Partners in Preservation Support for the Aquarium

A very warm thank you to all the Aquariums amazing friends who are sharing the Partners in Preservation voting information! The inimitable bloggers Eric at Other 95%, Cindy and Alexa at Oceans4Eva and Rick at Malaria, Bedbugs, Sealice and Sunsets have shared the kind of caring for the Aquarium that puts a spring in my step, even as the mass of work piles up on my desk.

If you would like to join them in supporting the Aquarium, I put this video together with the help of my filmmaking brother, David and musical artist David Shuler of Macroform.

National Trust for Historic Preservation Recognizes the Aquarium!

The New England Aquarium was built 40 years ago, and this anniversary is starting out with some amazing recognition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Their Partners in Preservation grant program has recognized the Aquarium as part of Boston's rich historical heritage.



Starting today people can cast their vote for 25 Boston-area landmarks. Daily voting lasts until May 17, when the winner will be announced and automatically given a grant.

If the Aquarium is fortunate enough to win a grant, it will be used to restore the internal concrete to its original 1969 finish, giving visitors an idea of what it was like to step into the Aquarium when it opened and made the Boston waterfront a major attraction.



This is an amazing piece of recognition for the Aquarium, which is considered the first modern aquarium in the world. It inspired similar projects in Baltimore, Monterey Bay and Okinawa. Its architecture is truly inspiring. When you step inside the main doors, you are greeted by the towering Giant Ocean Tank and surrounded by penguins and a series of colorful tropical fish exhibits along the walls.

It's also an important step for joining an environmental conservation organization like the Aquarium with a cultural preservation organization like the National Trust. The values that the Aquarium was founded on now seem to be part of the Boston's cultural identity.

Help support the Aquarium by participating in the daily voting. You can sign up for reminders to vote here. Be sure to register and vote daily here.

One year at the Aquarium!

It's been (almost) exactly one year since I began working here. That takes a moment for that to set in, because the last twelve months been a maelstrom of incredible events. The stories that come out of the Aquarium on a daily basis are incredible, and the images and events are captivating.


(Me in front of the office building I'm stationed at across the street from the main Aquarium building)

I can't wait to see what comes next ...

Harbor Seals Know Cute

Trainers are teaching seals the tongue-sticking-out behavior.
Rochelle posted pics here.

Carnival of the Blue 23!

That's right. It's #23!

But not this 23:



This 23:


Check it out at Deep Sea News! Kevin even did the whole carnival in song!

The first whale watch weekend of 2009

This past weekend was the launch of the 2009 Whale Watch Season at the Aquarium. It may still be cold outside, but the whales are already back in Stellwagen Bank!


Photo by naturalist Melissa Rocha

This year there's more information available to visitors looking to experience the Whale Watch. Naturalist Melissa Rocha is reporting daily sightings as she gets back to the docks on the Whale Watch Log.

This Week In Aquarium Blogs

For the last several months the amount of posting on this blog has taken a back seat to the efforts being put into the Aquarium's 10 (!) active blogs. Those blogs get way more interest than this one because 1) they are written by actual marine biologists and conservation experts and 2) they have much more fascinating pictures and video that aren't publicly accessible.

So, I have prioritized them much higher than my observations on this blog. However, I do want to make sure that readers of The New Blue are fully aware of all the great ocean posts coming out of the Aquarium. So, this is the first in a series I'm going to call "This Week in Aquarium Blogs." Let's take a quick spin through the NEAQ blogosphere, shall we?

Subscribing to Aquarium Blogs
The home URL for NEAQ blogs is www.neaq.org/blogs. All the Aquarium blog feeds publish to our Tumblr account as simple, and intruiging, photo links. You can get that RSS here so you never miss a post. You can also add this to your google homepage or reader with this link.

This Week in Aquarium Blogs

The right whale team wrapped up their aerial survey season. First they explained the calving grounds in the Southeast on Sunday, then they posted a season overview on Thursday. They also put up some amazing aerial photos of various marine animals. It's been an amazing and complex season, and they did a great job reporting on it.

The Aquarium Rescue Team has covered some amazing stories this week. It began on Monday with a fantastic post about rescued Kemp's ridley sea turtle Bubba's bronchoscopy. On Tuesday Adam posted some encouraging lab results about Orion and Bubba. Then, shocking news came on Thursday when the team responded to a harp seal with birdshot wounds.


Piping plover season is almost upon us! When the rare shorebirds come nesting, the Aquarium will be ready with a breadth of knowledge about these amazing animals. Biologists Kate and Susannah launched the shorebirds blog on Wednesday.


Let it never be said that the Aquarium does not have a sense of humor. Dive Safety Officer John rocked the marine biology world on April Fool's Day by reporting his unexpected finding in the Giant Ocean Tank.




One of the most breathtaking things to come out of the blogs this week was a series of detailed underwater photographs taken by Parsons School of Design professor and Aquarium friend Keith Ellenbogen in Fiji. He posted these photos on Thursday along with his account of taking them.


And last, but certainly not least, is the Marine Mammal Trainers Blog. The trainers started the week by posting a link to the Boston Globe video of harbor seal Chacoda playing with Harlem Globetrotter Buckets Blake. Not to be missed. Rochelle's Friday post is a great cheat sheet for learning to recognize each harbor seal and call them by name! If that doesn't impress your friends and family next time you're on the Aquarium plaza, I don't know what will.

So there you have it! It's been an amazing week in Aquarium blogs, and so will next week. Also, don't judge me too harshly for falling behind on this blog when I've got so much other (superior) material to work with :)