The facility occupies 14 acres and boasts over 350 species of aquatic wildlife. Its mission is to raise public awareness about issues dealing with the ocean and its inhabitants with special displays, public occasions and research. At the Aquarium's Osborn Laboratories of Marine Sciences (OLMS), a quantity of research had been carried out investigating such matters as dolphin cognition, satellite tagging of sharks, and coral reefs.

The New York Aquarium opened on December 10, 1896, at Citadel Backyard in Battery Park. Its first director was the revered fish knowledgeable, Dr. Tarleton Hoffman Bean (1895–1898). On October 31, 1902, the Aquarium was adopted into the care of what was then the New York Zoological Society.

At the time, the Aquarium housed only 150 specimens of wildlife. Over time, its most famous director, the distinguished zoologist Charles Haskins Townsend, enlarged the collections significantly, and the Aquarium attracted a entire bunch of hundreds of tourists every year.

Early in October 1941, the Aquarium at Battery Park was controversially closed primarily based on claims of NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses that the proposed building of a tunnel from Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn might undermine Castle Clinton's foundation.

Lots of the Aquarium's sea creatures were briefly housed at the Bronx Zoo until the model new aquarium was built after World Conflict II. On June 6, 1957, the Aquarium opened its doorways at its new location in Coney Island, Brooklyn. An intensive addition, Ocean Wonders: Sharks! is scheduled to open in the spring of 2015.

Author's Bio: 

You'll have the opportunity to learn the full article at New York Aquarium - Good spot to go to for youths. Abstract: The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually working aquarium in the United States, having opened in Fortress Backyard in Battery Park, Manhattan in 1896. Since 1957, it has been positioned on the boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn.