New Exhibits, a 30th Anniversary Celebration, and More Summer Fun at the Maritime Aquarium

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk enters summer of 2018 preparing to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a full slate of new exhibits, fun cruises onto Long Island Sound, gorgeous IMAX® movies and, of course, a birthday party.

Maritime Aquarium 30th Anniversary Celebration Sat., July 21 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with special 1988 prices!

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is throwing a party on Sat., July 21 to celebrate its 30 years of living exhibits, marine science and environmental education in support of Long Island Sound.

Besides a full day of bonus fun on July 21, The Maritime Aquarium is offering “1988 throwback pricing” July 21-22 for deeply discounted admission all weekend.

For the celebration on July 21, guests can enjoy fun bonus activities staggered throughout the day, including a disc jockey, strolling entertainers, and a photo booth with special backdrops. There will be cake and cupcakes, of course, as well as dignitaries with proclamations.

In addition, look for favorite IMAX movies from the past to be included in the film schedule on July 21. (One IMAX movie is included with Aquarium admission.)

Plus, in a nod to the boat-building shop that operated in the Aquarium from 1988-2007, former boatwright Chris Lawler will be on hand with a boat under construction, explaining the tools and steps for building a wooden boat.  

All of the celebratory extras will be free with Aquarium admission, which is rolled back to the prices on July 16, 1988: just $9.50 for adults and seniors, and $5.50 for children 3-12.

Watch the Aquarium’s website for the full celebration schedule on July 21: maritimeaquarium.org.

Special Exhibit: “Stuffed Animal CARE-ium”  

Special summer exhibit open July 1 – Labor Day

A variety of plush toy animals await veterinarian care from youngsters in the “Stuffed Animal CARE-ium,” a special summer exhibit open from July 1 to Labor Day in The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

This fun and adorable exhibit will let young guests pretend to use the tools of real veterinarians to care for, diagnose and treat plush-animal patients. Interactive displays will let children choose a plush animal and then weigh it, take its blood pressure, bind a wound or even take an x-ray.

Other displays give young guests the chance to prepare “foods” for their animal, look through a microscope, and consider actual skeletons of the plush-animal species.

“The Stuffed Animal CARE-ium will be a great way to introduce to children the high level of care provided to the animals at The Maritime Aquarium,” said Exhibits Director Tom Frankie. “They may be inspired to become a veterinarian, marine biologist or doctor when they grow up. We also hope that, through the role playing in the exhibit, children will realize that there are exams common for both animals and humans, which will reduce any stress the next time they go to the doctor.”

The “Stuffed Animal CARE-ium” is best for ages 10 and under. Children must be accompanied in the exhibit by a parent or guardian.

Unfortunately, no matter the high level of medical care, the exhibit’s plush animals are not eligible for out-patient home treatment, and must remain in the “Stuffed Animal CARE-ium.” Children can bring their own plush animals into the exhibit, although certain “tests” will only work with toys provided by the Aquarium.

The “Stuffed Animal CARE-ium” will be free with Aquarium admission.

Special Exhibit: “Albino Alligator”  

See a rare “great white of the wetlands” – an 8-foot albino alligator – in a special exhibit open from July 1 through Labor Day in The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

“In this, our 30th anniversary summer, we thought it only appropriate to bring back an exhibit that has been very popular with our guests in the past,” said Aquarium spokesman Dave Sigworth, referring to previous visits by albino alligators in 2005, 2008 and 2012.

Albino alligators are white because they lack the pigment called melanin that normally gives color to the skin, hair and eyes. Aside from being creamy white, they look and act like a regular gator.

Albino alligators are very rare because, when young in the wild, they’re more obvious to predators. Plus, white alligators can’t bask in the sun like normal alligators – a necessary behavior for cold-blooded reptiles – because they’re susceptible to sunburns. (The Aquarium’s visiting albino alligator will enjoy a special shaded enclosure out on the riverfront courtyard.)

The exhibit will be free with Aquarium admission.

