Franklin Park is an amazing zoo; you should probably go there one day.
Ok. I will be in Boston November 7th through the 12th. I am flying to Boston.
I have been thinking about the Franklin Park Zoo.
For me the aquarium was quite the let down. However I do recommend Franklin Park. I didn’t visit the Stone Zoo. I’m not an expert in this region however. Hope I could help.
When I went I felt like it was lacking a big exhibit or a “star” animal and I felt it hard to justify the ticket price. The trip was also quite forgettable as well.
I, for one, can certainly understand the sentiment that NEAQ is a let-down, and personally I rank it near the middle of facilities I've visited. @Spike is right that they don't have all of the same "star power" many other aquariums have, for better or for worse. They lack large sharks (except for the new nurse shark!), there are only two species of penguin and they lack underwater viewing, and the only mammals are two common pinniped species housed in exhibits that leave a lot to be desired, one of which located out of the way in the back of the aquarium.
)I agree that a star isn't needed to be good, however I do understand @Spike's criticism that it doesn't have any of the typical star species, meaning if someone goes to the aquarium expecting to see these species, then they may be disappointed. I know that I didn't realize they no longer had any large sharks at my most recent visit, which meant it was a little disappointing to not see any. I didn't realize any of their smaller sharks were rare, but I'm also not a big fish person. They certainly have more birds at NEAQ than at Mystic (although even NEAQ only has around five species or so), however I for one still miss the little blue penguins they once had.My main problem is the crowd flow, as well. I don't think anywhere needs a star to be good, and the amount of shark species they have, especially the rare ones, make up for no large species; I'd much rather see several small, rare sharks than another sand tiger. I liked the sea lion exhibit, and it's way better than the awful harbor seal one out front that I'd forgotten about. In comparison to Mystic, I think it depends what you're looking for. If it's fish or birds, New England is definitely better (unless it's paddlefish
I feel some of this criticism is completely unwarranted. For instance, if you are going to take into account the recent departure of their northern fur seal, then I think it would be prudent to properly recognize that they do now have a large shark, which isn't an exception. The sea lions really aren't "out of the way." Several aquariums I expect you would rate higher if you visited have even fewer or the same amount of penguin species. I believe the Shedd Aquarium, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium, and the Mystic Aquarium all have only one or two species. That said, the lack of window viewing is a little disappointing.
I didn't recognize anything that sounded out of the ordinary, but I'll have to check next time I visit.
When did you visit, again? I bought a membership on my first of two visits so far this year (in February, I believe), after having not gone in several years. I didn't go downstairs the second time but none of these species are listed in the comprehensive album of photographs I took of the signage at that exhibit. They have an expansive breeding program for small sharks so I suppose it's possible they were just off-exhibit at the time, but they also could be gone.