The New York Aquarium: Digital

Field Trip
Molly Hourihan
The New York Aquarium
The New York Aquarium was founded in 1896 in Battery Park on the southern tip
of Manhattan. In 1902, the New York Zoological Society (today the Wildlife
Conservation Society) assumed ownership. In 1957, the aquarium was moved to
Coney island where it currently resides today as the oldest continually operating
aquarium in the United States!

This aquarium has over 350 marine species (Over 8,000 specimens), 18 shark
and ray species, and occupies 14 acres of land on Coney Island, NY!

This aquarium raises public awareness about environmental issues facing the
ocean and its ecosystem everyday by teaching students like you about ocean life!
Map of the Aquarium and Exhibits
Aquatheater Sea lion Exhibit
Welcome to the Aquatheater!

Here we will view an interactive show with the amazing California

Sea Lions and their trainers! The trainers teach them behaviors
that stimulate their natural instincts and aid in their care!

Facts about the California Sea Lion!

● California sea lions are known for their intelligence, noisy barking,
and their large flippers they use to “walk” on land!
● They can be found on offshore rocks and beaches on the Pacific west
coast of North America from British Columbia to the coast of Mexico.
● California sea lions eat fish, octopus, squid, mollusks, and
crustaceans.
● A sea lion can dive up to 450-feet deep and remain submerged for 20
minutes!
Sea Cliffs Exhibit
Welcome to our next stop, the Sea Cliffs! Here you’ll see several types of ocean species that love to
spend their time along the rocky shores! These animals include the black-footed penguin, sea otters, and
harbor seals!
Black-Footed Penguins

Habitat: Rocky coastal areas in

Africa.
Diet: Fish such as sardines and
anchovies.
Fun Fact: These penguins are
monogamous.

Sea otters Seals

Habitat: Kelp forests Habitat: Usually found in arctic

Diet: Crabs, urchins, mussels, environments.
and other invertebrates. Diet: Different types of fish
Fun Fact: Sea otters are an Fun Fact: Seals can live up to
endangered species. 30 years!
 Ocean Wonders: Sharks! Exhibit
Welcome to our next stop on our journey through the New York Aquarium! Here you’ll see 18 different types of
sharks and rays, and maybe even a turtle or two, that live right off the Coney Island Boardwalk! Here you can walk
through a tunnel that puts you right inside a coral reef full of different marine life and sharks! Sharks can live in
many different types of habitats, some eat animals as big as seals while others eat animals as small as plankton.

Sand tiger Nurse shark Zebra shark Blacktip reef shark Sandbar shark
shark These sharks are When these sharks are These sharks give live birth to These sharks are often
These sharks are bottom-feeders and generally young they have stripes their young, called pups. This recognizable due to their
normally recognized harmless to humans, they can similar to a zebra’s. As they is unusual as many species of large dorsal fin, they dwell
for their large grow up to 14 feet long! get older they develop spots sharks produce eggs sacs in sandy and muddy
“snaggle”teeth! like a leopard! that their babies hatch from. areas close to land.
 Ocean Wonders: Sharks! Cont’d.
Sharks aren’t the only marine life here! If you look closely you might spot the Cownose ray, the
Loggerhead sea turtle, and maybe a few Butterfly fish!

Butterflyfish
Habitat: Coral reefs
Diet: Algae, worms, small crustaceans.
Fun Fact: There are at least 114 species of
butterflyfish.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Habitat: Lagoons, bays, rivers, and Cownose Ray
sometimes out to sea. Habitat: Sandy, soft bottom areas.
Diet: Mollusks, crustaceans, and fish. Diet: Clams, oysters, and bottom-dwelling
Fun Fact: Loggerheads are named for invertebrates.
their seemingly oversized head! Fun Fact: Cownose rays have a sharp,
venomous spine at the base of their tail.
Conservation Hall Exhibit
We have now arrived at our second-to-last stop on our tour of the aquarium! Here
we will view multiple galleries with varying ecosystems of the world exhibiting lots
of different marine life at a snorkelers eye view! See if you can spot these different
types of marine life!

Green Moray Eel Clownfish African Cichlid Piranha

Spineless Exhibit: Weird and Wonderful Invertebrates
We are now arriving at the final stop on our aquarium tour, weird and wonderful invertebrates!
Invertebrates are animals that lack a backbone, such as jellyfish! Invertebrates make up over 96% of all
the animal species on earth! Here are a few we will see at this stop:

Japanese spider
crab
Habitat: Seabeds at depths
up to 1,000 feet.
Diet: Shellfish and dead
animals.
Fun Fact:This is the largest
known species of crab!
Lagoon jellies Pacific sea Giant pacific octopus Common cuttlefish
Habitat: Floats near
nettles
the surface in Habitat:The ocean floor in Habitat: Mediterranean and
Habitat: Open waters
offshore waters. of the Pacific Ocean. coastal waters. northern Baltic Seas.
Diet: Plankton and Diet: Zooplankton and Diet: Shellfish, crabs, clams, Diet: Crustaceans and
fish eggs. larval fishes. etc. small fish.
Fun Fact:These Fun Fact: Their Fun Fact:They are the largest Fun Fact: Cuttlefish shoot
jellies are tentacles can reach up
known species of octopus. ink when attacked.
bioluminescent to 15 feet!
Questions
We have now sadly reached the end of our
incredible New York Aquarium Tour! If anyone has
any questions please address one of our teachers
at the end of this digital field trip!

Don’t forget to consider:

1. What animals did we spot today?

2. What different environments did the many types of
marine life live in?
3. What do different types of marine life eat?
4. How do these animals interact in their different
ecosystems?
5. One fun fact about each animal you learned about
today!

Thank you to the New York Aquarium for having us today!

Resources
https://www.nycgo.com/attractions/new-york-aquarium

https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/zoos/ny-aquarium

https://senecaparkzoo.org/animal-pages/california-sea-lion-2/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItZf6zpnf6AIVDvDACh3AZg62EAAYASAAEgLknPD
_BwE

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/group/seals-pinnipeds-walruses-sea-lions/

https://www.maritimeaquarium.org/meet-the-animals?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6LHJyu3g6AIVBNvACh1tYgFxEAAYASAAEgI5-fD_BwE#ite
m=402557