Blue Park exhibit is open
Mystic Aquarium celebrated the opening of a new gallery
exhibit dedicated to the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
Through the generous support of the Naktenis Family Foundation, “Our Blue Park”
takes guests on a photographic journey of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts
Marine National Monument. Mystic Aquarium senior research scientist, Dr. Peter
Auster called the exhibit a “visitor’s center for this ocean wilderness.”
Designated in September of 2016, the Northeast Canyons and
Seamounts off the coast of New England was the first marine national monument
in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean. Dr. Peter Auster was instrumental in providing the
scientific rationale for conservation of the area.
Featuring three underwater canyons and four seamounts, the
monument is a biodiversity hot-spot. Currently protected from commercial
extractive activities, this unique landscape supports an incredible diversity
of marine life — including endangered whales, sea turtles, seabirds and fragile
deep-sea corals.
Mystic Aquarium seeks to connect with adults and children alike
to raise awareness about conservation -locally and globally - through
meaningful engagements like “Our Blue Park” to ultimately spark action.
The vibrant imagery of the exhibit will engage visitors in learning the
importance of this region-one of the best remaining undisturbed ecosystems in
the North Atlantic. Its ongoing protection is vital to current and future
scientific research.
“These canyons and seamounts will serve as a laboratory to
study fragile, vulnerable, and largely untrammeled nature,” said Auster, “but
most important is it’s a gift to the American people, indeed to the world. Even
for those who will never go there; knowing that such a place exists as part of
our collection of wild places evokes a sense of national pride and stewardship.
I hope the exhibit creates such a feeling for each of our guests-revealing the
otherwise hidden natural geological and biological treasures at and beneath the
surface.”