2013 Bahamas Expedition | Round Two
Emma is a former Giant Ocean Tank Dive Intern on her first Spring Collection Expedition. She joined Aquarium divers in the Bahamas to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef. After a top-to-bottom transformation, the Giant Ocean Tank is expected to reopen in early summer. 

This morning we traveled to a dive site called Bimini Road. At this spot, we continued to catch grunts to add to our school. On my second dive at this site, I finally lucked out and saw a 7-foot-long hammerhead shark! It passed by our group, but as soon as we started towards it for a better look, it quickly swam away. Of course, my camera was back on the ship, charging. After Bimini Road, we went over to a spot called The Strip II where we rounded up more chromis and a whole bunch of black-finned snappers.

Later that evening, we docked at Bimini, to get off the boat and explore another part of this country. At another part of the dock, fishermen were throwing pieces of bait into the water and the most amazing thing was happening—five, large, full-grown bull sharks were chasing after each piece of food. After diving for years and looking for this species of shark, here they were! Not only were they swimming, they were surfacing to try and get every bite.

Bull sharks in Bimini | Photo credit: Bill Murphy

Even though I appreciated seeing these incredible animals up close and in action, feeding these animals is not ideal for the sharks, nor for humans. By feeding wild animals, like sharks or bears, we draw them into heavily populated areas where they may get into trouble. This also teaches wild animals to associate humans with food and sometimes rely on them as a food source.
By showing visitors the beauty of a healthy Caribbean reef, we hope to inspire visitors to do what they can to protect these reefs and marine habitats around the world. Dive into the New Aquarium Experience, coming early this summer!

2013 Bahamas Expedition | Round Two
Emma is a former Giant Ocean Tank Dive Intern on her first Spring Collection Expedition. She joined Aquarium divers in the Bahamas to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef.  After a top-to-bottom transformation, the Giant Ocean Tank is expected to reopen in early summer. 

It was another fun day in Bimini!  Our first two dives of the day were at a spot called the Piquet. This spot was my favorite of the whole trip—there were so many different kinds of beautiful corals and fish.  By the end of the second dive, my group had a gorgeous rock beauty, two wrasses and a smooth trunkfish in our catch bags. Unfortunately, smooth trunkfish secrete a colorless toxin from their skin, which may harm our other fish, so it had to be taken back.

During the surface interval between dives, we decided to try jumping from the ship into the water- and what a blast!  Captain Dave was kind enough to take these amazing jump shots.

Liz jumping from the RV Coral Reef II | Photo credit: Captain Dave

Franco jumping from the RV Coral Reef II | Photo credit: Captain Dave

Murphy jumping from the RV Coral Reef II | Photo credit: Captain Dave

Me jumping from the RV Coral Reef II | Photo credit: Captain Dave

After lunch, we moved to a new spot called Green Heads. Natalia, Franco and I joined forces to catch two wrasses and a harlequin bass on our first dive. This task was rather tricky due to my least favorite fish: lionfish. Lionfish are native to the Pacific Ocean but were released into the Atlantic, where they are an invasive species. Lionfish prey on many of the native fish of the Atlantic and have no natural predators to control their population. Most of our dive spots are infested with this fish. On each dive, I count at least five.

A lionfish

After a delicious dinner, it was finally time for our night dive!  We equipped ourselves with plenty of lights and dove in.

Getting ready to jump in for the night dive! Photo credit: Franco Lichauco

The first unusual animal we encountered was a large spotted moray eel. During the day, we usually spy them deep in their holes, peaking out warily at us. But tonight, this eel was almost completely out of its lair. After an almost successful attempt to capture a squirrelfish, we discovered a large, colorful, sleeping parrotfish—the target of our night dive. During the day, large parrotfish zoom around the reef, making it difficult to catch them. At night, these fish hide themselves under ledges to rest, leaving them vulnerable. Unfortunately, this fish managed to escape our nets as soon as we nudged it. A little while later, we successfully caught a small reef squirrelfish, but continued our search for parrotfish. As we peaked under every ledge, we came across not one, but two octopuses! These cephalopods are incredible and changed color right in front of my eyes.

As we surfaced after the dive, a large form moving around in the boat’s light caught everyone’s attention. At first, we thought it was circular and must be a ray. Then it started changing shape before our eyes, confusing us all until we realized it was not one animal, but many. It a bait ball made up of small fish drawn to the green light hanging off the boat. These small fish will swim in large groups to protect themselves from predators. It was an amazing sight to conclude a great day.
By showing visitors the beauty of a healthy Caribbean reef, we hope to inspire visitors to do what they can to protect these reefs and marine habitats around the world. Dive into the New Aquarium Experience, coming early this summer!

