarium love. Have fun!

Love is in the water at the New England Aquarium. And it's not just because it's Valentine's Day. In fact, there are happy couples throughout the exhibits! There's Isaac and Ursula, the parents of fur seal pups Flaherty and Kit. There are the protective sergeant majors and many other species of fish in the Giant Ocean Tank. And there are smitten penguins all over their exhibit.

Since we'll take any excuse to share some sappy moments, may we present a few happy couples: the garden eels and clownfish.



And since red and pink are the banner colors of this saccharine holiday, check out some of the unusual Valentine-colored animals throughout the Aquarium.

Pink anemones native to the Pacific in the Northern waters gallery

Redish bigeye in the Giant Ocean Tank

Pinkish anemones native to our local waters

Spanish flag, native to the Caribbean, found in the Aquarium's Yawkey Coral Reef Center

Sea peaches found in local waters

Giant Pacific octopus

Shiny perch

On Valentine’s Day, the human world becomes obsessed with their love interests, or lack there of. While the actual date of February 14 might not mean anything to the New England Aquarium’s African penguins, they too spend a lot of time and energy on their relationships. These birds form generally monogamous relationships. Since people love penguins, we thought the public might be inspired by the profiles of some of Boston’s best penguin pairs.

So did the Boston Globe! Sunday's paper featured a fantastic article about our breeding penguin pairs. You can also get to know some of the notable penguin pairs in this charming video from the Globe. Take a look!



Penguin partnerships were even featured by treehugger.com! Ahh... love is in the water.

Because we know many folks (like us!) just can't learn enough about penguins, here's a little more information about those charming couples. You'll notice the Aquarium’s penguins often have unusual names reflecting some aspect of their natural history from the location a breeding site to the Latin genus name for penguins.

LONGEST TOGETHER


Mosselbaai and Jutten

Closing in on 20 years together are Mosselbaai (pronounced Moss-il-by) and Jutten! Now how many people can claim that? These two laid their first egg together in 1992 and were most likely a couple for a short time before. In penguin years, this probably qualifies as the "golden" or human equivalent 50th anniversary. Penguins in an aquarium setting live much longer than their wild counterparts, and life expectancy for them is in the mid to late 20s. A 20-year pair bonding that lasts more than 60-percent of a creature's average life span qualifies as a golden anniversary in any species book. Like many older couples, Mosselbai and Jutten are more reserved and spend a lot of time in their home territory. The happy pair has successfully raised four chicks.

MOST PROLIFIC 

 
Harlequin minding the chicks

Six chicks in three breeding seasons makes Durban and Harlequin the Aquarium’s most prolific penguin producers! Durban is a 16 year old male, and Harlequin is an 18 year old female. They are always together and make for a very strong couple. In 2006, both unexpectedly became single. They lived in the same neighborhood and according to Aquarium penguin biologist Caitlin Hume, "They just found each other." And what a discovery it has been.

If you think raising human children is stressful, a penguin chick grows from cuddly hatchling to a gawky, constantly demanding, full-sized adolescents in about 80 days. In the wild, the resources required to raise a chick are formidable and require the work of two capable adults such as Harlequin and Durban. This is probably one of the major contributing factors for penguin monogamy. For the first 15 days of life, a chick is dependent on one of its parents to sit over the hatchling to maintain its body temperature. In the wild, one of the parents needs to be present until 30 days to protect the chick from predators. As chicks grow, so do their food demands, and both parents commonly swim and hunt more than 20 miles round trip to regurgitate small schooling fish to their crying youngsters, who always want more. At the Aquarium, penguin parents are provided food, but raising chicks is still not easy. As chicks grow to the size of adults, penguins look like exhausted humans raising teenagers and appear to look forward to an empty nest.


 
Alfred and Treasure

African penguins normally reach breeding age at four years old. Treasure is a 9 year old female and her breeding partner is Alfred, who might discreetly be called, "a male of a certain age." Treasure was born in 2002, and Alfred was hatched in... ahem... 1975. To save you the math, that makes him 36, which makes him an ancient mariner in the penguin world. But Alfred not only has good genes, but he has very valuable ones for the species. African penguins in the wild are now endangered, and their populations continue to drop dramatically. In the zoo and aquarium world, penguin biologists work together to make sure that their African penguins are genetically diverse. Alfred’s bloodline is not common, so despite his advanced age, he was paired with a young adult female after his former partner had passed away. Ironically and coincidentally, the name "Alfred" does sound like that of a distinguished male from a by-gone era while Treasure has the ring of a vapid gold digger. The names might appear to be a cliché, but their attraction is real and enduring as they have raised three chicks since 2006! Given their birth dates, Treasure and Alfred might be more accurately reclassified as a May/December relationship.


 
Ichaboe and Spheniscus

Ichaboe (Itch-a-boo) and Spheniscus (Sfen-is-cus) are young adult penguins in a hurry. African penguins become sexually mature at the earliest at 3 years old. Spheniscus is a 4 year old female and Ichaboe is a 5 year old male. They became a bonded pair in early 2010 and right away raised a chick. Like many young lovers in the animal world, they generally can not keep their wings off of each other. Penguin biologist Caitlin Hume noted, "They do a lot of flirting and pair bonding, which is important for young couples as they do not always stay together." Ichaboe is a large male and can be quite aggressive, not only with other penguins but occasionally with Aquarium staff who regretfully have the bite marks to prove it.

