Hamilton the seal returns to sea!

National Aquarium staff were joined by volunteers on land and the United States Coast Guard by sea at the Delaware Seashore State Park to release “Hamilton”, a harbor seal rehabilitated by the Aquarium’s Marine Animal Rescue Program (MARP), into the ocean. 

The harbor seal originally stranded on the beaches of Bermuda in February. He  was severely underweight and dehydrated, and suffered from a monofilament line entanglement around the neck. Staff at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo admitted the animal to their facility for rehabilitation, and were able to get the animal back on track to health by removing the monofilament line entanglement.

Seals are extremely uncommon in Bermuda, and this is only the 4th seal to be stranded in Bermuda since the 1870’s. Since the seal required long-term rehabilitation, the Bermuda Aquarium contacted the National Aquarium’s experienced Marine Animal Rescue Program, and thanks to a generous donation by Federal Express the seal was flown to Baltimore in March and admitted for full rehabilitation.

Happy 4th from the National Aquarium!

The National Aquarium wishes you and your family a happy and safe 4th of July holiday. Take a look at our most recent video from the Jellies exhibit. Soon enough fireworks across the country will be lighting up the sky, just like these bioluminescent comb jellies light up the oceans!

A life with sharks

From Andy Dehart, Director of Biological Programs in Washington, DC
 
If you are a shark fan like me, you probably already know that Discovery Channel’s SHARK WEEK is just around the corner! Now that I have the great privilege of having two wonderfully rewarding jobs with the National Aquarium and the Discovery Channel, Shark Week is becoming a year round affair for me. 

I have worked for the National Aquarium in numerous capacities – from selling tickets in admissions to my current role at our newly renovated DC venue – for nearly 17 years.  Sharks have always been my passion.  For me it started when I was only five years old when I got to see a 6 foot long Caribbean reef shark while snorkeling with my father in the Florida Keys.  Pardon the pun, but I was hooked and have followed the dream of working with sharks ever since.
 
Throughout  my career I have dabbled in media and when the unfortunate and extremely rare cases of mistaken identity rolled around and a bather or surfer was attacked by a shark, I have been called upon by the media to answer questions about shark attacks.  In 2003 I got the chance to work on my first Shark Week show, Sharks Under Glass, about sharks in public aquariums. Last year I was approached by Discovery Channel to sign on as their Shark Advisor, which meant reviewing show and online content, contributing to online content and doing television and print interviews.

Stork stops by Sea Cliffs exhibit

The National Aquarium is happy to welcome “Squirt”, the newest addition to the puffin colony in the Sea Cliffs exhibit.  Hatching sometime last night after a 34 day incubation period, this is the second successful hatching for our orange banded female and black banded male. Puffins form a pair bond and typically return to the same nest ground year after year. This pair’s first chick hatched in 2006, and was the first puffin born at the Aquarium!

Squirt weighs just 37 grams right now but should grow to be about 32 cm, or 12 inches, tall. He will remain in the nest box which is located on the far left side of the exhibit for several weeks and will be fed by both parent birds there.

Healing Houdini, the bearded dragon

There’s no such thing as a “typical day” for the Aquarium’s veterinary staff. With dolphins that can weigh up to 500 pounds to frogs that weigh as much as a paper clip, our vets face different challenges every day. Some procedures require special skills, which is when the Aquarium turns to outside experts.

Last week, the Aquarium medical team faced a special challenge: “Houdini” is a four year old bearded dragon that is part of our animal programs team. If you’ve been at the Aquarium for one of our daily Animal Encounters in the Overlook, you may have met her!

In April, Houdini became very ill with fluid building up in her body and under her skin. Through weeks of intensive medical management, vets were able to get her back to normal behavior and appetite, but still weren’t able to determine the underlying cause. The diagnostic options were an exploratory surgery or endoscopy – both invasive- or advanced imaging of the soft tissues using a non-invasive MRI. An MRI would let vets look at Houdini’s ovaries, liver, kidneys and other organs without requiring surgery – the best option.