2013 Bahamas Expedition | Round Two
Emma is a former Giant Ocean Tank Dive Intern on her first collection expedition to the Bahamas. She joined Aquarium divers to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef. These fish will live ing the Giant Ocean Tank after its top-to-bottom transformation. 

We started off day four with a delicious warm breakfast made by Chef Chris, then quickly got underway with a deep dive to search for sargassum triggerfish. This dusty blue species of triggerfish lives in the lower region of the reef environment, so we dove to a maximum of 93 feet (too deep for my camera) to try and catch a few. Deep diving is interesting, even though you’re below almost 100 feet of water, you can barely feel the difference between that and 20 feet of water. While the staff was working on the triggerfish, my buddies and I enjoyed our first deep dive in the Bahamas.

Safety stop on the anchor line after our deep dive |  Photo credit: Captain Lou

Blue chromis and creole wrasses in the collection tank | Photo credit: Russ

By showing visitors the beauty of a healthy Caribbean reef, the Aquarium hopes to inspire people to do what they can to protect these reefs and marine habitats around the world. 

2013 Bahamas Expedition | Round Two
Emma is a former Giant Ocean Tank Dive Intern on her first collection expedition to the Bahamas. She joined Aquarium divers to help collect fish—under special permits—so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef.  These fish will live in the Giant Ocean Tank this summer, after its top-to-bottom transformation. 

Today was our third day in the Bahamas, collecting fish for the new Giant Ocean Tank exhibit.  We started off at a spot called Lunker Head—a great reef, but slightly challenging. Just when my dive buddies, Natalia and Liz, had a great fish cornered, it would slip away into little nooks and crannies in the coral. Our main target was blue chromis (Chromis cyanea)—small, vibrant blue fish that will brighten up the GOT.

Creole wrasses swimming above the reef.

After catching a few chromis, the staff decided to take a shot at the beautiful school of creole wrasses swimming about the reef. Creole wrasses (Clepticus parrae) are large, purple and yellow fish that cruise in schools above the reef. The staff, led by Sherrie, surrounded the school and herded them into large nets. After the second dive, we had a nice, neat collection of 21 creole wrasses to bring back to Boston.

Creole wrasses in the collection tank

Blue chromis and creole wrasses in the collection tank | Photo credit: Russ

The last dive of the day was an oddball. We decided to try a drift dive in the early evening. However, as we jumped in, we realized there was no current at all, just endless sea grass beds.

Liz swimming above the sea grass

Although the sea grass was beautiful, we were disappointed that there were no fish to be seen, until we stumbled onto a goldmine! Small groups of juvenile and intermediate fish—queen triggers, grey angelfish, Townsend angelfish and French angelfish! We managed to collect one grey angelfish, but other dive groups were more lucky and brought up two queen triggers and quite a few angels as well!  It was a great day!

Queen triggerfish in the collection tank

2013 Bahamas Expedition | Round Two
Emma is a former Giant Ocean Tank Dive Intern on her first Spring Collection Expedition. She joined Aquarium divers in the Bahamas to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef.  After a top-to-bottom transformation, the Giant Ocean Tank is expected to reopen in early summer with more than twice the number of fish than last fall. 

Today was our second day aboard the RV Coral Reef II. We spent the whole day at one amazing dive site called Moxon Rocks. Our target of the day was small mouth grunts (Haemulon chrysargyreum), named for the grunting sound they make with their pharyngeal jaw. These bright yellow and white fish will look incredible in the new Giant Ocean Tank. Captain Lou got in the water with us and helped the staff corral large schools of these fish. Our total for the end of the day was 54!

Our school of grunts in the boat’s collection tanks | Photo credit: Franco Lichauco

My buddy, Carolyn, and I chased a few filefish for most of the dive, but with little luck. The more experienced fish-catchers of the group were more successful, catching the school of grunts, blue tangs, parrotfish and even grey angelfish. The prize of the day was an adorable honeycomb cowfish. Although hard to find, these slow fish are easy to catch (relatively speaking of course!)

The honeycomb cowfish

I participated in the first two dives and was safety observer for the final dive of the day. The safety observer is responsible for recording everyone’s dive information (i.e. how much air they have in their tanks before and after their dive) and watching the dive site from the boat, in case anyone comes to the surface for help during an emergency. It was nice to get out of my wetsuit and enjoy a bit of sun, but I ended up missing the coolest sight of the trip yet—a 10–12 foot-long hammerhead shark.

