If You Build It, They Will Thrive

We all know biodiversity thrives in coral, but at the New England Aquarium, it's a fact unfolding every day in front of thousands of visitors.

In 1984, the Aquarium doubled the number of species and individuals in its signature Giant Ocean Tank (GOT) by adding the magic ingredient--a massive coral reef replica.

In a history that unfolds almost like a controlled experiment, the coral reef habitat replaced a smooth-surfaced rock construction that had rested in the tank since the Aquarium opened in 1969. The amorphous rock only gave fishes an object to swim around, and nowhere to hide from the predatory species in the tank. That meant that even though the GOT was the crown jewel of the Aquarium, it could safely hold only 48 species of larger fishes. However, within a year of being transformed into a coral reef, the exhibit held 98 species. Today, as Aquarium biologists continue to learn more about the reef's potential, it holds 130 species. (You can view it live on webcam here.)

The transformation into a coral reef became possible in the 1980s because exhibit technology had progressed to the point of allowing for a more accurate representation of a specific ocean environment. The Aquarium decided to replicate a Caribbean coral habitat to call attention to the mass destruction of corals and give Aquarium visitors a visual representation of what was being lost.

The full weight of the fabrication end of the project fell on the Aquariums resident habitat scultpor, Peter Brady. For two and a half years, Brady worked with photographs, coral molds and his own observations to sculpt a coral reef replica 23 feet high and nearly 40 feet wide, roughly the size of a townhouse. "It was the biggest prefabrication project I ever worked on," Brady recalls.

Exhibit designer Peter Brady adds finishing touches to some plate coral in 1984.

The coral was built in an East Boston warehouse and, after careful review, transported to the Aquarium in pieces. It was assembled and painted inside the tank. The fishes were added in stages after careful testing confirmed that there were no trace resin from the fiberglass or paint resin was in the water.

After the New England Aquarium unveiled the finished coral reef, several aquariums around the world launched their own coral reef replicas. Steve Lenox, currently a principal at exhibit design company Lyons/Zaremba Inc., worked on the GOT coral reef as well as subsequent projects at the Florida Aquarium and Long Beach Aquarium. He notes that "before the New England Aquarium's reef, there really weren't many exhibits where tiny Gobis could coexist with six foot sharks."

Today the GOT coral reef continues to immerse visitors in the world of a coral habitat. However, constant cleaning of all surfaces to remove algae dulled the exhibit's vibrant colors.
Brady says the exhibit team will likely have an opportunity to touch up the coral structures and replace painted corals with new materials that are colored in the molding process.

Here's a sample of the species count in the GOT over time:

Pre-Coral: 1983
48 species, 210 individuals

Post-Coral: 1986
96 species, 479 individuals

2006:
130 species, 630 individuals


Keep reading with Dr. Les Kaufman's recollections of the project.
As I spoke with people who worked on this exhibit, a number of other skilled designers were repeatedly mentioned, including project manager Dick Lyons, fish curator Paul Sieswerda, and current Associate Director John Dayton.