Co-Founded by Bret Love & Mary Gabbett, Green Global Travel is an ecotourism, nature / wildlife conservation & cultural preservation magazine. More about us.
Published November 7, 2012 | 
New York Aquarium Staffer Feeding Orphaned Walrus Mitik
New York Aquarium Needs Help After Sandy’s Devastation
With lots of our GGT friends and family (including Mary’s dad) in the New York and New Jersey areas, we got plenty of first-hand information on the insane level of devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. What we didn’t realize until this weekend, when we received an email from our friends at the Wildlife Conservation Society, was that humans were far from the only species impacted by the natural disaster.
The financial toll Sandy took on the northeast will take a long time to fully quantify, but the obscene numbers are starting to roll in. The Society’s New York Aquarium was hit especially hard by the storm, according to a statement issued by Jim Breheny, WCS Executive Vice President of Zoos and Aquarium. The beloved seaside venue suffered serious flood damage and structural damage and will be closed indefinitely.
If it weren’t for the courageous, around-the-clock efforts of 18 Aquarium staffers, the news could’ve been much worse at the popular 14-acre attraction. Like most everything else in the Coney Island area of south Brooklyn, the New York Aquarium facility was overrun by ocean waters. In addition to the fish, the aquarium houses a host of other animals, including sharks, turtles, sea lions, otters and an adorable orphaned walrus named Mitik.
A Look At Sandy’s Devastation of the New York Aquarium
“Staff have established temporary life support for the aquatic systems, are pumping flood waters out of basements and mechanical areas, and are working to restore filtration and other life support essentials for the exhibit and holding tanks,” the non-profit organization said in a WCS press release. “We have a short window of time to get these systems re-established. If this cannot be accomplished in this critical period, we will temporarily relocate the collection to other AZA aquariums in the region.”
Getting excess saltwater pumped from inside the building and restoring power was essential to the creatures’ survival. But the 55-year-old tourist attraction still has a lot of work left to do. In fact, New York Aquarium officials say it’ll be months before the facility is back up and running. To counter the costs it’ll take to rebuild the aquarium, please join GGT in making a tax-deductible donation to the recovery efforts here. –DeMarco Williams; photos provided by New York Aquarium
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10 Responses to ECO NEWS: NY Aquarium Needs Help After Sandy’s Devastation
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Such sad news about the much loved New York Aquarium. And a great, tax-deductible cause.
Terry at Overnight New York recently posted..The Kimberly Hotel: The Power of 12
Agreed, Terry! Wish we had more money to give.
Thank god for the staff – who knows what more damage would have been caused without them
Natalie recently posted..The Church of the Redeemer and the True Cross
Yeah, it hurts my heart when I hear certain animal activists slamming zoos and aquariums in general. We know a lot of their employees personally, and I’ve never met anyone who worked at one of these facilities who wasn’t madly in love with the animals they’re blessed to work with. The animals are like a part of their families, and they risk their own lives to make the animals’ lives better. In my mind, they deserve just as much honor and respect as firemen or military personnel.
Man, Sandy really did a do-over on NY. Here’s hoping the animals get sorted soon – well done for highlighting the issue.
Laurence recently posted..Girona and the talisman of the Ice Age
Thanks, Laurence! We wish we had more money to donate to the cause, but we try to do our part by spreading the word.
How unfortunate! I suspect we’re going to be in for an unhappy surprise when we go on our already-planned trip to visit family and friends in NJ/NYC over the holidays. I hear the devastation where my grandmother lives down in southern NJ alone is massive. So sad…
Andrea recently posted..GIVEAWAY: Not For Tourist Guides To 11 Top Cities
Yeah, Mary has lots of friends and family in NJ and NY, so we’ve heard many stories about varying degrees of devastation. We’re really hoping that the Aquarium will be able to raise enough funds to keep their animals healthy and happy, so they won’t have to send them away to other facilities.
Really sad to see the devastation of mother nature – species of all kind were not spared. I too heard about WCS and the Bronx zoo situation from PhD friends in Asia and Africa and was not good. Thanks for covering this Bret and hope funds are raised to help !!
Abhishek Behl (Wild Navigator) recently posted..”10 Shades of a Scottish Autumn” Wild Pictures of the Day by Graeme Mackenzie
Glad to try to do what we can to help. I’m always touched by anyone who remembers to take care of animals in the wake of natural disasters that have been devastating to humans.