Mystic Aquarium is a marine aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. It is one of only two U.S. facilities holding steller sea lions and it has the only beluga whales in New England.
Instead of having a field trip to Mystic Aquarium, Mystic comes to the schools including Mauro-Sheridan. It’s a teaching experience for pre k-12. Kids learn about the history of Mystic Aquarium as well as the animals that live there. Mystic even brings animals to the school!
Recently, a teacher from Mystic aquarium brought animals such as lobsters, crabs, sea urchins, snails, and many more animals for the kids to look at and even touch and hold, of course while being monitored.
Ms. Bitterman thinks that it’s very educational but thinks Mystic should bring different animals rather than the same ones all the time.
Megan Trujillo, an Education Program Specialist at Mystic Aquarium answered a couple of questions about her place of work and her role there. Here are her responses!
Why did you decide to work at Mystic aquarium?
“I decided to work at the Mystic Aquarium because I love marine life and wanted to be a part of our mission to protect our ocean planet through conservation, research and education.”
Where and how do you get your animals in the aquarium?
“This depends, but many of our animals are rescued or a part of a species survival plan.”
How many schools do you visit during the year?
“We visited about a hundred or more schools throughout the year and did educational programming with 200 Connecticut schools in 2023.”
What are your most dangerous animals?
“We have many animals that may be considered dangerous and have some amazing adaptations to help them survive. It is hard to know which one is the most dangerous.
How do you train your fish and animals?
“I do not personally train fish or animals, but we have many people at the Aquarium that work to train our Sea Lions, Seals, Beluga Whales, Penguins and more!”
What is the most popular fish or animal at the Aquarium that people want to see?
“I would say that the most popular animal at the Aquarium is our Beluga Whales or Penguin, however, many people have favorite animals from all over the Aquarium. We are one of the only Aquariums in the U.S. to have Belugas Whales!”
