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Whether it’s a school field trip, a family outing or a
first date, for over 45 years, Mystic Aquarium has been a place
where lasting memories are made. Equally important, Mystic Aquarium
is a place where injured animals are rehabbed, non-releasable
animals find a home and all receive world-class animal care. Through
the work of educators, veterinarians and research scientists, it is
also where advancements are made toward ocean conservation.
For those
reasons and more, Mystic Aquarium was named as one of the “Top
Ten Best Aquariums” in the 2019 USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice
Travel Awards – and that’s all thanks to you! As we step into a
new year (and new decade!), we’d like to take a look back on some
of the past 365 days-worth of Aquarium accomplishments…
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OPENING NEW
SPACES & GUEST EXPERIENCES
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- The grand opening
of our Milne Ocean Science and Conservation Center;
featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, a new space for our Sea School
Preschool and a conservation-focused Aquaculture
Lab.
- The Main
Gallery expansion included three new interactive
experiences: Wild Arctic,
our augmented reality exhibit, immerses you into a digital
Arctic environment; Plastic Free Seas shows how
microplastics linger long after larger plastic debris is
removed and Touch of the Tropics gets you hands-on with
aquatic species native to the Caribbean.
- We introduced our
inaugural holiday lights experience, Northern Lights,
welcoming thousands from near and far to explore our outdoor
pathways in a ‘new light.’
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·
Natasha joined
Kela and Juno at the Arctic Coast where groundbreaking research
takes place in an effort to learn more about wild populations of
beluga.
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Born to one of our harbor seal ambassadors,
Pearl, Cobh (pronounced
‘Cove’) made an early-morning appearance on June 9 between the
animal trainer’s “pup watch” shifts.
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Mother/son duo Yura & Tuk found
their forever home with us after stranding in California. Due to
their exposure to domoic acid, both were deemed non-releasable.
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Dash,
the male addition to our colony of California sea lions, was also
rescued in California after being abandoned at birth and deemed
non-releasable.
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And Nuna, a
spotted seal who joined our other spotted seal at the Pacific
Northwest habitat, was ultimately deemed non-releasable after being
rescued in Alaska amid an Unusual Mortality Event.
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Our Animal
Rescue Program started 2019 with record-breaking sightings: the
team received 198 calls to their hotline of reported seal sightings
and responded to 124 strandings. That’s a great increase from the
ten-year average of 70 sightings and 70 strandings. By year’s end,
the team released 19 seals, including Lou-Seal,
an international rescue tale and the Program’s first adult gray
seal, and rehabilitated their first endangered Green sea
turtle that was later released in Florida following
its recovery.
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