Community Corner
Debut of Aquarium's 'FINtastic RefurbFISHment' [VIDEOS]
When you're looking for something to do while the kids are on break from school, consider visiting the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk—it's just been refurbished.
The $4 million dollar renovation project at Norwalk's Maritime Aquarium is nearly completed and there are dozens of new animals, an all-new seal show and amazing new live exhibits about Long Island Sound.
“It’s fun for everyone really,” said Paz Meyers, a 9-year-old visiting the Maritime Aquarium with his family. Meyers said he visits often, and enjoys taking photos of the marine life, while learning.
The newly renovated Aquarium has plenty to offer both new and returning visitors alike. In fact, it’s the largest transformation of the Aquarium since 2001, according to a Press release.
Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“There are new exhibits to explore, new animals to meet, a new way to flow through the Aquarium and beautiful new presentations of the exhibits that you already know and love,” said Jennifer Herring, president of The Maritime Aquarium.
Some of the “RefurbFISHment’s” are immediately obvious, for example the Aquarium’s colorfully redesigned main hall, which has been renamed Newman’s Own Hall in celebration of a $1.2 million grant from Newman’s Own Foundation, a longtime Aquarium supporter.
Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Other changes might not be so obvious, but are none-the-less incredibly exciting, like the addition of a 7-foot female lemon shark, an interactive introduction to the Long Island Sound dominated by a 36-by-12-foot map (an image about the size of a school bus), and much more.
“The game’s questions will be fun but also subtly prepare visitors for learning and discovering as they move on into the Aquarium’s galleries,” Herring said.
Designated by Congress as an Estuary of National Significance, Long Island Sound is the Aquarium’s primary focus. Some 20 million people live within an hour’s drive of this special body of water – a population density that puts stress on the aquatic environment, Herring said. The Aquarium’s goal is to educate and inspire adults and children to help to preserve and protect the Sound and its animals.
Among the many new additions, remain the classic attractions we’ve all come to love. The sharks, jellyfish, otters, eels, and seals are still waiting for a visit. Only their tanks and the journey to them have improved.
“The seal show features an exciting new narrative, more trainers and, of course, it stars our sleek and smart harbor seals, demonstrating some new behaviors while keeping some audience favorites like ‘kissing’ and ‘saluting,’” Herring said. “Our seals and trainers have been working hard on something all-new that our visitors will love.”
Favorite exhibits – like the sand tiger sharks, otters, sea turtles, jellies and intertidal touch tank – have been enhanced with new identification photo frames, interpretative graphics and dramatic lighting.
Nicole Osborne, of Trumbull, said, “The Maritime Aquarium is great, we come here all the time. It’s great for kids when they don’t have school.”
New features in the galleries include:
• In the “Salt Marsh” gallery – A new boardwalk and wildlife guidebooks offer visitors the opportunity to “bird watch” on the room’s enormous marsh mural. Also added here are a fiddler crab exhibit and a balcony overlooking Newman’s Own Hall below.
• The “Rivers to the Sound” gallery – Meet reptiles found in the Sound’s watershed, including a snapping turtle, woodland snakes and box turtles. A new eel exhibit represents a brick urban drainage basin.
• In the “Depths of the Sound” gallery – Visitors step under a dock to add realism to peering into the pilings habitat. And a new wave feature adds drama to the boulders habitat.
• In the 110,000-gallon “Ocean Beyond the Sound” exhibit – A seven-foot lemon shark now prowls alongside the sand tiger sharks.
• A new “Seasons of the Sound” gallery – Four tanks have been redesigned to showcase how the Sound’s population changes through a single year. Strange new animals include skeleton shrimp, sea vases, chitons and nudibranchs.
The Aquarium Hours are 10am-5pm Daily, Monday through Sunday.
