National Aquarium in Baltimore National Aquarium, Baltimore Updates and Events

NAIB Volunteer said:
The National Aquarium, Washington D.C. will close this September. The original timeline for opening the new aquarium at the other end of the Hoover building is no longer relevant. I'm not sure if there are still plans to have the aquarium on the Mall side of the Herbert Hoover Building or not. The aquarium will be closed permanently until funding and a new location is found.

National Aquarium in D.C. to Close September 30: DCist
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I missed that this facility was closing. Didn't they just rebuild the whole facility? Most reviews of the place weren't very glowing so maybe not a huge loss? The National Zoo has a pretty nice little aquarium with octopus, nautilus, etc. in its invertebrate exhibit.
 
DavidBrown said:
I missed that this facility was closing. Didn't they just rebuild the whole facility? Most reviews of the place weren't very glowing so maybe not a huge loss? The National Zoo has a pretty nice little aquarium with octopus, nautilus, etc. in its invertebrate exhibit.
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After the acquisition of the DC Aquarium by the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the facility underwent a renovation. This was around 2006.
Originally, the plan was to move the aquarium to the other end of the Herbert Hoover building where a much nicer entrance would be constructed on the National Mall to drive visitor attendance.
Currently, National Aquarium is looking for some sort of facility to either have a public aquarium or some sort of conservation education center.
Personally, I enjoyed the D.C. Venue. While it was small and outdated, it was a very nice hour and half visit.

Here is the press release: http://nationalaquarium.wordpress.com/2013/09/27/update-from-the-ceo-our-future-in-washington-dc/
 
Dolphin Exhibits May Close at the National Aquarium

There is a proposal afoot to move the dolphins to some kind of sanctuary.:mad:

This is a bad idea. Funding is probably going to end up being sketchy. The animals have had little no exposure to unfiltered seawater; their immune systems probably can't handle it. Besides, bottlenose dolphins live longer in a captive environment than they do in the wild. If they really don't want to keep dolphins anymore than they should just quit breeding them. And I don't trust the researchers mentioned in the article that are promoting it because I worry than their connection to anti cap groups creates too much of a conflict of interest for good science. It also feels horribly akin to one person forcing their beliefs on others.
 
wensleydale said:
Dolphin Exhibits May Close at the National Aquarium

There is a proposal afoot to move the dolphins to some kind of sanctuary.:mad:

This is a bad idea. Funding is probably going to end up being sketchy. The animals have had little no exposure to unfiltered seawater; their immune systems probably can't handle it. Besides, bottlenose dolphins live longer in a captive environment than they do in the wild. If they really don't want to keep dolphins anymore than they should just quit breeding them. And I don't trust the researchers mentioned in the article that are promoting it because I worry than their connection to anti cap groups creates too much of a conflict of interest for good science. It also feels horribly akin to one person forcing their beliefs on others.
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I agree with your statement quite whole heartedly.

This whole ridiculous feel good notion that the dolphins will be happier set free or relegated to waste away in ocean pens really needs to stop.
 
I hope that AZA, AMMPA, and others take a strong stance on this.

And doesn't SeaWorld still own Jade and potentially her calf?

If the CEO doesn't want to display cetaceans anymore, don't give them a death sentence of exposure to an environment they have no immunity to! There are plenty of facilities that can provide new homes for the 8.
 
I kind of hope Sea World lets them have it, if they try this. I wouldn't blame them. Isn't she captive born. This (and I try not to use extreme example so I will only give this a couple of sentences or two) vaguely reminds me of the arguments for the Iraq War. Sure this is dangerous and might well turn into a huge quagmire but they'll have Freedom...

I also listen to a lot of Rammstein and after reading what they have to say about the end of communism and the German reunification I always think carefully whenever someone talks about putting someone/something in a situation that involves that drastic of a change in the way of their living situation, even if I do think that the Eastern Bloc had relatively lousy living conditions compared to the West, not that I am implying that the aquarium is lousy or like a police state.

Besides, Dolphins aren't human, we should not assume that they follow human thought processes and have the same values as humans.

They have a feedback website, I guess anyone who wants to weigh in on this either way should go do that. Politely, of course.
 
This idea is horrible. New management at the aquarium that came in a couple of years ago has been determined to appease the anti-captivity animal rights extremists. The dolphins are by far the most popular animals at the aquarium and draw the most support, visitors, and funding. Why cater to the animal rights extremists/anti-captivity crowd, who do not and never have supported the aquarium or anything it stands for to begin with, instead of appealing to the aquarium’s actual patrons, supporters, and their families, is beyond me. Most facilities such as SeaWorld, Georgia Aquarium, and Vancouver Aquarium are fighting back against these lunatic people, yet Baltimore/National Aquarium just caves in? Outrageous! It was stupid enough to eliminate the dolphin shows several years ago, but this is just insane. The aquarium will greatly suffer from this in the form of loss of visitors, leading to further ticket price hikes, leading to even fewer visitors and the suffering of the aquarium that could lose much of its strength it once had to fulfill its mission, if it doesn’t completely go belly up (the aquarium has almost always had dolphins as its main attraction since its opening). I’ve been encouraging people who feel the aquarium should remember its goal of connecting people with nature by keeping the dolphins to tell the aquarium so in its future plans comment box at the bottom of the page here: National Aquarium - Our Future. The aquarium and its supporters need to fight back against these anti-captivity/extremist protesters, as dolphins and whales are just the first targets for them. These activists from PETA and the like do not represent the majority of people and have absolutely no right to dictate how aquariums, zoos, and such institutions should take care of their animals.
 
This isn't an aquarium based project but they did announce they'll be participating in it.

The Future of Our Waterfront


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The National Aquarium is moving beyond its walls to inspire conservation action on its campus. Working with other citywide plans and organizations, such as Inner Harbor 2.0, we’re embarking on an effort to create a model urban waterfront that connects people with water in new and innovative ways.
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National Aquarium | The Future of Our Waterfront

Baltimore's National Aquarium plots 'complete makeover' of waterfront campus - Washington Business Journal
 
Stopped by here with family over a warm December break. We really enjoyed. Rainforest on top of building was nice but kind of small. Loved the Australian exhibit. You here horror stories about Baltimore but it was in a good part of the city. Only complaint no parking except expensive decks close by. Pluses. Australian section. Dolphins(agree they should stay). And their huge reef tank.
 
dcpandafan said:
This isn't an aquarium based project but they did announce they'll be participating in it.

The Future of Our Waterfront


model-urban-waterfront-rendering-slide.jpg




National Aquarium | The Future of Our Waterfront

Baltimore's National Aquarium plots 'complete makeover' of waterfront campus - Washington Business Journal
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It is an aquarium based project. It's part of their master plan named BLUEprint and is designed to merge and better integrate the three buildings over two piers. This outdoor exhibit will also be in conjunction with the Level 2 renovations currently housing the Maryland: Mountains to the Sea.
 
NAIB Volunteer said:
It is an aquarium based project. It's part of their master plan named BLUEprint and is designed to merge and better integrate the three buildings over two piers. This outdoor exhibit will also be in conjunction with the Level 2 renovations currently housing the Maryland: Mountains to the Sea.
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Hmm... didn't know that. I only found this through a development forum.
 
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