One part...of five

Strong stuff!

Light the way?

I spy with my little eye...

Done guessing? Think you know what each item is or belongs to? Okay...let's see if you were right!

First up...the furry nose.

The nose knows...

Harbor seal!

If you think that furry nose belongs to one of our marine mammals, you would be right! The nose above belongs to one of our harbor seals. Located in the front of the Aquarium, our harbor seals look sleek underwater. But once they have some time to dry, particularly when they are molting and growing in a new fur coat, you can see their fur clearly.

The second closeup can be found in the tide pool touch tank. That's right, a sea star!

One part of the whole...four more parts to go!

If you take a close look, or better yet feel the surface, of the sea star, you'll notice small, raised bumps. These bumps help keep the skin of the star clean, which is important as their gills are on the surface!

The next set of items should look familiar-you have similar looking bones in your body, though much smaller in size. These large items are some vertebrae of the North Atlantic right whale skeleton!

Strong stuff!

Hanging above the penguin exhibit, the whale skeleton gives visitors an idea of how large these animals can be. With only around 500 of them left, New England Aquarium researchers work hard to document the population in the area. This skeleton has been at the Aquarium for quite some time and came from an animal stranded on a beach. [Get a feel for the work these right whale researchers do in the field, check out the Right Whale Research Blog!]

Okay, next one! Is it a strange, bioluminescent jelly? Sunlight off some glass panel? Nope! That glowing fin fits in on the shark wall!

Light the way?

See some sharks on the shark wall

This exhibit feature showcases the silhouettes of different shark species. Many visitors don't stop to take a look, but it's definitely worth checking out! The species depicted are full size, so it's a great way to compare the size of some larger species, including basking and white sharks, with smaller species like the spiny dogfish. It's not just a pretty wall covering-it's a well-lit way to learn about sharks!

Now...what about that eye...

I spy with my little eye...

Nassau grouper in the Giant Ocean Tank

Meet the Nassau grouper, one of 120 species inside the Giant Ocean Tank! These large fish hang out towards the bottom of the exhibit, resting near sandy trays or against coral structures. You may even find these larger fish being cleaned by cleaner gobies and wrasses. Keep an "eye" out for them at the bottom of the exhibit!

So next time you are feeling overwhelmed by all of the cool things the Aquarium has to offer, take a closer look! It's a great way to slow down and see some amazing animal or exhibit details you might not have seen before!

Ever wonder why the murky, green waters of the northern latitudes are different than clear, blue waters of the tropics?

The murky green waters of Boston Harbor contain lots of life!

Or why New England had such large cod populations when the colonists arrived? Or why coral comes in so many beautiful colors?

Vibrant colors of a tropical reef

One reason: plankton! Well... so if plankton is such a big deal, why doesn't the Aquarium have a plankton tank? Well, one could argue that we do. Every tank in the aquarium is interconnected with plankton.

What are plankton? 
Like the term “cat,” plankton is an umbrella term used to describe a diverse set of organisms. The name plankton is derived from the Greek word planktos, meaning wanderer or drifter. Any creature carried by the ocean currents is considered plankton, from microscopic bacteria and algae to gelatinous siphonophores that grow in colonies longer than a blue whale.

Phytoplankton like diatoms, dinoflagellates, and coccolithophores are photosynthetic. They not only provide the base of the ocean food web, they also provide up to half of the oxygen that we rely on to breathe on land! But not all plankton photosynthesizes. Zooplankton feed on other organisms. Some plankton, called holoplankton, spend their whole life at the whim of ocean currents. These creatures
include copepods, brine shrimp, and sea jellies. Other plankton, called meroplankton, grow out of their drifting phase and embrace a more benthic or pelagic form. Lobsters, crabs, urchins, sea stars, barnacles and many fish all start their life as plankton!

Plankton…. They’re Kinda a Big Deal 
Phytoplankton are the base of the food web. These organisms convert the sun’s energy, along with carbon dioxide and water, into chemical energy and oxygen through photosynthesis. Because they are the first link between the sun’s energy and the rest of the food web, they are referred to as “primary producers”. This chemical energy, in the form of carbohydrates, is the fuel that helps to power the rest of the food web.

