National Aquarium in Baltimore National Aquarium, Baltimore Updates and Events

I thought I would begin a thread regarding animal, exhibit, and event updates.

Upland Tropical Rainforest: Two golden lion tamarins have arrived and have been in backup since November.

Atlantic Coral Reef: Larger predatory fish will be replaced with smaller, schooling species to better replicate a coral reef.

Pier 4 Amphitheater: Dolphins Maya and Spirit, who where born at the National Aquarium in 2001, are pregnant thanks to Chinook who left in April to return to the Brookfield Zoo. This will be the first calf for Maya and Spirit and both are expected to give birth in April.

Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes: The gray headed flying foxes have been showing signs of aggression as each one stakes out their own territories.

Kelp Forest: Two wolf eels have been put on exhibit.

 

Great news regarding the dolphins

 

Yeah, it certainly is an exciting time for the Dolphin Staff!

 

The 10 Year Capital Improvements Plan http://www.dbm.maryland.gov/agencies/capbudget/Documents/CapitalBudgetTestimony/NatlAquariumCap.pdf

 

Atlantic Coral Reef: The following animals were added to the exhibit

• Queen Parrotfish – 1
  Redband Parrotfish – 4
  Stoplight Parrotfish – 2
  Orangespotted Filefish – 3
  Sergeant Major – 14
  Porkfish – 10
  Bluestriped Grunt – 14
  Queen Triggerfish – 1
  Puddingwife – 4
  Jackknife Fish – 19
  

Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes: Two gulf saratogas are in the crocodile display.

 

Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes: The following changes have to been made a number of displays

• Barramundi Exhibit - 8 additional Barramundi, totalling 10, have been added to the exhibit as well as 1 Gulf Saratoga
  
  Archer Fish Exhibit - 2 Gulf Saratoga, totalling 2, have been added to the exhibit
  
  Crocodile Exhibit - 2 Gulf Saratoga, totalling 2, have been added to the exhibit
  
  Python Exhibit - 1 Carpet Python and 1 Olive Python have been added to the display. There are now 1 Olive Python, 2 Water Pythons, and 1 Carpet Python on display.
  
  Water Monitor Display - 4 Water Dragons have been added.
  
  Desert Lizard Display - Frilled Dragon has been removed.

 

Wings in the Water: A female Butterfly Ray and a young Cownose Ray have been added to this exhibit. The Pelagic Ray has been removed for medical reasons.

 

Pier 4 Amphitheater: Spirit has successfully given birth to her first calf in the early morning of 14 April 2011. As of now, all dolphin shows have been cancelled until further notice. Staff will continue to monitor Spirit's "mothering" skills as time progresses. Maya, Spirit's half sister, is due in late April or early May.

 

Pier 4 Amphitheater: Both Maya's male calf and Spirit's female calf died within days of each other. Dolphin shows have been suspended until a full review of dolphin health is concluded. Shows should return to the normal summer schedule by mid July.

 

John Racanelli has been named the National Aquarium Institute's new Executive Director/ CEO. He will take over from David Pittenger July 18.
Full press release: John C. Racanelli Named CEO of the National Aquarium Institute — National Aquarium Newsroom

 

Thank you for the information on the suspension of the dolphin show. That helps me decide if I wanted to pay extra to see it. Although I am very sad for the dolphins and their keepers for their loss. I'm going this weekend with some family members and I'm excited to see it.

 

Keep checking aqua.org for more information regarding show times.

 

I enjoyed my trip to the National Aquarium. I didn't want to write an individual review thread as I'll be brief with my comments. I liked the architecture, visuals, exhibit design, etc. It was amazing to see the dolphins up close. This actually may have been the first time I've seen them in real life. They're beautiful, graceful creatures. This was my favorite part of the trip because they captured the heart of my two year old niece. They didn't have a show, but trainers were working with them so they were swimming and jumping a little. My niece got so excited seeing them and was screaming, "Whoa!!" I also enjoy the Wings in the Water and Jellies exhibits.

Now I did like the look of the themed exhibits like the Rainforest and Australia. However I expected each to be bigger than they actually were and when I got to the end, I felt I saw more exhibit space than actual animals. Although it's not entirely the fault of the design as birds can hide and we were sort of rushing through it having a toddler with us and it being very busy. Since I brought up the crowds, it was disappointing to see so many little tanks. They were almost impossible to see with some many people around and we found ourselves only stopping by some for a couple seconds. I'd definitely have to go back in a slower time of the year. Tanks that are huge and have a variety of sea life is what catches my attention. So I did love the five story tank with so many vantage points.

All in all, a pretty nice experience.

 

Glad you had an enjoyable experience. The dolphins are certainly entertaining and awe inspiring!
Level 2 and Level 3, which contain the majority of the small tanks, are part of the facility master plan/ capital improvements plan over the next 10 years. The overall idea is to make the exhibit floors flow much better.

 

Pier 4 Amphitheater: All dolphin shows have been cancelled for the summer. Shows will resume 1 September. In its place will be an open Amphitheater in which guests can come and go as they please while watching some training behaviors and medical check ups. This new schedule will give the dolphins and their trainers some much needed rest.

 

Pier 4 Amphitheater: News article regarding the necropsy results for the two dolphin calves that died last month.

Dolphin calves died of pneumonia, internal bleeding, National Aquarium says - Baltimore Sun

 

New Blacktip Reef Construction project:
Baltimore's National Aquarium plans overhaul, new exhibit - baltimoresun.com
http://aqua.org/explore/baltimore/exhibits-experiences/blacktip-reef

 

Exciting news!

I agree that the Wings in the Water exhibit could use a makeover or an entire new look.

The pics and description seem promising.

 

Posted on Facebook.

Update on Blacktip Reef opening next summer.

Blacktip Reef Update - Meet the Animals! | Facebook

 

Dollar Days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

National Aquarium | Baltimore | Dollar Days

I'm visiting the Aquarium for the first time. If anyone wants me to find out any info let me know