Seeing these large predators is rare. Sharks are disappearing from the world’s reefs due to the finning industry, which harvests the fins of sharks and sells them for profit. Efforts are being made to regulate this industry because sharks are vital to the reef ecosystem. They prey on sick or dying fish and indicate that there is a large enough population of fish to support an apex predator. Without sharks, the population composition of reef fish may change and have higher levels of disease and parasites.

By showing visitors the beauty of a healthy Caribbean reef in the Giant Ocean Tank, we hope to inspire visitors to do what they can to protect these reefs and marine habitats around the world. Dive into the New Aquarium Experience, coming early this summer!

This is a cross post from the News and Updates blog. 


This week marked a major step forward in the transformation of the Giant Ocean Tank. The animals are coming home! Carolina and Retread—two loggerhead sea turtles—were the very first of nearly 2,000 to make the move. Follow along on their journey from the temporary exhibit to their new home.



So, what has changed about the Giant Ocean Tank? The complex coral sculptures you see inside are completely new and will provide safe homes for more than twice the number of fishes that lived in the tank before. There are also new crystal-clear viewing windows. The top of the exhibit will reopen on July 1 with expanded presentation and exhibit spaces, a reflective ceiling dome and a ramp providing access for wheelchairs and strollers. Here's more about the scope and features of the project.

If turtles smiled, Carolina would be smiling now.

Moving the animals is one of the final stages in the Aquarium's top-to-bottom, 21st-century transformation. Over the coming weeks, aquarists will move the animals from the first level temporary exhibit to the big tank. There are even more animals behind the scenes that will be joining Carolina and Retread in this vibrant Caribbean coral reef community. All the animals will be in place and the renovation of surrounding exhibits will be completed by July 1.

2013 Bahamas Expedition | Round Two
Emma is a former Giant Ocean Tank Dive Intern on her first Spring Collection Expedition. She joined Aquarium divers in the Bahamas to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef.  After a top-to-bottom transformation, the Giant Ocean Tank is expected to reopen in early summer with more than twice the number of fish than last fall. 

Day One: Today was the first full day of the second Spring 2013 Collection Expedition! This group of SCUBA divers, led by Sherrie Floyd (a senior aquarist at the New England Aquarium) will sail around the Bahamas to collect fish for the new Giant Ocean Tank (GOT). This centerpiece exhibit is currently undergoing a huge renovation and the fish we collect from Bimini will be the first new inhabitants!

A dolphin off the bow of the RV Coral Reef II.

This morning we awoke around 6am aboard the RV Coral Reef II, led by Captain Lou and Co-Captain Dave. As we took off to the open ocean towards Bimini and waved goodbye to Miami, a dolphin appeared at the bow!

Goodbye Miami!

Hello Bahamas!

After arriving in the Bahamas, we quickly got ready for our first dive at a shallow wreck called the Sapona. Wrecks are fantastic dive sites because they serve as a substrate on which coral polyps grow and entire reefs develop. Over time, entire underwater communities develop around these wrecks. The Sapona is home to large schools of fish, barracuda, southern stingrays and more. Many of these same species can also be found in the Giant Ocean Tank!

The Sapona | Photo credit: Liz Duquette

Jumping in for our first dive!

A school of grunts near the wreck.

Look for a southern stingray near the hull of the wreck at the bottom of the picture. (Check out the Southern stingray in the GOT in this video!)

Our first dive was a checkout dive, to get everyone comfortable with their gear and diving in the Bahamas. As soon as we all had our sea legs, the fun began! We grabbed nets and started collecting. It was a bit harder than I expected, but my buddy and I managed to catch a longspine squirrelfish (Holocentrus rufus). Unfortunately for us, the last trip had already met the quota for this species and we had to put it back. What a lucky fish!

The fish we catch are taken to the surface and placed in holding tanks all over the boat, where the staff care for them.

Collection tanks | Photo credit: Bill Murphy

The main collection tanks | Photo credit: Bill Murphy

Myrtle, the Aquarium’s most famous resident, swims in her current abode.

Small wrasses enjoy their holding pen, complete with sand and a hiding spot.

Angelfish maneuver in to grab a snack.

Car wash strips provide cover for our green eel. Can you find her?

Floating holding pens housing small reef fish.

Tropical Ocean Exhibit educators are ready to answer your questions!

The new reef takes shape! See more pictures of the reef in our Construction Updates

Genevieve is a former intern from the dive department. She joined Aquarium divers in the Bahamas to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef.  After a top-to-bottom transformation, the Giant Ocean Tank is expected to reopen in early summer with more than twice the number of fish than last fall. 
Overall, the 2013 New England Aquarium Bahamas expedition was a huge success! All of the critters are happy and healthy, and are currently awaiting their debut in the new Giant Ocean Tank. Right now they're behind the scenes at our off site holding facility. The collection is spectacularly diverse, and we can’t wait to see them thriving in their new home!

