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Easter Brings Seadragon Babies and Seal Encounters to the New England Aquarium

Spring brings some “egg-citing” News from the New England Aquarium

By Jenna DeedyPublished 12 months ago 4 min read
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Easter Brings Seadragon Babies and Seal Encounters to the New England Aquarium
Photo by Chuck Givens on Unsplash

Spring has officially arrived, which means time for seasonal cleaning, getting ready to start an annual garden for a fall harvest, and getting ready for Easter, Passover, Ramadan, and, of course, babies. Well, that’s the case for the New England Aquarium with some exciting news to share regarding their seadragon family.

Baby Seadragons?

Last spring, aquarists at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts, discovered one of their male seadragons was carrying over a dozen eggs. Shortly after the eggs were found, the father seadragon was taken off-exhibit to receive extra care and attention, and eight weeks later, the aquarist team welcomed two-centimeter hatchlings that required lots of careful attention in order to help them thrive like grapes on a vine.

The hatchlings’ arrival marks the first time the New England Aquarium has ever had success in breeding seadragons under their care. This is because the animals, which are difficult to breed in human care, have an elaborate mating ritual in which they mirror one another, moving together as they gracefully spin upwards through the water as if they’re dancing. This “dance”, is actually the female transferring her to a patch of her mate’s underside of his tail, where he’ll fertilize and carry the eggs until they hatch. If it goes wrong, then the female could accidentally drop her eggs in the process and not fertilize.

In order to ensure a successful egg transfer between the two seadragon parents, the team worked to create ideal conditions to ensure the mating ritual resulted in a successful transfer. That included adding a special taller tank at an animal care facility in Quincy because they believed it would prove the vertical space for the seadragons to breed and complete a successful egg transfer. Yet, one pair completing such a transfer came as a surprise to everyone involved. Once the eggs were discovered, the seadragon father-to-be was moved behind the scenes to be monitored to prevent him from accidentally bumping his eggs off his tail.

The following July, the eggs hatched. As the new hatchlings emerged, the team carefully removed them by placing them into a tank with the nutritious food they needed to thrive under human care. This effort proved to be one of the biggest challenges they ever had to face, because of their small size. During the first few days of life, the babies were given a diet of copepods and baby brine shrimp before transitioning to small mysis shrimp. This was done to ensure they get an adequate diet as they continued to grow. Once they got to a certain size, the team decided it was time for them to eat adult mysis shrimp.

Now, almost a year later, the New England Aquarium staff is happy to report that the babies have grown to be about six inches long and are expected to go on display with their parents this summer. Until then, guests can learn about them through a behind-the-scenes video of how the aquarists helped them thrive the next time they pay a visit to the newly refurbished seadragon exhibit.

The rare success of seadragon breeding in a zoological setting has provided the New England Aquarium’s aquarists with an incredible learning experience to learn about the biology of seadragons, their life cycle, and how they grow from hatchling to adult. It also provides them a chance to contribute their experiences with the Australian native marine animals to help further efforts to ensure their well-being out in the wild.

Meet and Greet With Harbor Seals

Speaking of exciting news at the Aquarium, they have also announced the return of their popular harbor seal meet and greet experience.

Once again, they invite guests for a one-of-a-kind inside-the-exhibit visit with their Atlantic harbor seal colony as they give them an educational first-hand look at how they care for these beloved marine mammals. During this encounter, guests will learn more about the species and discover how they can support conservation efforts aimed at protecting them and their habitats.

The guests will get to enjoy interacting with the seals by participating in a training session with them. There, not only will they learn about seal biology, and how the trainers communicate with their seals, but also, ask them for various behaviors such as waving, spinning, and dancing. They might even get a kiss. There will also be plenty of time to answer questions guests might have about them. This 30-minute experience, which is offered at 3:15 PM, costs about $150 for non-members and $135 for members but aquarium admission is not included.

For guests looking to get a keepsake from the seals, the Aquarium also has a “Make Art with Atlantic Harbor Seals” experience. The encounter, which also starts at 3:15 PM, allows guests to choose up to four colors for a customized artwork painted by a resident seal they can take home. It also includes the same experiences as the original meet-and-greet experience. The 30-minute experience costs $225 for non-members and $200 for members.

My Question to You Guys

Do you have plans to visit a zoo or aquarium this spring? What are your family’s spring traditions? Comment down below.

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About the Creator

Jenna Deedy

Zoo and Aquarium Professional, Educator, Cosplayer, Writer and B.A. in Psychology whose got a lot to share when it comes to animals, zoos, aquariums, conservation, and more.

Instagram: @jennacostadeedy

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