The Woods Hole Science Aquarium (WHSA) is a small public aquarium in

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...

, United States. It is owned by the

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

and operated by the

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the stew ...

and the

Marine Biological Laboratory The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent ...

History

The Woods Hole Science Aquarium claims to be the oldest aquarium in the US. In 1873 or 1875, US Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries

Spencer Fullerton Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, Herpetology, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He ...

invited the public to his laboratory in Woods Hole to see animals and learn about marine science. In 1885, the US government built the first marine research building in Woods Hole, and Baird arranged for the first floor to house a public aquarium that displayed fish, invertebrates, and birds. Baird's exhibit also inspired the creation of the

National Aquarium in Washington, D.C. The National Aquarium, Washington, D.C., was an aquarium in Washington D.C. It was located in the Herbert C. Hoover Building (owned by the General Services Administration), which is bounded by 14th Street NW on the east, 15th Street NW on the wes ...

in 1878. In 1954, the original laboratory building was damaged by

Hurricane Carol Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island in the United States. It developed from a tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and slowly strengthened as it ...

, and it was torn down in 1958. The aquarium reopened in its current location in 1961.

Exhibits

The aquarium's exhibits consist of marine animals found in the waters of the

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and Mid-Atlantic United States. Approximately 140 species of fish and invertebrates are displayed in indoor tanks and a touch tank. The aquarium also has an outdoor habitat that provides a permanent home for injured seals. As of 2007, the aquarium was home to two

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

s. Unfortunately they died in July 2017. The aquarium receives approximately 80,000 visitors per year.

Sea turtle conservation

In addition to its display animals, the Woods Hole Science Aquarium runs a program to rehabilitate

sea turtles Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

that have washed up on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

beaches after being injured or stunned by cold weather in late autumn. The turtles are rehabilitated until they are healthy enough to return to the wild, but they are not displayed to the public.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1885 establishments in Massachusetts Aquaria in Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Barnstable County, Massachusetts National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Falmouth, Massachusetts