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.

The protective covering will remain on the windows during construction.

The windows at the top of the Giant Ocean Tank, seen here, are almost 2 inches thick. Closer to the bottom they are more like 3 three inches thick!

We're so excited that construction is moving ahead on schedule! In fact, later this month we'll be able to take down the protective fabric that covers the outside of the tank and you'll be able to see the windows (and their protective coverings) for yourself.

On Central Wharf, there is still plenty of banging, buzzing and scaffolding associated with the Giant Ocean Tank renovations. But there's also a flurry of activity off-site. For example, you'll find a regular coral production line in Peter Brady's dusty studio in Charlestown right now. Brady is responsible for most of the sculptures and habitats in Aquarium exhibits, and the huge yet intricate coral reef is his latest project. And it's quite a project!

Corals in production in the Aquarium's Charlestown studio

An assortment of corals that will appear in the Giant Ocean Tank

Peter Brady in the coral production studio.

Brady and his staff are charged with making 1500 smaller pieces of coral, like the ones below. A company in California is making another 1600 pieces. These vibrant fire, brain, lettuce and star corals (just to name a few) will blanket the reef structure in the big tank, providing a brilliant backdrop to the rays, sharks, turtles and schooling fishes and hiding spaces for hundreds of other fish.

Each of these pieces were cast from real coral. The intricate mold is then filled with colored acrylic and allowed to harden. What comes out is a life-like piece of coral that you could find on a health Caribbean coral reef!

A piece of brain coral made in Brady's studio

Rather than hand painting each coral, color pigment was mixed right into the material used in casting each coral. This will result in brighter colors in the big tank, which won't fade when divers scrub algae off its surface.

They are also fabricating large pieces of coral that will provide the form of the big reef and anchor smaller, ornamental pieces. Creating these large pieces requires sculpting the piece from foam, making a mold with fiberglass and then carving out the styrofoam (so the pieces don't float in the big tank).

As soon as the windows are installed, Brady will start assembling the corals inside the tank. Everything looks good for the window installation to begin in a couple weeks. Construction is moving along right on schedule!

The floor of the annex is poured! Additional exhibit tanks featuring smaller fishes like garden eels will be found in this area come summer.

The new annex will be accessed from the top of the Giant Ocean Tank

The hoist used to haul large animals out of the tank—like Myrtle—has been equipped with a new motor. (Check out the new, shiny white motor in the middle right of the image!)

A worker mixes concrete perched atop scaffolding in the Giant Ocean Tank.

A pulley silhouetted against the scaffolding

So the next time you visit, take a moment to think: All this action is happening just around the corner as you're peering into the octopus exhibit or watching the tropical fish darting through the Pacific Reef Community! Just remember the Aquarium is opening at 10 a.m. on weekdays this January because of construction. 

Have you seen the Globe Magazine's images of our comprehensive construction project yet?


Much of the exhibit path is still open to visitors and our marine animals (like Myrtle the turtle, the octopus, goliath groupers and seadragons) continue to delight visitors. However, Aquarium visitors can definitely  tell that change is in the air in our main building.

Sunday's spread gave Globe readers a special look at the incredible work happening behind the scenes and the off-site preparations that go into creating the new Aquarium experience.

An unfamiliar sight of the Giant Ocean Tank lined in scaffolding, with the coral draped in a protective covering. Photo: Webb Chappell, Boston Globe Magazine

Hardhats are a must in the construction zone, including this space in the attic above the tank. Photo: Webb Chappell, Boston Globe Magazine

The renovation project will be completed in early summer, 2013. Come visit to see the Aquarium being transformed before your eyes! See all the the Globe's pictures here.

With scaffolding planted throughout the building and the Giant Ocean Tank obscured behind a scrim, it's hard to tell that a lot is happening behind the scenes. But you wouldn't recognize the tank today! Even more scaffolding is bristling from inside the tank while the remaining coral is protected underneath a white, fabric covering.


How many times have you peered over this railing into the blue waters of the Giant Ocean Tank? This is the view from the railing at the top of the tank today.



Workers have been cutting wider openings in each of the window frames so the windows will be bigger than ever.


 Looking up from a window frame


Looking through a window frame, then and now

And these changes to the windows are just the tip of the iceberg. Where the divers once donned their wetsuits and scuba tanks, demolition crews have cleared the space to make room for a renovated shower and locker room behind the scenes. Construction crews are working hard in the Aquarium's attic to create a domed ceiling above the Caribbean reef, crews are preparing to expand exhibit space at the top of the tank and vibrant coral is being manufactured off-site. Keep your eyes on the News and Updates blog for behind-the-scenes updates on the transformation of the Giant Ocean Tank.



