An underwater world is now available above sea level — no oxygen tank or wet suit required.
After 10 months of renovations, the New England Aquarium officially re-opened its largest exhibit, the Giant Ocean Tank Monday, with Mayor Thomas Menino in attendance. The 4-story, 200,000-gallon tank is now home to more than 2,000 different aquatic animals from 140 different species, including sharks, barracudas and sea turtles. Visitors will soon have the chance to interact with the little swimmers up close, giving them the opportunity to learn about all of the species and also a chance to feed them under the guidance of divers and educators.
One thing visitors won’t see is one of the sharks dining on the smaller species in the shared tank. Aaron Nathan, one of the aquariums’ educators, said that the fish rarely eat each other.
“We write down how much we feed them on a daily basis to make sure that they get the food they need so that they don’t dehumanize the fish.” Some of the animals have also been uniquely placed throughout the tank in order to minimize any interaction with predators.
