The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk (formerly Maritime Center) is an aquarium located in the

South Norwalk South Norwalk is a neighborhood in Norwalk, Connecticut which corresponds to the city's Second Taxing District. Often referred to as SoNo, the neighborhood was originally settled as Old Well, then chartered as the city of South Norwalk on August ...

(or "SoNo") section of Norwalk,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. The aquarium features

harbor seals 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 se ...

, river otters,

sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrell ...

loggerhead turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

s, and hundreds of other animals living in re-creations of their natural Long Island Sound habitats. Three touch-tanks feature

stingrays Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ...

nurse sharks The Ginglymostomatidae are a cosmopolitan family of carpet sharks known as nurse sharks, containing four species in three genera. Common in shallow, tropical and subtropical waters, these sharks are sluggish and docile bottom-dwellers.

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

sea stars Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ar ...

moon jellyfish ''Aurelia aurita'' (also called the common jellyfish, moon jellyfish, moon jelly or saucer jelly) is a species of the genus '' Aurelia''. All species in the genus are very similar, and it is difficult to identify ''Aurelia'' medusae without genet ...

and other coastal creatures. In addition to its exhibits, The Maritime Aquarium offers educational programs, year-round cruises on its 64-foot research vessel ''R/V Spirit of the Sound'', special events and camps.

Mission

The Maritime Aquarium inspires people of all ages to appreciate and protect the Long Island Sound ecosystem and the global environment through living exhibits, marine science, and environmental education.

Attendance

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is one of Connecticut's top tourist attractions. Annual attendance averages 500,000 visitors, about 100,000 of whom are from New York state.Stelloh, Tom, "Norwalk aquarium admissions slumping: Officials blame warm October, November", news article in '' The Advocate'' of Stamford, Connecticut, Norwalk edition, February 24, 2007, page A3 The Maritime Aquarium's estimated statewide economic impact is almost $42 million; it contributes approximately $25 million to Norwalk's economy every year. The aquarium's budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year was about $10.7 million. More than $4 million came in from admissions, with 36 percent coming from out-of-state visitors. Demonstrating increasing regional appeal, out-of-state attendance revenue has increased 55% since 2002. Additional revenues are generated from educational programming fees, the gift shop, catering, business dinners, other events such as weddings, and donations. The state gave it a grant of $675,000 to promote tourism in 2007.

History

The "Maritime Center" opened July 16, 1988. The name was changed to the "Maritime Aquarium" in July 1996 to emphasize the live animals featured there. It first opened by renovating a former 1860s iron works factory into an IMAX theater. Visitors, as they walk past the ''Ray Touch Pool'' toward the Marine Lab, still tread on the original wood floors (under original wood beams) of the iron works. Occupying approximately 100,000 gross square feet, the first animal exhibits included harbor seals, ''Open Ocean'' and ''Touch Tank''. The cultural section of the aquarium originally explored

boat building Boat building is the design and construction of boats and their systems. This includes at a minimum a hull, with propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other systems as a craft requires. Construction materials and methods Wood Wo ...

and human exploration of the sea, but the boat-building activities were eliminated in early 2007. In the final seven years of its 19-year run, the boat-building program constructed about 500 boats, and 20,000 children took part in classes that created more than 5,000 model boats, but aquarium officials said the shop only served three to five percent of patrons. The boat-building shop was replaced with a new Marine Lab, with baby

seahorse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

s, jellyfish, and other new animals, as well as information on aquaculture, sustainable seafood, and responsible home aquarium keeping. *1991: Exhibit space is expanded by adding the "Featured Exhibits" area, a semi-permanent fabric and steel structure. The first exhibit is ''Real Sea Monsters'', featuring extinct sea creatures like

Kronosaurus ''Kronosaurus'' ( ; meaning "lizard of Kronos") is a potentially dubious genus of extinct short-necked pliosaur. With an estimated length of , it was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Kronos. It ...

and

Megalodon Megalodon (''Otodus megalodon''), meaning "big tooth", is an extinct species of mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs. It was formerly thought to be a membe ...

. *1994: Outdoor exhibit space, including bleachers, is added along the

Norwalk River The Norwalk River is a river in southwestern Connecticut, United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 The word "Norwalk" comes from t ...

for summertime exhibits and shows. It opens with a bird-of-prey show. *1995: ''Jellyfish Encounter'' opens. Aquarium curators solve significant challenges to display these delicate animals that are approximately 95% water. *1996: ''The Maritime Center'' changes its name to ''The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk'', to better identify itself to the public and underscore the increasing importance of live animal exhibits. ''River Otters'' and ''Ray Touch Pool'' open. *2001: The aquarium expands into the Hatch and Bailey factory building, converting and rehabilitating of space into a new, $9.5 million Environmental Education Center (funded through corporate, private and state contributions). New space allows a reconfiguring of the existing aquarium: ** ''Giant Sea Turtles'' opens, including a 15,000-gallon habitat, interpretive signs, and turtle shell photo opportunity. ** A new main entrance improves visitor reception and admission. ** ''New Oyster Hall'' (group orientation space and lunchroom) opens just off of the main entrance, which allow for staging and organizing busloads of visiting students. ** New high-tech classrooms (with multimedia and wet lab facilities) are added, as are teachers' rooms, to expand the Maritime Aquarium's educational programs. ** ''Cascade Cafe'' opens with seating for 180 people. ** Gift shop moves and expands. *2006: ''Touch Tank'' is moved and greatly enhanced, creating a more natural display, allowing animals to live "on-site" and offering better access to visitors. The aquarium's volunteer staff funds reconstruction. *2007: ''Frogs!'' opens, a new permanent exhibit displaying amphibians from Long Island Sound's shores and watershed, as well as exotic species from around the world, to draw attention to the importance of amphibians as bellwether species for environmental change. The small boat building shop is closed. *2008: During the summer, the Great White Alligator is displayed in the outdoor exhibit space. *2009: African Penguins temporary outdoor exhibit opens. *2010: Temporary Meerkat Exhibit opens. *2012: FINtastic RefurbFISHment is unveiled with new sea life and hands-on-exhibits. The white alligator also returned to the aquarium for the summer. In recent years, the Maritime Aquarium has emphasized helping visitors understand the ecology of Long Island Sound and its watershed. The aquarium participates in and directs local scientific research on Long Island Sound's animal residents, including a counting and tagging program for

horseshoe crab Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to ar ...

and annual counts of harbor seal. The Maritime Aquarium also helped create the ''Long Island Sound Biodiversity Database'', which is open to the public. In 2006, the aquarium became a partner with SeafoodWatch, a program that encourages consumers to make responsible seafood choices that have a low impact on the environment and promote

sustainable fisheries A conventional idea of a sustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices. Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical disciplin ...

. In February 2021, the aquarium replaced its now closed IMAX theatre with a new 4-D movie theatre.

Exhibits

The Maritime Aquarium is approximately and has more than 177,000 gallons of water in its live animal exhibits. On exhibit are more than 2,700 animals, representing in excess of 300 species. As of 2019, exhibits include "Just Add Water," "Journey with Jellies," "Harbor Seals," "River Otters," "Shark and Ray Touch Pool," "Ocean Beyond the Sound," Sea Turtles," and "Jiggle-a-Jelly."

Notes

External links