But first...a little fun. On last year's collecting trip, I learned that under enough pressure, if you crack an egg under water, it will maintain its shape. This year's group was eager to watch (and play) with the egg. See how scuba divers have fun!




By showing visitors the beauty of a healthy Caribbean reef, we hope to inspire people to do what they can to protect these reefs and marine habitats around the world. Thanks to Mark Rosenstein for sharing his beautiful pictures, and video!

Genevieve is a former intern from the dive department. She joined Aquarium divers in the Bahamas to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef.  After a top-to-bottom transformation, the Giant Ocean Tank is expected to reopen in early summer with more than twice the number of fish than last fall. 

Queen angelfish | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

Unfortunately, the weather turned for the worse on the fifth day of collecting. We managed to get three dives in, two at a new sight, Packet Reef. We caught two queen angelfish on these dives. Angels are awed at in the GOT because they are big and beautiful fish with an intriguing shape. Queens are my personal favorites because of their colors: a mix of yellow and blue.

Black durgeon | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

Another favorite are black durgons, which are hard to catch, since they swim off the reef and higher in the water column. Pete, a west wing staff member, managed to collect one of these guys, gaining much praise from the rest of the crew.

Scrawled filefish | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

For the third dive, we returned to the Sapona, where Pete showed off his expertise once more, and returned to the boat with a scrawled filefish. Scrawled files are rare sights amongst these reefs, making them all the more special in the GOT. Everything about them is interesting- their strange shape, light blue pattern, and friendly behavior.

By showing visitors the beauty of a healthy Caribbean reef, we hope to inspire people to do what they can to protect these reefs and marine habitats around the world. Thanks to Mark Rosenstein for sharing his beautiful pictures!

Genevieve is a former intern from the dive department. She joined Aquarium divers in the Bahamas to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef.  After a top-to-bottom transformation, the Giant Ocean Tank is expected to reopen in early summer with more than twice the number of fish than last fall. 

By the fourth day of collecting, we definitely had the basics of collecting down and for the first three dives of the day, we brought 100 fish on board. The Strip is a long, narrow reef with hundreds of inhabitants. We were instructed to focus on blackbar soldierfish, goatfish and grunts.

Schooling grunts | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

A closer look at grunts | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

Blackbars are coral-colored with black bars (hence the name) next to their eyes. They hang out in small groups underneath coral overhangs, so finding these guys in the GOT will be fun and their beauty makes it worth it. Goatfish and grunts are schooling fish in the GOT, representing an important survival method that occurs in the wild.

Blackbar soldierfish in a holding tank | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

The fourth dive of the day was a night dive at a familiar sight, Greenheads. Fish are easy to catch at night, because they are slow-moving and less aware.

Schooling goatfish | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

By showing visitors the beauty of a healthy Caribbean reef, we hope to inspire people to do what they can to protect these reefs and marine habitats around the world. Thanks to Mark Rosenstein for sharing his beautiful pictures!

Genevieve is a former intern from the dive department. She joined Aquarium divers in the Bahamas to help collect fish, under special permits, so that visitors in Boston can appreciate the splendor of a healthy Caribbean reef.  After a top-to-bottom transformation, the Giant Ocean Tank is expected to reopen in early summer with more than twice the number of fish than last fall. 

Needlefish | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

Needlefish are one of the most inquired-about fish in the GOT. They reside in schools directly on the surface. These fragile fish have long, pointed beaks, hence the name needlefish. These fish are too sensitive to be handled in the vinyl nets and live closer to the shore, so instead of diving to catch the desired fifty needles, the group does a beach seine.

Needlefish | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

In the afternoon, the group dove the Sapona, a shipwreck off the coast of Bimini. This shallow dive sight is home to countless species and individuals, making it a prime spot for the Aquarium collecting trips. Highlights of the Sapona include hogfish and varied species of parrotfish.

Hogfish | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

Hogfish are massive wrasses, that create a harem on the reef. This means that there is always a large “super male”, who mates with all of the females. If the super male dies, a female actually changes gender to take his role.

Queen parrotfish | Photo: Mark Rosenstein

Parrotfish vary in size and the different color schemes and patterns of each species make them a key target on the collecting trips since they're easy to spot in the Giant Ocean Tank.


By showing visitors the beauty of a healthy Caribbean reef, we hope to inspire people to do what they can to protect these reefs and marine habitats around the world. Thanks to Mark Rosenstein for sharing his beautiful pictures!