Marine Life Encounter Cruises   

At 1:15 p.m. nearly daily June 18 to Sept. 3 (Labor Day)

Learn about an amazing variety of fish, crabs, mollusks and other creatures brought up right out of Long Island Sound right before your eyes during a new season of Marine Life Encounter Cruises with The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

The summer outings will depart at 1:15 p.m. nearly daily from June 18 through Labor Day, Sept. 3.  (The spring schedule is:  at 1:15 p.m. on most Saturdays and Sundays from May 5 through June 17.)

Marine Life Encounter Cruises reveal what is, to many, a surprising diversity of marine life just off our shores in Long Island Sound. Aquarium educators put participants to work in collecting and examining animals from all levels of the water column:  tiny wriggly plankton gathered at the surface (and viewed on a large monitor via a videomicroscope), little crabs and worms grabbed from the muddy bottom, and a variety of fish, crabs, squid, mollusks and surprises brought up in a trawl net.

The 2.5-hour cruises occur aboard R/V Spirit of the Sound, a 64-foot catamaran that is the country’s first research vessel with quiet hybrid-electric propulsion. The cruises depart from the dock outside the Aquarium’s IMAX movie theater.

Tickets are $29.95, or $24.95 for Aquarium members. Participants must be at least 42 inches tall. All guests under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Advance reservations are strongly recommended. Walk-up tickets will be sold, space permitting.

Confirm dates, reserve your tickets or get more details at maritimeaquarium.org or (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206.

More Maritime Cruises

Besides the Marine Life Encounter Cruises, there are many other opportunities to get out onto Long Island Sound with The Maritime Aquarium this summer.

•  TGIF Cruises – Start your weekend off with a fun boat ride out to the Norwalk islands, offered on summer Friday evenings. These 90-minute happy-hour cruises depart on Fridays at 6:30 p.m. from June 15 to Sept. 7. (No cruise July 13.) Aquarium educators will be onboard to point out sights and wildlife, but there’s no structured program. Participants can pack food and drink in a small bag or soft-sided cooler, but glass is prohibited. Get back in time to enjoy a late dinner or an evening out with friends just steps away in the restaurants and nightspots of SoNo.

•  Sunset Cruises –  These 90-minute outings are similar to the TGIF Cruises but they’re on Saturdays and timed to catch the setting sun painting the western sky. They will depart at 7 p.m. June 16-July 28 (no cruise July 14), and then at 6:30 p.m. in August.

•  Lighthouse Cruises –  Venture out for close looks at historic lighthouses on the Sound! These cruises will be offered once each month, with alternating routes. A five-hour Central Long Island Sound Lighthouse Cruise on Sat., July 21 will get close to five beacons. And the seven-hour Western Long Island Sound Lighthouse Cruises on Sat., June 16 and again Sat., Aug. 11 will swing by eight lights.

•  Fireworks Cruises – Enjoy a unique water view of municipal holiday displays and avoid the traffic jams afterward when you cruise out on a Fireworks Cruise with The Maritime Aquarium. These special outings will offer beautiful views of the fireworks – times two, with the reflections on the water – on Tues, July 3 for the Norwalk fireworks and Wed., July 4 for the Rowayton fireworks.

Passengers aboard R/V Spirit of the Sound must be at least 42 inches tall. Space during all cruises is limited so advance reservations are strongly recommended. Get tickets at maritimeaquarium.org or call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206.

Maritime Aquarium Summer Camp

For ages 5-15.  One-, two- and three-week sessions in July and August.

Kids ages 6 to 15 can spend their summer deep in the world of sharks, seals, crabs and fish through The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk’s 2018 Summer Camp programs.

The Maritime Aquarium will show campers the fun side of science inquiry, with lots of hands-on activities, experiments and encounters with animals. Depending on the age group and week’s topic, activities even may include beach explorations and outings onto Long Island Sound aboard the Aquarium’s research vessel.

