Happy Birthday, Jade!
Jade, one of our female Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, is 14 years old today! Click here to learn more about the birthday girl.
We’re designing our collectible tickets for our new Blacktip Reef exhibit, opening July 10th, and we need YOUR help!
We’ve chosen some of the Aquarium’s new residents and old favorites to be featured on our new tickets. Visit our album on Facebook this week to vote for your favorite!
Voting ends at midnight ET on Thursday, May 23. The top three tickets with the most votes (Facebook likes) will be our fan winners and will be produced as collectible tickets for summer 2013.
One of our rescued seals, Sodapop, is ready for release!
This juvenile harbor seal has come a long way after being admitted with a severe respiratory infection. Read Sodapop’s story!
“We’re working to make the Chesapeake Bay, the jewel of our state, cleaner and better.” - Maryland’s First Lady Katie O’Malley
Earlier today, the First Lady joined the Aquarium and the National Wildlife Federation to launch a city-wide Wildlife Habitat program!
Did you know? The spotfin butterflyfish gets its name from the dark spot found on its dorsal fin. The black bar across their face is used to confuse predators.
These reef dwellers can be found throughout the western Atlantic, from the United States to Brazil. Learn more about the spotfin butterflyfish in today’s Amazing Animal of the Week post!
We have a peacock mantis shrimp on exhibit!
This colorful Indo-Pacific crustacean may look harmless, but it can pack a fatal punch. Also known as “sea locusts,” these marine crustaceans can grow to be up to a foot in length. While most crustaceans are opportunistic feeders, the mantis shrimp will actively hunt its prey.
Here are 10 AWESOME facts about the mantis shrimp:
- They have 16, count ‘em 16, color receptive rods in each eye, which allows them to see circularly polarized light.
- The mantis shrimp has two club-shaped appendages that it punches out with (at an estimated speed of up to 50 mph) to break into hard-shelled mollusks.
- They have the fastest recorded “punch” of any living animal – it’s faster than a .22-caliber bullet.
- In fact, they move so fast that the water surrounding their appendages will boil in a process known as supercavitation.
- Using its appendages, the mantis shrimp can break through glass without causing any harm to itself.
- They can punch out at maximum force approximately 50,000 times between molts without causing any bodily harm.
- Engineers are studying mantis shrimp exoskeletons to hopefully build more effective armor for soldiers and protect athletes from concussions, among other uses.
- Watch a mantis shrimp break through glass to attack live prey.
- Some mantis shrimp mate for life – according to the BBC, one pair was observed staying together for over 20 years.
- We can trace the evolutionary lineage of mantis shrimp back 500 million years.
There are only about 1,500 golden lion tamarins left in the coastal rain forests of Brazil.
Habitat loss and fragmentation, capture for the pet trade and hunting have caused a serious decline of populations of these animals. The tamarins found here at National Aquarium are part of a conservation program that is working to successfully re-introduce golden lion tamarins back into their native home. Learn more about these animals in our Endangered Species Day blog post.
Since being listed as an Endangered Species in 1994, the US and Mexico have worked cooperatively to protect critical nesting habitats for the Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, resulting in an increase in successful nesting and hatching.
Kemp’s still face many threats, many of which are human-related. Click here to learn more about how our Animal Rescue team rehabilitates and releases these endangered turtles.
Ah, the magnificent manatee.
These gentle giants frequent the coastal waters and rivers along the Florida coast. Sadly, boat strikes and toxic algae blooms are threatening this endangered species.
Measuring in at only 4.5 inches long, the bog turtle is the smallest species of turtle found in the United States!
Click here to learn more about this endangered species and what issues (both human-related and ecological) are contributing to their decline.
