Animal Update – September 7

Between our Baltimore and Washington, DC, venues, more than 17,500 animals representing 900 species call the National Aquarium home. There are constant changes, additions, and more going on behind the scenes that our guests may not notice during their visit. We want to share these fun updates with our community so we’re bringing them to you in our weekly Animal Update posts!

Check our blog every Friday to find out what’s going on… here’s what’s new this week!

Animal transports completed in preparation for Blacktip Reef! 

All of our animals have been moved from Wings in the Water so that renovations can begin on the exhibit space! A tarpon and hogfish were moved to their new home within the Aquarium, the Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit. On Monday, our team moved Zeke, Zoe and Calypso to their temporary home behind-the-scenes in our animal care facility.

Calypso getting ready for the big move on Monday!

Additionally, the lionfish habitat next to Wings in the Water was permanently broken down. Our lionfish were given to the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky. The Sargassum triggerfish, queen angelfish, spotfin butterflyfish and blue tang from this tank can also now be seen in our Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit. 

A staff member carefully cleaning out the lionfish reef tank

For more on our changes in preparation for Blacktip Reef, check out our recent update!

New additions in Maryland: Mountains to the Sea exhibit 

Black sea bass, black drum and winter flounder fish have been added to our Atlantic Shelf gallery.

Stop by our Atlantic Shelf tank to get a good look at our new black sea bass!

We have a new baby! 

We are so proud to welcome a new addition to the Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibit – a Linne’s two-toed sloth was born in late August! The baby is the first born to Ivy, one of the four sloths in the exhibit, and is the third sloth born at National Aquarium.

Can you spot the baby sloth? Ivy and her new infant are free roaming the Rain Forest exhibit and will be particularly good at hiding in the trees for at least a few weeks.

To find out more about our newest addition, click here.

Be sure to check back every Friday to find out what’s happening!

Animal Updates – May 25

Between our Baltimore and Washington, DC, venues, more than 17,500 animals representing 900 species call the National Aquarium home. There are constant changes, additions, and more going on behind the scenes that our guests may not notice during their visit. We want to share these fun updates with our community so we’re bringing them to you in our weekly Animal Update posts!

Check our blog every Friday to find out what’s going on… here’s what’s new this week!

Seahorses, Seahorses, Seahorses

We’ve added 15 seahorses to our newly renovated Moving: Saltwater exhibit!

 Although the animals in the tank often look different, all are longsnout seahorses. The seahorses have different color variations, much like human hair color!

Atlantic Shelf 

We’ve re-opened our Atlantic Shelf exhibit within the Maryland: Mountains to the Sea gallery!

Permit

In this tank, we’ve added four permit, two pinfish, one gag grouper, two tautag and two flounder.

Flounder

Dolphins 

For the past two weeks, we’ve been monitoring our dolphin family following a health concern with one of our males. We’re happy to report that the steady incline of Beau, and the entire colony, has continued. All of the dolphins are eating on their own and are regularly participating in activities and playtime. Our animal care staff is continuing to monitor each dolphin carefully. You can read our previous dolphin update here.

As the recovery continues, we are planning a more regular schedule of Dolphin Discovery interactions. Our primary focus is excellence in animal care so our planning will adjust, as necessary, to ensure the health of our dolphin colony. We cannot thank our guests and online community enough for your loyal support and understanding during this time.

Please note that future posts will be focused on other animals. We will always provide additional updates when we have something new and noteworthy happening with our dolphins.

Be sure to check back every Friday to find out what’s happening!

Animal Update – April 27

Between our Baltimore and Washington, DC, venues, more than 17,500 animals representing 900 species call the National Aquarium home. There are constant changes, additions, and more going on behind the scenes that our guests may not notice during their visit. We want to share these fun updates with our community so we’re bringing them to you in our weekly Animal Update posts!

Check our WATERlog blog every Friday to find out what’s going on… here’s what’s new this week!

Diamondback Terrapin

We’ve added a young Diamondback Terrapin to our Tidal Marsh exhibit in the Maryland: Mountains to the Sea gallery!

These turtles are distinguished by their unique diamond-shaped rings on the scutes of their upper shell. Their skin is speckled with dark dots and markings unique to each animal. No two animals’ markings are identical.

They are excellent swimmers, with strong webbed feet that allow them to not only glide through the water, but also to forage and dig in the sand and sediment on the bottom. These strong swimmers are not sea turtles, however, which have flippers, not feet.

Aside from being the official Maryland State Reptile, they are the University of Maryland’s mascot — go Terps!

Leopard Shark

A new leopard shark has joined our Kelp Forest exhibit!

These sharks are typically gray or brown, with black saddles across the back and black blotches along the length of the body.

If you’re looking for it, check out the exhibit floor — leopard sharks spend much of their time near the sea floor. Because of this, their food animals are typically bottom dwellers as well, such as crabs, shrimp, clams, marine worms, and small fish.

Be sure to check back every Friday to find out what’s happening!