![]() ![]() Occasionally, sea turtles and large sharks were placed in the pool with the seals. They would swim close by the sides of the pool to gather mackerel and other fish offered to them. Large crowds gathered along the edges to see the seals. Brigham Historical Photo CollectionĮvery summer, two young harbor seals were kept in the pool, spending part of their days resting on a small raft. It isn’t surprising, then, that the new laboratory building with its aquarium on the harbor included a large open seawater seal pool behind the seawall.Ī hole was cut into the wall of the seal pool during 1957 demolition to make way for new lab facilities. He knew seals would attract visitors to the laboratory, where they would learn about marine research and see waterfront operations. Visitors would often see researchers about. The Woods Hole lab’s aquarium has always been a working research aquarium as well as an educational resource. Their previous acquaintance with these forms of life was only through the unattractive specimens preserved in formalin and used for dissection.” Seals Were the “Darlings of Woods Hole” “Some of them admired the graceful movements of the fish, the continuous color change of the squid, the sliding motion of starfish, and the brilliance of our common red sponge. “It was a surprise to find out how many college instructors in biology had never seen live dogfish, squid, or other common animals,” he wrote. Oyster researcher and sometime lab director Paul Galtsoff liked to mingle with the aquarium crowd and learn from their reactions to the exhibits and displays. Arrangements were made to use space in the old hatchery for the children to have their own tanks for keeping and monitoring the animals they collected. Interest in the aquarium as a research resource also came from the Children’s School of Science, founded in 1913 for children of researchers working in Woods Hole. Signs above the tanks describe what lives in each tank. Daily collecting trips on the small steamer Phalarope brought back specimens for laboratory research and live fish for the aquarium. His emphasis was on New England food fish and on invertebrates commonly found along the shores and used in the MBL classes and for research. ![]() Support for the operation for many years was voluntarily performed by the Woods Hole lab director and superintendent. Initially, no funds were appropriated for the operation of the fisheries aquarium. More than 1,000 people would visit the aquarium on rainy days and holidays. Daily logs were kept to keep track and feedback from visitors was encouraged. Cloudy or bad weather days when people couldn’t go to the local beaches attracted the largest crowds. While the hours of operation have changed since those early days, the aquarium then as now was busiest in the summer season. These gave investigators at the lab a chance to visit the exhibits between breakfast and the start of morning classes and after dinner in the evening. The aquarium was open to the public every day during the summer months from 8 a.m. When the Marine Biological Laboratory was founded across the street in 1888, summer students and researchers at the lab became regular visitors. There was also space for educational displays and exhibits to help the public learn more about the sea. Preserved specimens of fish, invertebrates, and birds filled cabinets in the center. ![]() Some of the tanks were used for research to study the life history of marine organisms, others to raise marine fish to augment wild populations. ![]() Large seawater tanks were mounted along the outside walls. There were 16 tanks for displaying local marine animals and plants. A much larger public marine aquarium was housed on the first floor of the laboratory building, across from the fish hatchery. They were located at the corner of Water and Albatross Streets on Great Harbor in Woods Hole, on the site where current facilities now stand.īaird’s vision and passion for research and education were evident in the new facilities, which he helped design. In 1885, the first permanent fisheries laboratory and a residence hall were built. Marine biology was in its infancy, and he believed it was important to explain what public support for government marine research was achieving and its importance to conservation.Īs interest in Fish Commission operations grew, the borrowed space was no longer sufficient. Fish Commission.īaird invited anyone interested to see what researchers were finding in local waters. They shared a borrowed shed that served as temporary research facilities for the new U.S. That first aquarium was just a few small tanks with live fish and other animals. When Spencer Baird established the nation’s first fisheries lab in 1871 in Woods Hole, he also established a fisheries aquarium. ![]()
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