Let's Go To ...
The New York Aquarium
By David Neilsen
Ask me to name the best thing about the New York Aquarium, and I will debate myself internally for quite a while before admitting it's impossible to single out any one exhibit or attraction. Ask my 3-year-old son the same question and he will answer without hesitation. "Sharks!"
Fun Every Day
Situated right on the Boardwalk in Coney Island and open 365 days a year, the Aquarium is home to more than 8,000 species of fish and other marine animals - a surprisingly diverse menagerie considering the deceptively small size of the place. I arrived determined to explore as much of the Aquarium as I could. My son arrived determined to see some sharks.
The first attraction isn't actually inside the Aquarium walls. "The Planet Earth: Shallow Seas 4-D Experience" is an 8-minute, fully immersive film, complete with wind in your face, mist in the air and all the scents of the ocean filling your nostrils. Swim with sea lions, dolphins, humpback whales, sea snakes and more. This separate admission, high-def, 3-D (OK, 4-D) show, located just outside the main entrance, explores coral reefs and shallow coastal waters all around the globe in stunning detail.
Just past the Shallow Seas pavilion is the Aquarium itself. We handed in our tickets, received our obligatory map and were greeted by Glover's Reef, a 165,000-gallon tank recreating a Caribbean coral reef eco-system. Moray eels poked their heads out of holes in the coral, exotic fish swam past the glass in schools of brilliant colors, and every child in the room under the age of 6 had their noses pasted to the glass, taking in the sights.
Huge Walruses
I pried my son away from the tank and walked outside. The exhibits surround a central plaza which is perfect for running around aimlessly when jacked up on Dippin' Dots. Stepping out of the Glover's Reef/entrance enclosure, we came face to face with one of the Aquarium's featured attractions - the Pacific Walruses. Two walrus adults and one 2-year-old walrus toddler frolicked and languished on the rocks in front of us. They are huge! The youngster is actually the child of one of the adults, and it was fun to watch it playfully frolic with its mom, swimming all around her, rubbing up against her, and in all other ways behaving like your basic 2-year-old looking for attention.
The walrus enclosure is part of the "Sea Cliffs" exhibit - a rocky recreation of a Pacific coastal habitat that also includes sea lions, penguins, sea otters and more. We first enjoyed the Sea Cliffs from the surface, watching the animals climb about on the rocky ledges and diving into the water, then went below via an underwater viewing hallway which also included smaller tanks featuring seahorses, crabs and an octopus.
Sharks
Directly across from the Sea Cliffs is the 1,600-seat Aquatheater. We shuffled in, took our seat on the bleachers and thoroughly enjoyed the antics of one of the Aquarium's sea lions. We watched, enthralled, as his trainer led him through simple routines including leaping, dancing, walking on flippers, posing like a body-builder and kissing the kids in the front row.
At this point, my patient son was nearly bursting at the seams to see the sharks, so after the show we took in the shark tank. This 90,000-gallon tank is sparsely decorated (I'd like to think because the sharks ate all the decorations) and an absolute kid-magnet. The cylindrical tank has windows on three sides, and features reef sharks, nurse sharks and sand tiger sharks, each at least 5 feet long. Sharing the tank are massive sea turtles, a 10-foot long roughtailed stingray, and a small school of what you and I would call fish but which I just know the sharks call hors d'oeuvres.
There is nothing in this tank smaller than a foot long or so and the effect is mesmerizing. The sharks swim right up to you, stare at you, dare you to count their teeth without freaking out and make sure you know that if it weren't for the glass, they'd be gorging on your entrails.
My son loved it.
Other Attractions
Once I tore him away from the sharks, we found the "Alien Stingers" and "Explore the Shore" exhibits. These felt more like your basic Aquarium exhibits - lots of tanks full of fish, sea jellies, anemones, coral, eels and everything in between. They even had the requisite Finding Nemo tank with Nemo, Dory and other fish from the Pixar classic. The two exhibits feature a number of educational and interactive components such as glow-in-the-dark fish and the chance to stand under a 400-gallon tidal wave while remaining perfectly dry.
Other attractions in the Aquarium include a fur seal compound, seasonal touch pools and an exhibit featuring the Bathysphere used by undersea explorers William Beebe and Otis Barton in 1934 to establish a deep-sea diving record for the time.
Each attraction is kid friendly, with many windows reaching the floor, and those that don't have shelves for younger ones to stand on. Some of the tanks are specifically at kid-height; to where an adult needs to bend down to really get the full experience. Regular feedings are held through the day, so whether you want to see the penguins dine, a walrus feast, or a shark feeding frenzy, all you have to do is check the daily schedule.
David Neilsen is a Westchester-based writer and stay-at-home dad.
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