New York Aquarium New York Aquarium News

How can one get to the member tours? I tried calling the aquarium multiple times but got jack-all in terms of information.

 

Could you tell what year those plans for renovation were made? Lol. Now you have me thinking not just of the exhibit, but walrus. If it's a recent date, maybe the walrus are coming back after all! I don't know where they could possibly come from, though, as they're certainly not many around; current animals in AZA facilities have been joined in hopes of increasing reproduction. Someone should consider arranging a breeding with Marineland's Smooshie before she ages out.

 

They don't note specifics on the website, but it doesn't sound like it will be a "tour" but the week prior to the official opening they are going to allow members to tour the new exhibits. If I hear anything specific I will post about it here.

 

When Ocean Wonders Sharks was under construction there was a wall cordoning off the area that showed renderings of the 4 new exhibits that would eventually open; Ocean Wonders, Playquarium, Spineless (was going to be called Spineless Wonders) and the Sea Cliffs exhibits which had an official name regarding cold water marine environments (South African, California coasts and I guess Alaska/Russian coasts). The renderings for the first three exhibits appear accurate for what has/will open. For Sea Cliffs I remember them showing underwater viewing of the walrus and fish swimming with the penguins (which are already in the exhibit). Due to the situation with the captive walrus population I would not be surprised if the sea lions take their place permanently in the largest exhibit. I'm not sure if the large flock of brown pelicans will remain (they can only be exhibited seasonally and not the best species for underwater views) so I'd like fur seals to return of possible. I guess we will see in a few years what the aquarium decides to do.

 

I'm a member and will get any invitation they send. I'll share the news if/when it comes.

 

As am I a member as well, yes I am a member too.

 

The grand opening of the Playquarium and Spineless has been postponed until further notice.

~Thylo

 

The aquarium was set to reopen on July 20, just two days away, but following Gov. Cuomo's newest mandate that indoor cultural institutions are to remain closed, the aquarium is no longer reopening.

~Thylo

 

The NY Aquarium has probably had the hardest run of nearly any major institution in the last decade. First the financial crisis, then hurricane Sandy destroying 2/3 of the site, and finally extended closure due to COVID. It really sucks as this year was supposed to be the year when nearly everything was finished, and WCS finally moved on from the Aquarium being their focal site.

 

Seems like a waste of "public" divestment: Tells you something about Government or not?

 

I do agree and I am frustrated, especially since I've already gotten tickets for Bronx's reopening, but at the end of the day NY has been doing a pretty great job at lowing their infection rates despite NYC being such a large and compact city. This decision is to keep people safe, and I understand that, even if I do hate it.

~Thylo

 

I did love how passive aggressive the zoos and aquariums Facebook posts came off. Which makes sense given that the key issue is not reopening, instead its the lack of communication. Cuomo has done it several times that he reverses decisions right before they are supposed to be implemented. Which is almost more economically tolling as places such as the aquarium or restaurants already had to hire individuals, work with vendors, and change protocols for covid-19. Same issue has happened with my state’s governor, who has done more then most southern governors to fight covid-19, but has been communicating things like reopenings/closures with 1 days notice.

 

It is also the duty of the City and State Govt. to safeguard integral cultural and heritage establishments within our societies from demise where public funding has been in place (or simply should have been) with CoVid19 measures part and parcel of no income being generated. Rather convenient for some perhaps, but not a very good sign of upholding a societal standard in general.

Further, when and if supporting business massively in CoVid19 times, why has it simply not happened for museums, zoos and conservation and cultural organisations (that surely is a very valid point of argument)?!

 

Well the core issue for NY’s big cultural institutions is size. Non-profits under 500 employees could apply for the federal government loan program to continue paying payroll, and those loans will be forgiven if the institution follows the rules for where to spend the money. Many zoos applied and used this program (Kansas City, Atlanta, Brookfield, Denver). Sadly for WCS, the American Museum of Natural History, and several other NY institutions this program was not an option at all. Due to their size and the 500 employee rule they were not qualified as a small-business/non-profit. This is not to say this program should be the only thing done to help cultural institutions, but at least for many zoos and aquariums it allowed them 4 months of no payroll.

