WANT TO NAME A SHARK EXHIBIT?
With a donation, Maritime Aquarium says public can make suggestion
NORWALK — The Maritime Aquarium is calling on the public’s help to name its new shark exhibit.
Anyone who donates at least $50 or pays for aquarium admission with a $10 donation can suggest a name for the new shark exhibit, which opens Friday, the facility said in a statement this week.
Following the end of the name-suggesting period on Tuesday, aquarium staff will narrow the recommendations to three finalists that will be posted online for public voting. Name suggestions will be ranked based on creativity and alignment with the exhibit’s focus on animal care and welfare, according to the statement. Voting will take place online on Dec. 4 and 5, according to the aquarium statement.
Links to vote on the name will be shared on the aquarium’s website and social media pages. The winning name will be announced on Dec. 6, according to the statement.
The person who submitted the winning name will receive a behind-thescenes tour of the aquarium, and a chance to watch the feeding of the sand tiger sharks, the aquarium said. The two runner-ups each will receive four admission tickets and a plush shark toy, according to the statement.
The new display will offer an inside look at the care needed for the aquarium’s four new sandbar sharks, according to the statement.
The aquarium said the displays will provide information about sandbar sharks and their care, explain the process of receiving the sharks from a Florida facility and show the life-support systems needed “to create the optimal aquatic habitat for the sharks,” the aquarium’s statement said.
The exhibit will include four 4- to 5-foot sandbar sharks, one of the shark species native to Long Island Sound. The sharks will serve as examples of how animals new to the aquarium are quarantined before being introduced into the permanent displays, according to the statement.