Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Explore ocean life up close when the Sciencenter unveils an enhanced, redesigned hands-on Tidepool Touch Tank on Friday, August 7. This revitalized Tidepool Touch Tank is part of the new Ocean Science gallery that will see even more additions throughout the Sciencenter's recently launched capital campaign, Curious. Confident. Inspired.

Guests will gain a new appreciation for ocean life by encountering animals they are connected to through our local watershed. The new Tidepool Touch Tank features a more diverse assortment of animals all hailing from the coast of Maine. Creatures include flat clawed hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs, sea stars, and channeled whelks, with even more, coming soon.

Designed and created by Sciencenter staff, the Tidepool Touch Tank structure includes an open top for guided, hands-on exploration and large glass viewing windows so guests of all ages can gain access to this amazing wildlife. The new tank also features realistic, intricate concrete rock work by Chris Wojcik of Ionature, to help guests fully immerse themselves in the environment. Wojcik designed the Tank's rock façade from molds taken at tidepools along the southern coast of Maine; he then created and affixed mussel and barnacle clusters as well as algae mats to enhance the experience for both guests and the resident animals. Keeping in line with the Sciencenter's ongoing sustainability initiatives, museum staff fabricated, constructed, and installed a geothermal temperature control system to maintain appropriate water temperatures in the 400+ gallon tank.

Visit the Sciencenter on Friday, August 7 to celebrate the opening of the new Tidepool Touch Tank with guided exploration activities from 12 – 2pm.

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