The Maritime Aquarium The Maritime Aquarium News

Lorikeets will return on Memorial Day weekend.
From the Maritime Aquarium website:
"Step into a lush aviary to share a laugh, a squawk and maybe a cup of nectar with beautiful tropical birds that will sip food right out of your hands in “Lorikeets,” our big fun special summer exhibit. Set in an aviary on our riverfront courtyard, the exhibit will feature more than 50 free-flying lorikeets, which are colorful medium-sized parrots native to the south Pacific. Entry into "Lorikeets" will be free with Aquarium admission. But purchase a $3 cup of nectar and the lorikeets may land on your hand, your shoulder, your arm or even your head to get at this sweet liquid.
For anyone with an aversion to close encounters with birds, viewing of the lorikeets will be possible from outside the aviary."
 
The aquarium got a new president in November of last year.
Maritime Aquarium elects new president - Connecticut Post
The aquarium is running a temporary exhibit called "Dragons! Real or Myth?" It features mainly lizards that have "dragon" as part of their name, as well as Weedy Sea Dragons, Dragon Wrasses, and Dragon Moray Eels. It also features a rare black morph of the Water Monitor (Varanus salvator), allegedly the only one on public display in the USA.
http://www.maritimeaquarium.org/images/stories/Aquar.Dragons-Exhibit.pdf
New Exhibits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLVNGJOgKLY

Full Species List:
Amboina Sailfin Lizard/Dragon
Australian Water Dragon
Chinese Water Dragon
Dragon Moray Eel
Frilled Lizard/Dragon
Inland Bearded Dragon
Mountain Horned Dragon
Water Monitor
Weedy Sea Dragon
 
Orange the Harbor Seal has died, leaving the aquarium with just 5 seals. Maritime Aquarium Mourns Loss Of Harbor Seal
Due to a bridge replacement project near the aquarium, a subcommittee of the Norwalk Common Council has endorsed a plan in which the state of Connecticut will pay the aquarium $34.5 million to replace its IMAX theater and exhibit space that must be razed, including the seal tank. This article mentions plans to create two new additions to the aquarium building. 1 side will house a 4D theater, ticket area, lobby, etc. and the other addition will create a new 150,000 gallon seal tank. $34.5M Plan To Replace IMAX Theater At Maritime Aquarium Still Alive
The aquarium has also eliminated nearly all single-use plastics, which is a move that I am in full support of. Maritime Aquarium Eliminates Nearly All Single-Use Plastics
 
I really loved what the aquarium did with its last renovation and the seal enclosure is probably my least favorite part so looking forward to seeing the results.

~Thylo
 
So I visited the aquarium today for the first time since 2016 and wow has a lot changed... The large seafloor tank that was next to the shark and ray touch pool is boarded over but there's a sign saying that a new exhibit is going to replace it. I noticed they've increased their jellyfish collection and breeding programs and they now have 9 species on-exhibit with an entire jellyfish room having been added after the main shark tank. A Giant Pacific Octopus, Red Lionfish, and a new tropical reef tank have been included in this area as well. The entire frogs exhibit is gone now, having been replaced with a random collection of animals featuring, in order (with their enclosure number just so you know what's mixed), Gambel's Quail (1), Savanna Monitor (2), Eastern Screech-Owl (3), Spotted Turtle (3), unidentified turtle (3), American Bullfrog (3), Striped Skunk (4), Brazilian Porcupine (5), Asian Water Monitor (6), Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman (7), Geoffroy's Tamarin (8), Green-and-Black Poison Dart Frog (9), Dyeing Poison Dart Frog (9), and Blue-and-Gold Macaw (10). Several of the enclosures are way too small to me. This new exhibit has left the collection with only 6 amphibian species (a several of the native species were moved near the otters) as opposed to the 20 they kept a few years ago. The water monitor has been replaced by five Leopard Tortoises from Turtle Back Zoo in the Dragons exhibit. It seems a new Meerkat exhibit is going to take the place of the upstairs child's play area; no idea what's to go where the Meerkats currently are. In general I noticed there appear to be a lot less fish species present than in past years. The "Go Fish" exhibit focused on the Long Island Sound in particular was extremely empty. Only Atlantic Salmon, a single Atlantic Halibut, and a single Little Skate appear to be left, with the majority of the tanks decorations having been removed. The above the tank viewing has also been closed off, and the sustainable seaford display has been moved near the Dragons exhibit. This particularly disappoints me as this was always one of the most lively tanks and my personal favorite. The absence of the cod, wolffish, and odd skates particularly disappoint me. I also noted that the signage is pretty horrible throughout the aquarium. Almost all of the signs have been replaced with electric models, many of which did not work, the rest of which rotated through way too quickly. Many tanks lacked signage whatsoever or had a sign on it saying to ask a keeper to identify the unsigned species. There were no keepers around. Finally it appears they've converted the butterfly walkthrough into an outdoor enclosure for tortoises and... I'm not sure what else, it's still too early in the year for anything to be in there. On a personal note, I finally spotted the Lemon Shark.

~Thylo
 
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The aquarium has just opened its new harbor seal exhibit. The old exhibit was 19,000 gallons and half indoors-half outdoors. The aquarium is bisected by a railroad bridge. This bridge was getting replaced and therefore the state provided funding to relocate the seal exhibit and build a new theater (they replaced the IMAX theater with a 4D one).

The new exhibit harbor seal exhibit occupies part of the grand hall and features a 22 foot deep, 160,000 gallon tank. It also has 3 off display holdings and a capacity of 8 seals (currently holds 5 seals all over 30).

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Maritime Aquarium to reveal their palace-like new seal exhibition on World Oceans Day
 
nczoofan said:
This has taken its place and also used up some of the undeveloped outdoor space/main hall.
Click to expand...

My mistake, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying this has gone by where the 4-D theater is/was since the state is paying for a new one.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
My mistake, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying this has gone by where the 4-D theater is/was since the state is paying for a new one.

~Thylo
Click to expand...

The imax theater was on the other side of the railroad bridge from the rest of the aquarium. Since the new bridge needs to be built next to the current one as to not halt operations, that land will become the new span. The state gave the aquarium money to replace that (they choose a 4D theater instead) and the seal exhibit due to the disturbance they would endure outdoors.
 
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