St. Patrick's Day comes once a year, and it gives many Aquarium animals an opportunity to bask in the limelight a bit. These are our most St. Patrick's Day animals, the greenest of the green, the perfect animals to get you in the mood for all the soda bread and green-tinged milkshakes.

Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Myrtle the green sea turtle always eats her greens | Photo: Esther Horvath

Seeing Myrtle the green sea turtle is a highlight of any visit to the Aquarium. And at 550 pounds, she's not hard to miss. Get more Myrtle on the Divers Blog.

Green Moray Eel (Gymnothorax funebris)


The divers are always careful when working with the moray eels, what with the eel's razor sharp teeth and all.

Green morays may look menacing, but they are fairly docile animals. We offer them food every day (though some eels will not eat for weeks on end), and because of that we are quick to notice any odd behavior or physical issues. See how a moray eel—with all those teeth—gets a check-up at the Aquarium.

Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus)

Snakes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day — the irony is not lost on us

The adult green anacondas shed between five and eight times a year. Learn more about the process of shedding (think: sliding off a tube sock).

Green sea urchin (Strongylocentrus droebachiensis)

Find a green sea urchin in our Northern Waters gallery and our tidepool touch tank

The sea urchin shell is made of calcium carbonate, and its spherical body is protected by hundreds of spines. Between the spines are tiny suction cups, or tube feet, which are used for locomotion. Learn some more interesting tidbits about this local species.

Can you find even more green at the Aquarium? There is lots!

Maybe you can spot a green ID band on the wing of a penguin.

Look for penguins wearing a green bands!

Or how about the bold green and black poison dart frog. How about the emerald color of the six line wrasse? Find us on social and tell us what Aquarium animals is helping you add green to your month. We're on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube and Google+!

Here at the Aquarium, it's easy being green. Come celebrate St. Patrick's Day with us at the New England Aquarium. Buy your tickets online and head inside to see the greenest of the green animals on our blue planet.

Every month our Volunteer Office sorts through piles of nominations from supervisors and honors one of our volunteers for their truly stupendous efforts. Meet our latest Volunteers of the Month!

A question the Volunteer Office often hears is: Do your volunteers like it there? The answer is a resounding YES, as you can see from our retention rate! While we ask for a 6-month commitment, the average tenure of a volunteer is closer to 3 years!

This holds true for the Volunteer of the Month for August...Alex Shopov!

Alex, pictured with Rhonda the anaconda

Alex has been with us since August 2011 and has donated nearly 800 hours. He joined our community as a Penguin Colony Volunteer and has since transferred over to our Aquarium Medical Center (AMC), which is where his nomination came from:

Alex has been a trusted member of the Animal Health Department (AHD) team for close to 2 years now. He has a fantastic team player mind set, positive attitude, strong work ethic and great attention to detail. Alex always goes above and beyond and will tackle each task assigned with enthusiasm, regardless of how minor it may be. He is dedicated to the Aquarium’s animals and always has their best interests in mind. He has seen and done a lot in his time here, from talking to the public about a whale necropsy we were performing on a beach to assisting Dr. Innis with a moray eel procedure. 

I know the AMC is in good hands when Alex is working and that he can handle any curve ball thrown at him. When Alex isn’t working with the vet team he puts on an education hat and informs visitors about the numerous animals and exhibits in the building. This education hat comes in handy when AHD is working in the public space and Alex is able to easily convey the subject matter to visitors of all ages. This nomination is long overdue and the department greatly appreciates Alex’s time and hard work.

Congratulations to Alex on all of his hard work!

If you are interested in joining this vibrant community, consider reading through a list of positions and applying here!

How could we let this greenest of holidays pass without shouting out about some of our awesome green animals! Let's start with one of the more humble animals at the Aquarium—the green sea anemone.


These invertebrates can be found in the Northern Waters Gallery on Level 3. Many of them are decades old! They get their green color from tiny photosynthetic animals and plants living in their tissues. So as long as there's nice bright lights or sunshine around, these guys will glow green.



One of the heavy-weights of the green team is the green anaconda. And we mean heavy-weights: Some weigh more than 500 pounds! You'll find these guys in the Amazon Rainforest exhibit.



These reptiles swallow their food whole after coiling around their prey and squeezing it so tightly that it can no longer breath. There's lots more to these snakes, too, like why they never blink and how often do they shed their skin.



But who could forget Myrtle, the green sea turtle. She is the undisputed queen of the Aquarium, now cruising the Tropical Ocean Exhibit on Level 1. This old lady is around 80 years old now, though it's believed these turtles can live to be over 100. So she has many St. Patrick's Days ahead of her!



Hope you celebrated this green holiday with good friends and a touch of green. If you need to add a little more green in your day, come visit the green sea turtle, green anaconda and green sea anemones at the Aquarium! Special construction pricing is in effect (so you'll also save some green, too).

Also, be sure to head over to the Marine Animal Rescue Team Blog to celebrate St. Patrick's day with the rescued green sea turtles.