Pledging to protect Our Ocean Planet

Our Ocean Planet, the new dolphin show at the National Aquarium, comes with an important message: our behaviors affect dolphins and other ocean animals in many ways, both good and bad.  We all have a duty to make sure we are protecting – not hurting – the dolphin’s beautiful ocean world!

Visitors have been learning more about this world and different ways to help save it.  Since dolphins cannot clean up the trash and debris that drift into the oceans, the show encourages humans to get involved in solving this global problem. Take a look at the pledges we have recieved from children to help the dolphins in various ways – all of which you can do at home, too! 

“I recycle.  I clean my house.” — Ravi

“I will move the slime out of the way.” — Jenna Mackenzie

“I will clean water for many fish.” — Eoen

Get a closer look at Spirit

Spirit is another one of the younger dolphins born at the National Aquarium. She is very playful and loves learning new behaviors for the shows.  In fact, she is usually the first dolphin to try out a new toy.

She is the daughter of Nani, the oldest dolphin living here at the Aquarium, and was born on April 13, 2001. She will turn 8 years old in just a few days!  Spirit was named in honor of September 11th. She is living up to that honor, as she is always showing off her spirit during shows! Take a look:

Learn more about all of our dolphins by visiting the brand new dolphin show website at  www.aqua.org/dolphins!

Explore Maya’s World

A few weeks ago we took you into the world of Nani, our oldest dolphin. This week we’d like to take you into the world of one of our younger dolphins, Maya!

Maya is known as the “princess” of the pool. She is a girly-girl and loves shiny objects. She is just 8 years old, but one of the stars of the new dolphin show, Our Ocean Planet. She has incredible athletic ability, which she loves to show off during shows. You may catch a glimpse of her abilities on TV in one of the Aquarium’s new commericials:

Maya was born at the National Aquarium in 2001 and is the daughter of Shiloh, who also lives at the Aquarium. Weighing 380 pounds, she eats about 21 pounds of fish a day! When she is not performing, Maya is typically playing with Spirit, another 8 year old dolphin, and looking for attention from the trainers.

You can catch Maya in action during Our Ocean Planet, shows now running daily at the Aquarium. Join us for the grand opening April 4 & 5 and enjoy special dolphin activities and giveaways!

Explore Nani’s world

The National Aquarium is home to a dynamic group of 10 healthy Atlantic bottlenose dolphins ranging from six months to 37 years. If you follow our blog, you know that the trainers and dolphins are currently preparing for the opening of our new dolphin show, that will explore the power, beauty, and grace of a dolphin’s world. Let’s a take a closer look into the world of Nani.

Nani is 37 years old, making her the oldest dolphin at the National Aquarium, and the most dominant. She came to the National Aquarium in 1990, when the Lyn P. Meyerhoff Amphitheater opened to the public.  Nani has given birth to six calves in her lifetime. Two of her calves live at the Aquarium, Spirit and Beau, and she is very protective of the both of them. 

Nani, meaning “beautiful” in Hawaiian, weighs approximately 500 pounds and is also the largest dolphin of the group. She currently eats about 25 pounds of fish a day! And with the trainers she is like a big huggable teddy bear in the water.

You can see Nani perform in our new dolphin show, Our Ocean Planet.  We invite you to join us on March 28 or 29 for a special preview of the new show. Visitors to the Aquarium on those days will have an opportunity to register on-site to win a Dolphin Encounter, for the chance to get up-close and personal our dolphins! We hope to see you there!

For the love of dolphins

The marine mammal trainers were excited to welcome world figure skating champion, Kimmie Meissner, to the Aquarium yesterday! A Maryland native and a huge fan of the Aquarium, Kimmie volunteered her time to be a part of the new dolphin show video. Yesterday she spent time learning what it takes to become a dolphin trainer, and got up close and personal with some of the Aquarium’s dolphins.

As a child Kimmie loved visiting the Aquarium and she still has a strong love for animals. At one point she thought about becoming a marine biologist, but has decided to major in exercise science at the University of Delaware. 

 She is very excited about the new show and the message it sends to young people who are fascinated by dolphins!