Animal Updates – July 6

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!

Baby Spiny-Tailed Monitors

On Tuesday, baby spiny-tailed monitors hatched in our Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes exhibit backup area!

These babies will stay in our backup area in the care of our staff. Although our guests won’t be able to see the young, you can see their parents in the front.

Toby is now on exhibit!

Just in time for Independence Day, Toby, the rare blue lobster found off the coast of Maryland last month, went on exhibit in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuaries exhibit at National Aquarium, Washington, DC, this past Tuesday.

Toby just after he passed his exams — ready to move to his new home!

Toby’s peculiar blue hue is said to be a 1-in-2-million exception to the reddish-brown shade of most lobsters. This unique color is a genetic variation that is caused by the lobster producing an excessive amount of a particular protein.

Toby exploring his new home

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

Thoughtful Thursdays: I Will if You Will

On Saturday, March 31, between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. (local time) Earth Hour will once again cascade across the globe.

Sponsored by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Earth Hour asks individuals, businesses, and government leaders to turn out all non-essential lighting for one hour as a movement to demand action on climate change.

The National Aquarium is working with staff at both venues to turn off all unnecessary lighting and other electronic devices during that time.

We will stand in the dark alongside other international cities and iconic landmarks, from the Las Vegas Strip to the Eiffel Tower to the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Here’s a quick video clip of the Aquarium going dark for Earth Hour last year:

This year WWF is asking people, What are you willing to do to save the planet? People all over the world, including lots of celebrities, are really getting into the spirit by making commitments saying what they’ll do if other people will take action to protect the planet. The commitments range from inspiring to borderline-dangerous to hilarious!

Check out all the “I will if you will” dares on Earth Hour’s YouTube channel and accept someone’s challenge or submit your own!

And then make plans to embrace your dark side on Saturday night—light some candles and play a board game with your family or enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner.

This one hour of darkness may result in a small reduction of energy consumption, but it paints a powerful picture of behavioral change needed to combat climate change. Join us as we stand among hundreds of millions of people to call for action on climate change!

Learn more about Earth Hour at earthhour.org.

Animal Updates – March 23

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!

Mouth Almighty Babies
The mouth almighty in the Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes exhibit had babies… which is especially interesting because the male broods the babies in his mouth! During this time, the male doesn’t eat. How’s that for some paternal sacrifice? You can read more about this fish on our new website.

Napoleon Wrasse
A Napoleon wrasse has arrived at the Aquarium’s offsite Animal Care Center, where we hold future residents of the Aquarium until they are ready to be introduced to their new habitat. Napoleon wrasses grow to be the largest of the wrasse family. They can grow up to 6 feet in length! The one we received is about 4 feet now and is lovely shades of blues, greens, and blacks.

Cane Toad
A cane toad is now on exhibit in the Amphibians Gallery.

Native to Texas through Central Amazon and Peru, the cane toad has been introduced to a number of different places, making it a highly invasive species. Introduced to Australia and Puerto Rico to control agricultural pests, these toads instead significantly impacted other native fauna without controlling the intended target species of sugarcane beetles.

They reproduce quickly and live a long time, and secrete toxic fluid through glands on their backs, which can make potential predators extremely sick.

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

Visit the Newly Redesigned Aqua.org!

We are thrilled to share a very special announcement with you: we’ve launched the redesigned Aqua.org! The new website is now home for both National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD, and Washington, D.C., provides more intuitive navigation, easy-to-access ticketing, tons of beautiful photography, event calendars, and up-to-the-minute news and intriguing facts about our animals!

Please take a look! We have added some really great features we think our community will enjoy! Take some time to explore the site (and believe us, there’s a lot to explore!). Starting with the homepage, we’ve made the site more beautiful with amazing images of our animals as well as interesting facts!

Our new Animals page gives you the opportunity to explore more of our animal collection in new and different ways. You can search by venue, color, geography, exhibit, and more!

Then, once you get to a specific animal page, you can explore even further! Each animal has various photos, facts, and sometimes videos. Plus many have a note from the animal’s Aquarium caretaker!

We also want to highlight the new Trip Planner functionality–you can plan your trip from almost EVERY PAGE! When you click the “Add to Trip Planner” button throughout the website, your choices will be compiled into a full itinerary that is easy to read and organize. Plus, it’s easy to print or e-mail in preparation for your visit!

There are TONS of other new features! Please visit and roam around. We hope you’ll enjoy it!

Please take a look and let us know what you think! AQUA.ORG 

National Aquarium Featured on FOX 5

This past week, FOX 5 featured our Reptile and Amphibian Day! Check out reporter Annie Yu as she joins us at our Washington, DC, location for some fun animal interactions!

Although the event was held this past Saturday, February 25, you can come see these interesting reptiles and amphibians (plus sharks!) every day!

-

-