New England Aquarium

Exhibition: the Aquarium is a Massachusetts chapter 180 non-profit Corporation formed for the purpose of operating a public Aquarium in boston, Massachusetts. The mission of the Aquarium is to be a catalyst for global change through public engagement, commitment to marine animal conservation, leadership in education, innovative scientific research and advocacy for vital and vibrant oceans. In addition to its exhibits, the Aquarium operates the simons theatre, catered events, education programs and sponsored programming in marine research, conservation, and education. The Aquarium relies on revenue from admissions, retail sales, and events; private gifts; grants ; and federal and state funding for the majority of its operations. These revenues and support are primarily derived from visitors and donors from the greater boston area, the New England region, and tourists to the city. 2023 notable highlights:after a rigorous application process and inspection, the association of zoos and aquariums (aza) renewed accreditation for the New England Aquarium early this year. Aza is an organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, animal wellbeing, education, science, and recreation. It is the accrediting body for the top zoos and aquariums in the united states and 12 other countries. They require facilities to complete the accreditation process every five years as a condition of membership.the Aquarium worked with Massachusetts state legislators to file and support bills that promote the responsible growth of Massachusetts' "blue economy." The bills, which were filed by senator susan moran, representative jessica giannino, representative kathleen lanatra, representative dylan fernandes, representative josh cutler, senator julian cyr, and representative patrick kearney, aim to bolster the parts of the state's economy that rely on our ocean and water ways while also protecting critical species and habitats.there were a series of animal care accomplishments in 2023. After 15 years of trial and error, our aquarists were able to hatch and raise baby seadragons a rare feat at zoos and aquariums. Through the dedication of our animal care team and animal health department, the Aquarium welcomed two New penguin chicks. After several months of quarantine and training behind the scenes at our animal care center in quincy, a nurse shark was added to the giant ocean tank in early november. The 2022/2023 cold-stun season saw 518 sea turtles arriving at the Aquarium's sea turtle hospital for triage and treatment.in october, the Aquarium joined the aza saving animals from extinction (safe) program for african penguins, an international effort to protect and restore wild african penguin populations as the endangered species faces extinction.the New England Aquarium and seaahead, inc. Launched upswell, a capacity-building program focused on expanding the amount of angel investment in blue technology startups that benefit the environment and create New, inclusive jobs.throughout the year, the anderson cabot center for ocean life aerial survey team conducts surveys over New England waters, from off the south coast of cape cod to the gulf of Maine. In 2023, the team's sightings of right whales off the coast of martha's vineyard and nantucket triggered a dynamic management area (dma), with the national oceanic and atmospheric administration issuing an advisory for boaters to voluntarily slow to 10 knots or less. Additional sightings further east also prompted an extension of an existing dma that was set to expire.the marine conservation action fund (mcaf) supported six New projects in 2023. Grants funded entrepreneurial projects led by local conservation leaders in low and middle-income countries to support their work to engage local communities and protect marine species. The organizations receiving grants in 2023 included grupo tortuguero de las californias in mexico, fundacin macuticos colombia, balyena.org in the philippines, ecocenica in peru, carimar in cuba, and provita in venezuela.the following occurred in 2023 on the visitor experience front:we offered visitors the opportunity to take action to protect critically endangered north atlantic right whales. Guests learned more about our right whale research and wrote to their members of congress asking them to fund solutions that help protect right whales from entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes.two animal encounter programs returned this year: meet and greet: atlantic harbor seals and make art with atlantic harbor seals. Offered daily, guests can join our trainers for an exclusive inside-the-exhibit visit with these fascinating marine mammals. The program's goal is to educate visitors on the biology of the animals and how visitors can support the conservation of the species while offering a first-hand look at how we care for the atlantic harbor seals at theaquarium.in partnership with the coalition for a resilient and inclusive waterfront, of which the Aquarium is a founding member, the Aquarium recently unveiled a New public exhibit, "voicesof the waterfront," highlighting the diverse communities along the charles river watershed and boston harbor and their vision for making the boston waterfront a welcoming place for all. The exhibit is on display along the harborwalk outside the Aquarium on central wharf and is free and open to the public.the Aquarium celebrated Massachusetts' first right whale day by hosting a free celebration with the Massachusetts policymakers, partner organizations, community advocates, and researchers that made this day possible. Highlights of the day included a commemorative event hosted in the harbor view tent featuring remarks from representative josh cutler and senator susan moran, Massachusetts' first-in-the-nation climate chief melissa hoffer.the Aquarium's free lecture series, presented with support from the lowell institute, hosted a variety of speakers whose talks centered on ocean acidification, marine animals, conservation, and environmental justice.

