New England Aquarium
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New England Aquarium plaza
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| Date opened | June 20, 1969 |
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| Location | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°21′33″N 71°2′58″W / 42.35917°N 71.04944°WCoordinates: 42°21′33″N 71°2′58″W / 42.35917°N 71.04944°W |
| Land area | 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2) |
| No. of animals | 20,000 |
| No. of species | 600 |
| Volume of largest tank | 200,000 US gallons (760,000 l; 170,000 imp gal) |
| Annual visitors | 1.3 million |
| Memberships | AZA,AAM |
| Public transit access |
Aquarium station 
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| Website | www |
The New England Aquarium is an aquarium located in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to the main aquarium building, attractions at the New England Aquarium include the Simons IMAX Theatre and the New England Aquarium Whale Watch, which operates from April through November. The aquarium has more than 22,000 members and hosts more than 1.3 million visitors each year.
Planning for the aquarium began in 1962, with the principal designer being Peter Chermayeff of Cambridge Seven Associates. The building was opened to the public in 1969. The Giant Ocean Tank opened in 1970, and at the time was the largest circular ocean tank in the world.
In 1974, a multi-storied barge, Discovery, was moored next to the Aquarium. It served as a floating mammal pavilion for the aquarium as the lack of land limited the aquarium's ability for expansion. This 1,000-seat observer stadium overlooked a 116,000-US-gallon (440,000 l; 97,000 imp gal) pool. It hosted dolphins until they were transferred in the mid-1990s, and sea lions, until the ship's decommissioning. Discovery was officially retired in the mid-2000s due to its old age and high cost of maintenance.
In 2013, the Giant Ocean Tank was given a major facelift, with the addition of a replica of a Caribbean coral reef.
The new West Wing was completed in 1998 by Schwartz/Silver Architects. The glass and steel addition includes the harbor seal exhibit on the public plaza, ticketing booth, changing exhibit galleries, gift shop, cafe, and lobby.
In 1999 the aquarium opened a new rehabilitation center for harbor porpoises in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The facility includes a 29,000-US-gallon (110,000 l; 24,000 imp gal) rehabilitation tank that can house three porpoises at a time.
The 428-seat Matthew and Marcia Simons IMAX Theatre opened in 2001 in a separate building designed by E. Verner Johnson and Associates. The six-story high screen is 85 feet (26 m) wide by 65 feet (20 m) high, and its projector can show both 2D and 3D movies.
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Wikipedia