Don’t miss the Aquarium’s Top 10 Holiday Deals

Swim into a sea of savings with the National Aquarium’s Top 10 Holiday Deals of the Season! This holiday, we’re diving deep for discounts on Aquarium everything including gift tickets, gift memberships and winter experiences. 

Starting “Cyber Monday,” November 30, we’ll offer a new discount each day towards an online purchase. Each offer is valid for one day only at aqua.org and a promo code is required.* Look for deals on everything from half-priced gift tickets for 2010 to discounts on Behind the Scenes tours. Total value is over $250 in discounts!

Now, here’s the twist…

The Top 10 Holiday Deals will ONLY arrive through the National Aquarium’s official Facebook and Twitter communities. Not a fan? Not a follower? Not a problem! 

Become a fan on Facebook!
Follow us on Twitter!

Once you’re connected, look for the first deal to arrive Monday, November 30 at 8:00 a.m.

It’s savings made simple and gifts made easy, so get connected today. And remember, a gift from the Aquarium is not only a unique present, but helps support our efforts in marine animal rescue, habitat restoration, education in our schools and in the care of more than 16,000 animals.

Happy holidays!

*Promotion ends December 13, 2009. Offers through National Aquarium Top 10 Holiday Deals of the Season are only valid from 8:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. (EST) on the specific day. Offer valid on items purchased online at aqua.org only.

How much does the Aquarium recycle?

Sunday, November 15 is America Recycles Day, the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products. Celebrating its 12th year, it has grown to include millions of Americans pledging to increase their recycling habits at home and work and to buy products made with recycled materials.

Recycling is a standard practice at the National Aquarium. With 1.4 million visitors a year and a staff of nearly 300, there is plenty of waste to be recycled at the Aquarium. We are committed to recycling and each year our efforts grow! In honor of America Recycles Day, we are holding a special recycling themed contest.  For a chance to win an Eco-Aquarium prize pack, please read below:

How much does the Aquarium recycle?

Here are some of our recycling numbers from 2008:

• 56 tons of plastic, glass, aluminum recylced through Waste Management.
• 21,832 lbs of cardboard recycled through Waste Managment.
• 200 lbs of techotrash through Green Disk. Together with Green Disk, the Aquarium recycles CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, cords, handheld devices and other pieces of technological garbage. For more information,
• Hundreds of pounds our old computers, tvs, printers and other electronic devices were given to charities through CDM eCycling in Baltimore -Second life cycle program.

If you noticed, one very important item is missing from that list. Paper! Can you guess how many pounds of paper the Aquarium recycled in 2008?

Please post your guess in a comment to this post. The contest will end at noon (12:00 p.m. EST) on Monday, November 16. The person with the answer closest to the actual amount of paper recycled will win an Eco-Aquarium prize pack that includes an Aquarium themed reusable bag, water bottle, and lunch tote!

Good luck and happy recycling!

We salute our military!

The National Aquarium would like to wish all of our veterans a very safe and happy Veteran’s Day!

On this Veteran’s day, we’d like to remind our military personnel that the National Aquarium, Baltimore provides discounted tickets to military bases year round through our consignment ticket program. Consignment tickets are very popular among military bases around the region. If you are in the service, we encourage you to check with your base to see if discounted Aquarium tickets are available for you and your family.

To show our appreciation for active military service members and their families, the National Aquarium, Baltimore location, is offering free dolphin show admission with coupon and active military consignment ticket redemption until November 25th. Contact your military base today for details!

Not in the military? The National Aquarium offers affordable access to its venues for tens of thousands of people each year.  In addition to the Salute Our Military initiatives, the National Aquarium offers free visits for all students and teachers in Maryland’s public and private schools, home school settings and daycares; discounted group pricing; discounted admission on Fridays after 5pm through March; annual Dollar Days; BaltiMORE For Less; Free Fall Baltimore; Grade-A Student Night;  and special access programs for those with disabilities.  For more information on these programs, visit www.aqua.org.

Hallowings and things…

In honor of Halloween, the animal encounters at the National Aquarium have been a bit spooky this week!  We have been introducing some of our slithery, slimy, creepy, crawly animals from the rainforest, and teaching visitors that these animals aren’t as scary as we may think..

One of the encounters includes tarantulas. Scared yet? Don’t be. Though these venomous crawlers are generally thought of as a danger to humans, they do not pose the slightest threat. Tarantulas have venom with the potency comparable to a bee, so their venom is generally not toxic to humans. 

What’s the slimiest creature you can think of? A snake? This preconceived notion about snakes is false! These reptiles are not slimy at all; in fact, they are covered with scales. Snakes have small scales on the top of their body and large scales on the bottom. The large scales, called scutes, help them move their legless bodies. The coloration of their scales helps snakes camouflage themselves in various surroundings. They can blend in with leaves, shadows and even rocks! 

What has six legs and teeth in their stomachs? Give up? Cockroaches! These fascinating creatures have existed for about 300 million years and were found even before dinosaurs! Even though we see them as pests, cockroaches actually do a lot for the earth. In the rainforest at the Aquarium they help spread nutrients from trees to the soil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can find out more about these animals and others at the Hallowings and Things encounters everyday at 10:30 a.m. through November 6th! 

We are also running a special special halloween contest on facebook through Monday. Click here to enter the Hallo-Marine AquaFaces contest! Build your creepiest AquaFace for a chance to win tickets to the National Aquarium’s Baltimore venue.

Happy Halloween!

Have you had your jelly fix?

We’ve partnered with Dunkin Donuts so you can See Jelly, and Eat Jelly! It’s one sweet deal. Check it out: