A Visit to the Aquarium
by Michael J. Passow
Earth Sciences CorrespondentO.K., so maybe the Coney Island Aquarium doesn't literally come under "Earth Science." But if you haven't been there lately (or never visited this NYC landmark), you're missing something special, especially in its Centennial Celebration Year.
Background History
The New York Aquarium (now officially the Aquarium for Wildlife Conservation) was opened in Battery Park, Manhattan, by the City of New York in 1896. Six years later, it joined the New York Zoological Society (now officially the Wildlife Conservation Society). For many years, the displays in the old fort facing New York harbor and the Statue of Liberty were among the most popular tourist attractions. But during World War II, the building was closed and the exhibits moved to temporary quarters in the old Lion House at the Bronx Zoo.
In 1957, the Coney Island Aquarium's first exhibits opened, bringing a new attraction to one of the city's oldest recreational areas. Since then, many people have arrived by subway or car to combine a visit to the Aquarium with a day at the beach, rides in the amusement parks, and a nosh from the original site of Nathan's Hot Dogs.
The Osborn Laboratories of Marine Sciences, the marine research arm of the Wildlife Conservation Society, opened in an adjacent building during the 1960s. Scientists associated with the Osborn Labs carry on the tradition of understanding the deep seas that date back to the historic 1934 bathysphere dives of William Beebe and Otis Barton, who were lowered more than 3,000 feet to report about abyssal creatures never before seen alive.
Since then, the Aquarium has undergone expansions and modernization that place it among the finest marine science educational facilities in the world.
What You Can See
Visitors entering immediately face the huge "Oceanic Exhibit" tank, usually occupied by dolphins or other large species. Around a corner is the Conservation Hall containing large and small tanks featuring displays about the Amazon, Belize barrier reefs, Lake Malawi, chambered nautiluses, upside down jellyfish, piranhas, and many others. Most emphasize themes concerning threats to the natural habitats from human activities and the need for active conservation.
Stepping outside brings visitors to the Sea Cliffs. Opened in 1993, this exhibit provides homes for walruses, sea otters, seals, and penguins. But in addition to watching them cavort on the surface, visitors look up from windows set in a below-ground exhibit hall.
The 90,000 gallon shark tank is home to many species of large marine predators. It also contains the safe from the Andrea Doria which sank in 1956. During the 1980s, explorer Peter Gimbel recovered it and it was dramatically opened in a live TV special.
Next door is another large tank featuring sealife native to the New York region. Stepping outside this exhibit brings visitors to the Beebe and Barton bathysphere, a five-foot-diameter steel ball that was lowered from a ship for record-breaking dives in the early 1930s. Looking through the small windows to the cramped interior provides visitors with some inkling of the engineering skill, bravery, and discomfort that Beebe employed in his efforts to go, literally, where no man had gone before.
Opposite the Sea Cliffs is the Aqua Theater, a 1,600-seat amphitheater opened in 1995 where dolphins, beluga whales, sea lions and other "performers" demonstrate trained behaviors that alway bring out the "Oohs!" and "Ahhs!" Adjacent to this is the Hudson River exhibit. A big tank features some of the larger fish, sea turtles, and other organisms that live in the New York Bight, where the river and the Gulf Stream join. Smaller exhibits feature species found in the freshwater sections closer to the ri ver's headwaters in the Adirondack Mountains. Along the wall are interesting photographs and information about historical aspects of this famous waterway.
Around the corner are large tanks containing the beluga whales. These relatively small (about 20 feet and several tons) cetaceans have long been among the most popular attractions at the Aquarium. "Casey," now five years old, is the oldest beluga born in an aquarium and seems to be doing just fine in these tanks.
The Discovery Cove building, opened in 1989, provides many hands-on exhibits about the adaptation of marine organisms to environmental conditions. One of the most popular displays is the rocky coast, where visitors can stand beneath a curved window as waves crash over them. Two new additions are displays about electric fish and the "electric eel laboratory" of Dr. Chris Coates, whose research provided a method to combat nerve gas during World War II.
The Aquarium, located at West 8th St. and Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, is open 365 days a year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (7 p.m. on summer weekends and holidays). General admission is charged, and there is an additional charge to use the large parking lot. However, admission and parking are free for members of the Wildlife Conservation Society. There are several eating facilities, including an indoor area with beautiful views of New York Harbor and the Atlantic Highlands of New Jersey. There is also a gift shop with plastic and stuffed animals, posters, games, and other items featuring marine organisms.
Special programs are also available for school and camp groups, using both the Aquarium facilities and the nearby Education Hall on the famous Boardwalk. For information about these programs, call (718)-265-3474 -- that's (718)-265-FISH!
(Editor's Note: Earth Sciences Correspondent Passow reports that his family has a tradition of visiting the Aquarium every New Year's Day, adds that he didn't take part in the Polar Bear Club swim!)
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