Hello Fellow Zoochatters! I am back with another review and species list from my New York road trip back in June. Previousy, I covered the Central Park Zoo, which was the first of the five Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) facilities that I would visit on a week-long road trip back in June. Now, it's time to cover the 2nd facility that I visited that week, and this time, we are headed to Long Island.
The New York Aquarium is located on the Coney Island beachfront, and is located directly next to the famous Coney Island Cyclone, one of the world's oldest still-operating roller coasters. Other nearby points of interest include Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park and the original Nathan's Hot Dog restaurant. The aquarium has its own parking, the only WCS facility other than the Bronx Zoo to do so. The Aquarium is also easily accessible from the beach boardwalk which stretches the entire length of Coney Island and is a hub for many avenues of entertainment.
The New York Aquarium somewhat differs from other aquariums in that the facility consists of multiple separate buildings situated along an outdoor plaza. The Aquarium's collection is concentrated into 4 distinct buildings; the Conservation Hall, Sea Cliffs, Ocean Wonders: Sharks!, and the PlayQuarium. Visitors enter the aquarium through the Conservation Hall, after which you enter the plaza and the rest of the exhibits can be accessed. The aquarium also features a restaurant, located near the Sharks! exhibit, as well as a gift shop, which is connected to the Conservation Hall, but accessed from the outside.
The Aquarium traces its origins back to 1891, when the New York City government proposed converting Castle Garden, a historic military fort and immigrant-processing station located at Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan. The aquarium opened in 1896 and was highly popular, partially due to charging no admission. The New York Zoological Society (now known as the Wildlife Conservation Society) took over operations in 1902. The aquarium would see several expansions and renovations up until the 1940s, when Castle Garden faced the prospect of being demolished at the behest of Robert Moses in order to construct the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel. As a result, the aquarium was closed and the facility's wildlife were relocated elsewhere.
The aquarium we are familiar with today was born from a proposal to establish a new aquarium at Coney Island, with the intend of revitalizing the district. The new aquarium opened at its current location in 1957. With a few exceptions, the WCS had to acquire specimens for the new aquarium from scratch. Former animals at the aquarium included an Orca, a Narwhal (both held back in 1960s), Walruses (which I actually saw during a pre-2004 visit), and Belugas (which were held as recent as 2007, after which they were transferred to the Georgia Aquarium).
The most impactful chapter of the aquarium's life would occur in October 2012, when Hurricane Sandy struck the New York metropolitan area and would become one of the most devastating storms to impact the region. The New York Aquarium was especially hit hard by Sandy, suffering from flooding and power outages, as well as the partial loss of its animal collection. However, a small group of WCS staff remained on site and were able to save about 80% of the aquarium's inhabitants. The aquarium was closed for seven months, and would partially reopen in May 2013. However, the damage received by the storm was so substantial that the aquarium would not fully reopen all exhibits and areas until July 2022, almost 10 years since the storm.
Nonetheless, the aquarium preserved, and would even open a brand new exhibit building: Ocean Wonders: Sharks! This exhibit, originally announced in 2008, was to break ground in 2012 for a 2015 opening until it was delayed by Sandy. Ocean Wonders: Sharks! would open in 2018 as the aquarium's first new exhibit since reopening from Sandy.
The aquarium would suffer another months-long closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its reopening in July 2020 would introduce another new exhibit; Spineless. By July 2022, the last exhibits and areas that were still closed due to damage from Sandy (most notably, the underground/underwater portion of Sea Cliffs) would reopen, marking the first time the aquarium has been fully open since Sandy struck New York in 2012.
Overall, I found the New York Aquarium to be a very solid and exceptional aquarium with a lot of unique qualities to it that I don't see at many other aquariums. Its beachfront and mostly-outdoor setting, its unique take on exhibit concepts like marine mammals, and the high quality of exhibitry and craftsmanship that is present all throughout the Wildlife Conservation Society's portfolio all give the New York Aquarium a unique character that sets itself apart form its peers.
While the New York Aquarium actually features a rather rich collection of wildlife (I counted 243 species that were signed/observed, making it the 6th most species-rich facility i have visited), it's collection is also rather lacking in unique or rare species. Indeed, the aquarium doesn't have any collection areas that standout or compete with the likes of Chattanooga, Baltimore, or Atlanta. But like the North Carolina Zoo, what the aquarium lacks in rarities it more than makes up for with its exhibitry. For example, I would consider New York's Pinniped and Sea Otter exhibits to be vastly superior to those at Atlanta, whereas I enjoyed New York's shark exhibits more than I did than the ones at Baltimore.
Nonetheless, the New York Aquarium is still an excellent aquarium overall and one that I enjoyed thoroughly.
Over subsequent posts, I will go over each of the aquarium's core exhibits and provide my thoughts as well as a species list for each of them. I have also compiled a species list on iNaturalist that you can view here -> [VISIT] New York Aquarium Species List - 2024/06/11. Do note that common names or scientific names used by iNaturalist may differ from what you see at the aquarium (due to using different English names or synonyms). I will note where these differ wherever applicable.
Also, just a heads up, the Aquatheater was closed on my visit due to renovation work. However, I believe this is just used for Sea Lion shows, and doesn't house any species that aren't visible elsewhere (correct me if I'm wrong). Also, two of the Sea Cliff exhibits were drained and also undergoing renovation work (it's the two leftmost exhibits if you look at the map). However, only Harbor Seals were off-exhibit; the California Sea Lions were still on-exhibit. Which was no issue at all as I have already seen Harbor Seals at Asheboro and Central Park this year.
To be Continued...