A right whale skim feeds on copepods. Watch video of a right whale feeding in Cape Cod Bay!

As the major primary producer of marine environments, phytoplankton provides the fuel for the rest of the system. Though some of the food webs they fuel are complex, some of them are relatively simple! One such food connection can be found right off the coast of New England. Phytoplankton feeds zooplankton, which feeds whales. From one of the smallest organisms to the biggest in only two
steps!

That water off New England is also very different from the sparkling turquoise waters you might see in the tropics—because of plankton. You see, the cold, nutrient rich water travels up to the surface of the ocean and hits sunlight, sparking a bloom of phytoplankton. The nutrients and blooms cause the waters here to appear murky and green. Tropical waters, however, have very few nutrients and thus phytoplankton blooms can’t occur. Without the phytoplankton and nutrients, the water is super clear. This abundance of phytoplankton supports the food web that is responsible for the iconic fisheries of New England. (Check out some of the tiny planktonic animals that appear in Boston Harbor!)

Cod is a cold water fish with iconic status in this region

Corals, along with some other marine animals like upside-down jellies and giant clams, rely on photosynthetic organisms most commonly referred to as zooxanthellae. Zooxanthellae help create food for their host. The zooxanthellae, mostly planktonic dinoflagellates (see the sketch above), are ingested by the host, encased in a membrane to protect then and then they go to work. The carbohydrates they create fuel the corals (and give them beautiful colors) while the zooxanthellae get a home and needed nutrients. Everybody wins!
So from the cool dark depths of our Gulf of Maine exhibits to the sparkling Giant Ocean Tank, these marine ecosystems are teeming with life that can all be traced back to the humble plankton. Keep that in mind the next time you visit the Aquarium and see our 600-lb fur seal lounging on the deck! (Pick up your timed ticket and print at home and you'll breeze right into the Aquarium!)

This post comes to us from Aquarium educator Kim McCabe.

As you walk up the ramp from the Thinking Gallery on the second floor to the Rivers of the Americas Gallery on the third floor, you may notice a huge structure hanging above your head. It may look like a dinosaur skeleton, but it is actually the (not quite complete – more on that later) skeleton of a North Atlantic right whale. If you follow the Right Whale Research Blog you’ll already know a lot of about these incredible, but unfortunately critically endangered, animals.



The Aquarium estimates that there are only about 430 individuals of this species still around. In the past they were hunted nearly to extinction for their meat and oil. In fact, the name right whale comes from the fact that they were considered the right whale to hunt, due to their slow movements and the fact that they float after they’re killed. Fortunately, they are now protected from whaling worldwide. However, they still face a lot of danger from boat collisions and entanglement in fishing gear. Definitely check out our Right Whale Research Blog for more information on what the Aquarium is doing to protect these majestic animals.


Our particular skeleton is about 35 ft long, so it was most likely a juvenile whale. Adult Northern right whales can grow between 45 and 55 ft in total length, and weigh up to 70 tons. A fascinating feature of the skeleton is the structure of its pectoral flippers. Looking at them, you can see that whales actually have five digits, like us. I think it’s just a cool reminder that we’re more similar to other animals than we sometimes realize.




As I mentioned earlier, this skeleton is not quite complete. One thing people don’t always realize is that whales’ ancestors lived on land. As competition intensified on land, some mammals adapted once again to the ocean to take advantage of unused food resources. Some marine mammals, like our fur seals and harbor seals, still have both front and hind legs, but whales don't. However, while whales don’t have any usable hind limbs, many do have tiny pelvic bones embedded in muscle. Bones or organs that are present but no longer seem to be of much, or any, use to an animal are known as vestigial (one of my favorite words!). An example in humans would be our wisdom teeth. With our right whale skeleton these vestigial pelvic bones are not present, but would be floating somewhere between the ribs and the tip of the tail.



So next time you’re at the Aquarium, don’t forget to look up! There are more than just tanks to explore when you’re here.

-Sam