Education and rescue:the New England Aquarium has two distinctive programs with sea turtles: we run one of the largest sea turtle rescue operations in the entire united states and we are part of a first-responder network for leatherback sea turtles that get entangled in fishing lines. Both of these programs help maintain sea turtle populations and produce research. The Aquarium's sea turtle hospital in quincy, mass., treated 394 rescued sea turtles recovered from beaches along cape cod bay during the 2023 cold stun stranding season. In addition to administering to critically endangered kemp's ridley turtles (total of 332), our sea turtle hospital treated loggerhead (42) and green (20) turtles suffering from life-threatening medical conditions, including pneumonia and dehydration. The hospital continues to operate under New population management strategies and temperature-controlled conditions as these continue to show as good if not better results than pre-pandemic survival rates. These allow for the team to efficiently stabilize turtles before transporting them to secondary facilities where they could be released back into warmer waters. We maintained 53 turtles for full rehabilitation at our hospital. In the last report we mentioned the pilot study on acoustic implants in several of our rehabilitated cold-stunned loggerheads. In 2023 the paper was accepted and published. Here is the citation:innis, c.j., kennedy, a., kneebone, j. Et al. A pilot study on surgical implantation and efficacy of acoustic transmitters in fifteen loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta), 20212022. Anim biotelemetry 11, 37 (2023). Httpsdoiorg101186s40317023003498the tags are still functioning and we continue to get regular hits on several acoustic arrays of various turtles. We continued our work on endangered leatherback turtles entangled in fishing gear. We typically evaluate, disentangle, and outfit the turtles with electronic tags that allow researchers to assess survivorship over the 30 days after disentanglement, and track migration patterns.

In 2023, the anderson cabot center for ocean life at the New englandaquarium (anderson cabot center; "Aquarium") continued on our legacy of conducting applied ocean science research, ocean policy and technical advising/market-based solutions to deliver on our mission and promote a vibrant and vital ocean for future generations.select 2023 notable highlights:the blueswell program, an ocean innovation start-up incubator managed by the anderson cabot center's balance blue lab, completed its third cohort of ocean tech start-ups, and initiated its fourth, during 2023. The Aquarium's role in this program is to guide blue tech start-ups in adopting ocean-friendly practices and metrics, aid in the diligence process, and serve as the fiscal administrator for the program.the balance blue lab launched the upswell program, a New effort to educate impact- and angel- investors about scientific, environmental, and market aspects of a responsible blue economy. This program publishes a series of whitepapers, webinars, and hosts events to give detailed assessments of ocean-tech and market trends and is funded with the support of a federal grant from the economic development adminstration.the marine conservation action fund (mcaf) supports locally-led conservation across the globe. In 2023, mcaf awarded $220,000 to 20 projects in 15 countries spearheaded by local leaders and their communities. These projects involved collecting critical data on imperiled ocean species, promoting local and indigenous-led marine management, fostering capacity sharing with communities, and sponsoring ocean leaders' participation at international conferences. Mcaf was able to support several projects in 2023 that used data collection and analysis to fill critical information gaps on population distribution and anthropogenic threats facing marine animals. We also hosted our second mcaf summit, welcoming fellows from around the world to boston for a week of community-building, networking, and learning exchange.the Aquarium submitted public comments to the united state fish and wildlife service, national oceanic and atmospheric administration, white house office of science and technology policy, and the international union for the conservation of nature species survival commission on the topics of marine protected areas, north atlantic right whales, a sustainable ocean economy, and role of aquariums in conservation, respectively. Aquarium subject matter experts briefed congress on marine protected areas and testified before congress to protect the north atlantic right whale. Aquarium experts were featured in media related to the New high seas treaty and the critically endangered north atlantic right whale (e.g., cape cod times, roll call, boston 25 news), published twice in just security regarding the high seas treaty, and the u.s. national ocean climate action plan, and was an invited speakers/moderators in various forums (e.g., harvard advanced initiative, worldboston).scientists from the anderson cabot center conducted the fieldwork needed to inform conservation science and management. They tagged more than 260 sharks, tunas, and fishes (11 species total) and monitored each animal's movement using more than 100+ acoustic "listening stations" strategically deployed in southern New England. They also flew 37 aerial surveys totaling 220 hours in this region to document the abundance and distribution of marine mammals and turtles. These data provide the information needed to identify and mitigate any negative impacts of wind energy development on these species.aquarium staff collectively published 17 total peer-reviewed papers/book chapters in scientific journals/book volumes in 2023.

We continued to work with our partners at boston harbor city cruises ("bhcc") to offer the New England Aquarium whale watch, operated by bhcc. This combined effort generated increased whale watch attendance and significantly expanded the reach of our whale conservation programming and our educational programming, overall.total other costs represent the remaining program service expenses per part ix that were not attributable to exhibition, research, or education. Total other revenue represents programatic corporate sponsorships and other miscellaneous income per part viii that were not attributable to exhibition, research, or education.