 

This is exactly the reason why a restricted policy is failing society at large (which I have been saying from the outset)! I would even go as far as to conclude lack of oversight and considering the perspectives and impacts of policy on institutions larger than 500 employees and that it still is talking about (small) business and not about cultural or heritage establishments as if the latter are completely unaffected and have no other value but being a commercial venture (which they are clearly not just not).

 

I don't blame them! They were told they could reopen fully, or nearly so, and thus they put a lot of time and money (money which they surely cannot spare) into preparing the sites to be "COVID safe". Not to mention they'd already made public announcement and sold a lot of tickets, only to be told days before reopening that they're being restricted again, and that the aquarium cannot open at all. It does nothing but create frustration and a massive headache for the WCS. What could have been a smooth reopening (and I'm sure they spent a lot of time planning their reopening and putting proper systems in place to secure reservations and maintain reduced capacity) has now become very complicated because of all the people who bought date specific tickets who now need to coordinate a new date with the collection(s). I'm sure many people will demand refunds as well.

~Thylo

 

Cuomo just announced aquariums can re-open as of the 24th of August.

 

Aquarium website says it opens to members on the 24th and to the public on the 27th.

 

50 cannonball Jellies have arrived from Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.

 

So I went to the Ny Aquarium today in order to checkout the new Spineless exhibit and see some of the new babies. Overall the aquarium has done a good job with Covid-19 regulations so that for a summer day it wasn't overly crowded.

As for anything new: there was a baby California sea lion and harbor seal that were cute to see and the penguins were very active in the water (including two youngsters). Some of the tanks appeared full of new fish (the final shark tank in Ocean Wonders had a lot more schooling fish, but less sharks) while the old sea turtle tank appears to be going through some changes (the back tank you can see behind it had some large schooling fish in it, but would have no idea what species). No sea turtles appeared and Conservation Hall is closed to visitors due to Covid (can't control crowd #'s due to it being at the entrance) however you are still allowed in at Glover's reef.

As for Spineless, it was a nice renovation of Alien Stringers with more species and tanks displayed in the two rooms. The old exhibit had several tanks of different jellyfish species and an adjoining room that had an anemone tank with some coral fish species discussing the importance of coral reef conservation. Spineless has some nice educational elements (similar to Ocean Wonders) and has some nice standouts for a small exhibit of about a dozen or so tanks. I did not memorize all species but I will give a quick walkthrough. It starts off with white spotted jellyfish in a cylinder tank that was in Alien Stingers. On the wall are colorful graphics discussing what is an invertebrate and has three smaller tanks with species like razor clams, blue jellyfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, decorating crabs and small shrimp, starfish and other species. You then enter the main space with lit up jellyfish hanging from the ceiling and a large interactive educational display in the middle of the room that addresses conversation issues for the species in Spineless. Two large tanks house the giant Pacific octopus (who put on a show) and 100's of moon jellyfish. Further in the room are nice exhibits for dwarf cuttlefish, common cuttlefish and upside down jellyfish. A semicircle tank at the end of the room has many starfish species and a common octopus. Now heading back to the exit are exhibits for Caribbean lobster, spider crabs and the final exhibit for the sea nettles in a large tank. Again, this is not a large exhibit, but the path then would lead to the Playquarium which has not opened (I was told since the exhibit has many interactive exhibits and play spaces they needed to wait to open). Overall it is a good renovation and I am glad to see part of this building reopen. The jellyfish and octopus exhibits will sure be crowd pleasers. I was hoping the chambered nautilus would find a home here, but maybe they will be in the Playquarium. I am also curious to see if the "Explore the Shore" section will ever reopen in this building. For those that remember this building as "Discovery Cove" the beginning had the touch tank, salt marsh, rock coast aquarium and the wave simulator where waves would crash over you; this was the "Explore the shore" zone which appears to have not been touched yet in the renovation. I am also hoping the Playquarium is more than just a few tanks and play spaces taking over most of it since the old Discovery Cove had a lot of interesting species before Hurricane Sandy (before Ocean Wonders more species were there then anywhere else in the aquarium).

I know I wrote a novel, but it seems like the aquarium is chugging along. Hopefully Covid-19 won't set it further back because even though there were some disappointments with the newest exhibits to open, overall they are modern and really highlight the education and conservation elements in different ways.