One-, two- and three-week sessions are offered. New this year: half-day programs for 5-year-olds, and several exciting new focuses for ages 6-8 and 9-12.

Get all the details at MaritimeAquarium.org or call (203) 852-0700.

IMAX® Movies

Connecticut’s largest IMAX theater, with a screen that’s six stories high and eight stories wide.  Standard IMAX movies are about 40 minutes long and generally suitable for even the youngest viewers.  See the movie schedule before visiting by calling or going online.

IMAX movie “Backyard Wilderness”

This charming new IMAX® movie reminds audiences that natural beauty is mere steps away, right in our own backyards, if only we would put down our devices.

In The Maritime Aquarium’s 30-year history, “Backyard Wilderness” may be the IMAX movie that is most relevant to Aquarium audiences – and not just because the movie was filmed just across the state line in Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County, N.Y.

“Backyard Wilderness” shows how we often overlook a menagerie of wildlife right outside our homes, including deer, coyotes, wood ducks, frogs, salamanders, raccoons, hummingbirds and more.

The beauty of a suburban wilderness is captured in rare intimacy by IMAX cameras – mounted inside dens and nests, moving along forest floor and pond bottom, and (through time-lapse and slow-motion) revealing marvels of nature unavailable to the human eye.

But a modern family is blind to the real-life spectacle around it, absorbed by its array of electronic devices, until one family member awakens them to the infinite wonders of life in the wild.

As the film says: “Wi-fi is not the only connection that matters.”

Get showtimes and view the trailer at maritimeaquarium.org.

IMAX movie “Pandas”   

Follow a young panda as she takes her first steps in the wild – and the biologists in China teaching her to survive on her own – in “Pandas,” an inspiring and endearing new IMAX® movie now playing in The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

This new movie is a creation of the same production team behind the IMAX movie “Born to Be Wild,” which is one of the most successful films ever shown at The Maritime Aquarium. (The Maritime Aquarium is the fifth-highest grossing theater in the world for “Born to Be Wild.”)

“Pandas” takes audiences to Chengdu Panda Base in China, where scientists work to breed giant pandas in order to introduce cubs into the wild. This film follows one such researcher, whose passion leads her to initiate a new technique inspired by a black-bear rescue program in rural New Hampshire. What starts as a cross-culture collaboration becomes a life-changing journey for an American biologist who crosses an ocean to join her; a scientist from Inner Mongolia; and a very curious female cub named Qian Qian (pronounced “chee-an chee-an”).

Join Qian Qian on an exciting new adventure in the mountains of Sichuan as she discovers her true animal nature, even as she faces the challenges of the unknown.

Get show times and watch the film’s trailer at www.maritimeaquarium.org.

“Sea Turtle Nursery”

Follow a rescued baby loggerhead sea turtle through its first year of life as The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk raises it for release into the Atlantic Ocean this fall.

The guest sea turtle is living at The Maritime Aquarium as part of a loan program of the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, whose staff and volunteers inspect turtle nests on beaches to look for “stragglers” – newly hatched turtles that, for various reasons, didn’t make it to the sea. These young turtles are rescued and then raised for a year at loan institutions, such as The Maritime Aquarium, before being returned to North Carolina the following fall for release into the Gulf Stream.

Tom Frankie, director of Exhibits for The Maritime Aquarium, said Aquarium staff will repeat the process each October:  travel to North Carolina to release a year-old loggerhead and then bring a new hatchling back to Norwalk.

Every hatchling turtle – only about 3 inches long at first – will live in a new habitat near the Aquarium’s “Sea Turtles” exhibit.

AQUARIUM SUMMER HOURS:

10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily in July and August

FOR INFORMATION:

Call (203) 852-0700 or go online to maritimeaquarium.org.

ADMISSION:

•  Aquarium (includes a standard IMAX movie and all special exhibits):  $24.95 adults;  $22.95 seniors (age 65+); and $17.95 children (ages 3-12).  Children under 3, free.

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Submitted by Norwalk, CT

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