Astrom3000's Big Apple Adventure
Part 2 - No Sharks 'till Brooklyn
For this next review, I will be covering the New York Aquarium, the only aquarium under the WCS umbrella, located at the Coney Island neighborhood/district in Brooklyn, New York. My date of visit was 06/11/2024. I know it's almost 6 months to the day since my visit, but it doesn't seem much has changed since my visit (other than the Pinniped exhibits that were drained and undergoing work on my visit possibly being reopened?). Unlike Central Park, this is actually not my first visit to the aquarium; I have visited this place as a kid as part of a field trip. This was prior to 2004, when I moved to North Carolina.Part 2 - No Sharks 'till Brooklyn
The New York Aquarium is located on the Coney Island beachfront, and is located directly next to the famous Coney Island Cyclone, one of the world's oldest still-operating roller coasters. Other nearby points of interest include Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park and the original Nathan's Hot Dog restaurant. The aquarium has its own parking, the only WCS facility other than the Bronx Zoo to do so. The Aquarium is also easily accessible from the beach boardwalk which stretches the entire length of Coney Island and is a hub for many avenues of entertainment.
The New York Aquarium somewhat differs from other aquariums in that the facility consists of multiple separate buildings situated along an outdoor plaza. The Aquarium's collection is concentrated into 4 distinct buildings; the Conservation Hall, Sea Cliffs, Ocean Wonders: Sharks!, and the PlayQuarium. Visitors enter the aquarium through the Conservation Hall, after which you enter the plaza and the rest of the exhibits can be accessed. The aquarium also features a restaurant, located near the Sharks! exhibit, as well as a gift shop, which is connected to the Conservation Hall, but accessed from the outside.
The Aquarium traces its origins back to 1891, when the New York City government proposed converting Castle Garden, a historic military fort and immigrant-processing station located at Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan. The aquarium opened in 1896 and was highly popular, partially due to charging no admission. The New York Zoological Society (now known as the Wildlife Conservation Society) took over operations in 1902. The aquarium would see several expansions and renovations up until the 1940s, when Castle Garden faced the prospect of being demolished at the behest of Robert Moses in order to construct the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel. As a result, the aquarium was closed and the facility's wildlife were relocated elsewhere.
The aquarium we are familiar with today was born from a proposal to establish a new aquarium at Coney Island, with the intend of revitalizing the district. The new aquarium opened at its current location in 1957. With a few exceptions, the WCS had to acquire specimens for the new aquarium from scratch. Former animals at the aquarium included an Orca, a Narwhal (both held back in 1960s), Walruses (which I actually saw during a pre-2004 visit), and Belugas (which were held as recent as 2007, after which they were transferred to the Georgia Aquarium).
The most impactful chapter of the aquarium's life would occur in October 2012, when Hurricane Sandy struck the New York metropolitan area and would become one of the most devastating storms to impact the region. The New York Aquarium was especially hit hard by Sandy, suffering from flooding and power outages, as well as the partial loss of its animal collection. However, a small group of WCS staff remained on site and were able to save about 80% of the aquarium's inhabitants. The aquarium was closed for seven months, and would partially reopen in May 2013. However, the damage received by the storm was so substantial that the aquarium would not fully reopen all exhibits and areas until July 2022, almost 10 years since the storm.
Nonetheless, the aquarium preserved, and would even open a brand new exhibit building: Ocean Wonders: Sharks! This exhibit, originally announced in 2008, was to break ground in 2012 for a 2015 opening until it was delayed by Sandy. Ocean Wonders: Sharks! would open in 2018 as the aquarium's first new exhibit since reopening from Sandy.
The aquarium would suffer another months-long closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its reopening in July 2020 would introduce another new exhibit; Spineless. By July 2022, the last exhibits and areas that were still closed due to damage from Sandy (most notably, the underground/underwater portion of Sea Cliffs) would reopen, marking the first time the aquarium has been fully open since Sandy struck New York in 2012.
Overall, I found the New York Aquarium to be a very solid and exceptional aquarium with a lot of unique qualities to it that I don't see at many other aquariums. Its beachfront and mostly-outdoor setting, its unique take on exhibit concepts like marine mammals, and the high quality of exhibitry and craftsmanship that is present all throughout the Wildlife Conservation Society's portfolio all give the New York Aquarium a unique character that sets itself apart form its peers.
While the New York Aquarium actually features a rather rich collection of wildlife (I counted 243 species that were signed/observed, making it the 6th most species-rich facility i have visited), it's collection is also rather lacking in unique or rare species. Indeed, the aquarium doesn't have any collection areas that standout or compete with the likes of Chattanooga, Baltimore, or Atlanta. But like the North Carolina Zoo, what the aquarium lacks in rarities it more than makes up for with its exhibitry. For example, I would consider New York's Pinniped and Sea Otter exhibits to be vastly superior to those at Atlanta, whereas I enjoyed New York's shark exhibits more than I did than the ones at Baltimore.
Nonetheless, the New York Aquarium is still an excellent aquarium overall and one that I enjoyed thoroughly.
Over subsequent posts, I will go over each of the aquarium's core exhibits and provide my thoughts as well as a species list for each of them. I have also compiled a species list on iNaturalist that you can view here -> [VISIT] New York Aquarium Species List - 2024/06/11. Do note that common names or scientific names used by iNaturalist may differ from what you see at the aquarium (due to using different English names or synonyms). I will note where these differ wherever applicable.
Also, just a heads up, the Aquatheater was closed on my visit due to renovation work. However, I believe this is just used for Sea Lion shows, and doesn't house any species that aren't visible elsewhere (correct me if I'm wrong). Also, two of the Sea Cliff exhibits were drained and also undergoing renovation work (it's the two leftmost exhibits if you look at the map). However, only Harbor Seals were off-exhibit; the California Sea Lions were still on-exhibit. Which was no issue at all as I have already seen Harbor Seals at Asheboro and Central Park this year.
To be Continued...