After courtship and defending their territory on one of the Aquarium’s four penguin islands, Sfeniscus and Ichaboe honeymooned in the penguin breeding rooms in the basement of the Aquarium last summer. They soon laid eggs and contributed to the Aquarium’s record penguin baby boom of 11 chicks in 2010.

Penguins have the same problem as people – how do you know if he or she might be interested in you? It starts with, are they hanging out a lot and are they nice to you. Penguins are territorial. At the Aquarium, individuals and couples have their preferred perches on the islands. If you wander into someone else's space, and they don't chase you away, that is a positive start. If your prospect, turns its head to the side and then puffs up its cheeks, that is a slight signal.  If this escalates to head shaking, they are definitely interested. A little vocalization might follow, and it could be capped with the African penguin's signature donkey bray. That noise is how they also earned the name "jackass penguins.". If this behavior is done mutually and repeatedly, biologists call it an "ecstatic display." Now moving beyond flirting to dating, tapping each other's bills and much mutual grooming and obsessive preening are the undeniable behaviors of penguins in love.


The movie "March of the Penguins," which documented the unbelievable fidelity of emperor penguin pairs, inspired a nearly mythic but slightly inaccurate sense of how monogamous penguins are. Monogamy varies among penguin species as some are monogamous for a single season while others mate for life. The Aquarium’s African penguins prefer long term relationships, but the bottom line is that penguins are like people. Most are coupled for long periods of time. Some of those bonds loyally last a lifetime. Most engage in flirting outside of the relationship from time to time. Some mate with a penguin outside of the bonded pair but still remain in their primary relationship. This is not an uncommon behavior in the bird world. Some relationships break up, if there is a lack of breeding success or failures to defend territory or forage for food.

Penguins are not exceptional in the bird world as monogamy is the norm among most avian species, but humans are exceptional among mammals as only a small percentage  have both parents committed to raising their young.
Many penguin couples at the New England Aquarium are the product of well-intentioned but manipulative, matchmaking by Aquarium biologists. African penguins are an endangered species, and their populations continue to drop dramatically. The African penguin population in zoos and aquariums is a potential reservoir of birds, if there ever was a calamity in the wild. Maintaining the genetic diversity of such a relatively small and closed population is crucial and challenging. Once every two years, managers of penguin exhibits from throughout North America gather to review the genealogy of new adult penguins and decide on pairings that will maintain a diverse gene pool. Some animals might be moved between institutions. Some unproductive couples might be broken up and re-paired. It sounds cruel, but it is unusually effective. Penguins are very social animals both as couples and colony nesters. The desire to pair up is nearly imperative. A potential new couple is removed from the exhibit and placed in separate but close quarters. As mutual interest is displayed, the biologists create more access. Bonding is sometime instantaneous, and other times takes repeated short term exclusive exposures over months. Most of the time, it is successful.

Come by the Aquarium with your sweetheart and see if you can spot these notable pairs in the Penguin Exhibit! Check out the Visit Planning resources available on our website, like public transportation tips and nearby parking options.

There's plenty of romance throughout the Aquarium, whether you're watching gold-rimmed tangs spinning during a choreographed dance in the Sea of Cortez exhibit or penguins pairing off in the penguin exhibit. (Even the Boston Globe took note of these penguin romances! Check out their fantastic video of avian amour here at the Aquarium.)



In the penguin exhibit, many of our African penguins have bonded with that special someone and you can see them wing to wing in their favorite hangouts. This summer during breeding season, many of those pairs even took off for a romantic getaway!



Now the seals definitely have a sweet side. Ursula has been practicing her pucker during her training sessions. Those fur seals have even been known to plant a smooch on the cheek (or forehead) of a teen intern now and then. And how about this for a kissy face—Amelia getting ready for her birthday kiss!



Myrtle the green sea turtle in the Giant Ocean Tank is getting in touch with her romantic side (with the help of our marine animal trainers) with some hand-holding exercises. Several years ago, a pair of porcupinefish in the GOT also showed their affection in this classic Valentine's blog post.

Start planning your double date with the Aquarium's cutest couples today! Surf over to check the hours, look into public transportation (the Aquarium has its own stop on the Blue Line!) or investigate nearby parking options. Be sure to bring your camera, we welcome our facebook fans to share pictures of their visit! And save time for a flick with your honey at the Simons IMAX Theatre. Cap off your outing with the animals with a classic movie date. Happy Valentine's Day!

Buy one adult Aquarium admission, get one free.

Kick off your Valentine’s Day celebrations right! Is there anything more romantic than watching penguin pairs preen? What date would be complete without a glimpse of delicate sea horses and leafy seadragons? Bring your special someone to the Aquarium. It’s the perfect afternoon trip before an evening in the heart of Boston, surrounded by city lights and fine dining.




Print out this offer and bring it to the Box Office on Sunday, February 13.
(Not valid with online ticket purchases.)

Quick links:
Directions to the Aquarium and local parking tips
Nearby restaurants