 Fur seal pups, goosefish feeding and little blue penguins

But really, the most exciting stuff is happening along the exhibit path! Flaherty the fur seal pup is growing more every day, the goosefish grin is unlike anything you've seen before and the close viewing access of the little blue penguins is a special part of their temporary home. So now you'll know what's happening behind the scaffolding when you come visit these amazing animals.

Construction throughout the Aquarium is continuing right along on schedule. Behind the screen, the Giant Ocean Tank is empty while crews are cleaning and preparing the tank for window removal. This is an exciting step. The new windows will let visitors see the reef in sparkling detail, and many of the new windows will be even bigger than ever! Learn more about the improvements being made to the exhibit during construction.



The Edge of the Sea touch tanks have been temporarily relocated to the Ground Floor of the West Wing, near the Jellies Exhibit. Visitors will still have an opportunity get close-up looks at amazing ocean animals like sea stars and hermit. They can even dip their hands into the chilly water to touch the animals in this hands-on exhibit! Meanwhile, crews are working on the ceiling of old tidepool touch tank area so they can expand the presentation spaces at the top of the Giant Ocean Tank upstairs. This popular hands-on exhibit will return to its usual spot as soon as construction is over.



In its new spot, there are several new species of animals to see and feel, including a new species of urchin, sea cucumbers, grass shrimp and corals. That's in addition to popular animals like hermit crabs, periwinkles, horseshoe crabs and sea stars.





Meanwhile, there are more than 800 animals still on exhibit throughout the building! Take our new zebra shark for example, a gorgeous addition to the Tropical Oceans Exhibit. Have you seen Flaherty recently? He's filled out quite a bit, some might say he's a little chunky these days. Get to know 10 special animals we're shining the spotlight on this winter—like the goliath grouper, mandarinfish and weedy seadragon. And of course, don't forget dear old Myrtle.

The Aquarium is definitely looking different these days. The Giant Ocean Tank (GOT) is officially a construction zone, off-limits and covered up by a construction screen.


The GOT was drained this week so cleaning and construction can begin.

But your friends Myrtle and the gang from the Giant Ocean Tank are still front and center. Now the turtles, tarpon, eels and stingrays are exploring the first floor penguin exhibit. Here's a look at the animals in their new (temporary) watery abode.



As you can see, transporting the animals was a big job in itself. Once the penguins moved to Quincy and their exhibit had been reconditioned for tropical fish, the divers worked feverishly over many weeks to carefully transport each and every animal from the big tank down four floors to the penguin exhibit. That's hundreds of animals—from the tiny butterflyfish to all 560 pounds of Myrtle. We "pulled the plug" on all 250,000-gallons of sea water  at 10 a.m. on October 2 and by lunchtime the water had dropped several feet already. The water drained at a rate of about one inch per minute.

After several decades, the fiberglass reef was exposed when the water started dropping.


Divers needed ladders to reach the water level. Scaffolding also went up all around the outside of the tank, along the East wall of the building and, even though you may not notice, on the ceiling, too. 


There were a few speedy fish left in the tank when the water started dropping. The divers carefully picked their way down the ladders in their wetsuits and scuba gear to gently collect the tarpon, permits and jacks.



All that effort to make sure the special animals from the Giant Ocean Tank have a comfy place to live during construction. Be sure to come by and say hi to them in the Tropical Oceans exhibit (a.k.a. the penguin exhibit minus the penguins, for now) during the renovation! And don't forget about the seals and sea lions, the shark and ray touch tank, seadragons, piranha, mandarinfish...the list goes on and on. There are more than 800 marine animals species to see during construction.

Something very special is happening, and it's evident when you first walk in the building. "Where are the penguins," visitors want to know. Well, the penguin islands are all empty because the birds have been moved to make room for the Giant Ocean Tank animals. The transformation of the Giant Ocean Tank is underway!

Visitors get to see little blue penguins in their new temporary holding exhibit.

Some of the graphics up in the temporary exhibit explaining the construction changes.

Most of the penguins that normally live at the Aquarium are at an off-site holding facility during this important construction project. But the little blue penguins are still delighting visitors just steps away from their usual home! Look for these full-grown birds near the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center. From the looks of it, the little blues are settling in just fine. In fact, they're ready to take a dip in their pool.