After being closed for 18 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New England Aquarium is finally reopening its doors to the public.
Visitors are required to wear face masks at the New England Aquarium, as it opens for the first time since March. Scuba masks remain optional. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
The aquarium held a members-only event Wednesday, July 15, to jumpstart the festivities and test run new protocols. A number of safety guidelines have been put into place including contactless entry with electronic tickets, signage and floor markings to enforce social distancing, 20-minute timed-entry ticketing slots and a guided, one-way flow throughout the facility. Masks are also required. Safety is the number one priority, says Vikki Spruill, president and CEO of the New England Aquarium.
"This is a really exciting day to hear the kids in the background, to see the parents excited to be here," Spruill says. "This is a really special day for us."
More rigorous cleaning processes are being introduced in high-traffic areas where patrons tend to congregate and hand sanitizer will be available throughout the building. Interactive exhibits have been either suspended or changed to a viewing-only experience, such as the shark and ray touch tank.
Emily Wu, a teen intern at the New England Aquarium, feeds Myrtle the turtle. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
"We are complying with all of the city and state guidelines, and then even more so," she says. "The aquarium will initially open to 15% occupancy, even though the city and state are allowing the aquarium up to 40% occupancy."
Jane Stewart went to the aquarium for the members-only day, saying it was nice being able to go out and do an activity like this. She says the experience felt safe and clean.
"I think the animals were happy to see us," she says, laughing.
Patrons need to reserve their tickets online before coming to the aquarium due to the limited occupancy.
A penguin contemplates the arrival of the first visitors to the New England Aquarium since March. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
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This unusual turtle was found by a farmer in India in the village of Sujanpur.
Odisha Forest Department photo
SUJANPUR, India — A farmer in eastern India has found a yellow turtle that experts say is the product of albinism.
Basudev Mahapatra spotted the turtle while he was working in his fields in the village of Sujanpur, in Odisha's Balasore district, and decided to bring it home, forest official Susanta Nanda told CNN on Tuesday.
Mahapatra found the turtle on Sunday and handed it over to forest officials, who called in conservation experts.
'I haven't seen such a turtle in my life ever' - Rare yellow turtle rescued in India pic.twitter.com/RyIYxQv7Mz
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 20, 2020
Siddhartha Pati, executive director at the Association for Biodiversity Conservation, which works to protect wildlife and habitats, told CNN it was the first time he had seen this kind of turtle.
Pati explained that the creature's color is due to albinism. "It is a congenital disorder, and it is characterized by complete or partial absence of tyrosine pigment," he said.
"Also, sometimes a mutation takes place in the gene sequence or there is a deficiency of tyrosine."
The turtle has now been released into the wild in Balasore, added Pati.
The turtle is known as the Indian flapshell turtle. This one was an adult, believed to be between one and a half and two years old.
The Indian flapshell turtle is found in parts of South Asia.
Photo courtesy of Siddhartha Pati
"We find turtles and crabs regularly," said Pati, "and we rescue them and release them into the water. But this is the first time in Odisha and second time in India that an albino turtle has been found."
The turtle is commonly found in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is omnivorous, and its diet consists of frogs, snails and even some aquatic vegetation, Pati said.
In 2016, a rare albino green turtle — newly hatched — was spotted on an Australian beach.
Volunteers from Coolum and North Shore Coast Care were "amazed" to see the tiny creature, which they named Little Alby, at Castaways Beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
15 amazing photos of sea turtles
Scroll below for a collection of photos showing sea turtles around the world.
Kemp's ridley sea turtle
Suzanne Smith, Stranding & Rescue Coordinator of Marine Mammals & Sea Turtles for the Audubon Nature Institute, releases an endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, which was rescued in New England, and rehabilitated by the institute, into the Gulf of Mexico, 24 miles off the coast of Louisiana, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. Nearly two dozen turtles that were stranded by cold weather last year in Massachusetts have successfully undergone rehab and have been returned to the water.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Loggerhead sea turtle
A loggerhead sea turtle rests in a tank on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, at the sea turtle hospital at the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, S.C. Aquarium officials say the hospital is operating at capacity and are planning a campaign to raise $5 million to create a larger sea turtle hospital to open by the spring of 2017.
AP Photo/Bruce Smith
Indonesia sea turtle
Foreign tourists watch sea turtles to be released at the Kuta beach on the Indonesian island of Bali on Thursday, April 14, 2016. Bali police released about thirty one turtles which they seized last week from illegal poachers.
AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati
Baby olive ridley sea turtles
Pedro Mosquera holds a container with baby olive ridley sea turtles before their release at Punta Chame beach, Panama, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. Some 200 newborn sea turtles were released near shore by the environmental activist group Tortuguias.
AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco
Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings
Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings are packed into containers at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center before being taken to a U.S. Coast Guard vessel for release, Monday, July 27, 2015, in Boca Raton, Fla. More than 600 Loggerhead hatchlings, nine Green sea turtle hatchlings, three rehabilitated Loggerhead post-hatchling and one Hawksbill post-hatchling sea turtle were released onto free-floating sargassum seaweed offshore.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Loggerhead sea turtle hatchling
A Loggerhead sea turtle hatchling swims toward a line of seaweed after being released from a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, Monday, July 27, 2015, off the coast of Boca Raton, Fla. More than 600 Loggerhead hatchlings, nine Green sea turtle hatchlings, three rehabilitated Loggerhead post-hatchling and one Hawksbill post-hatchling sea turtle were released onto free-floating sargassum seaweed offshore.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Newly hatched olive ridley sea turtle
In this Dec. 2, 2015 photo, a newly hatched olive ridley sea turtle is released by a volunteer of a turtle conservation group in Sayulita, Mexico. The once tranquil fishing town of Sayulita has matured to a top travel and retirement destination in Mexico.
AP Photo/Manuel Valdes
Newly hatched olive ridley sea turtle
In this Dec 2, 2015, photo, a newly hatched olive ridley sea turtle walks toward the surf in Sayulita, Mexico. The once tranquil fishing town of Sayulita has matured to a top travel and retirement destination in Mexico.
AP Photo/Manuel Valdes
Green sea turtle
In this Dec. 13, 2005 file photo, a green sea turtle is shown on Eastern Island in the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Federal wildlife agencies say Hawaii's green sea turtles should continue to be classified as threatened because its population is small and nearly all of them nest at the same low-lying atoll. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced its proposal on Friday, March 20, 2015.
AP Photo/Luci Pemoni, File
A baby olive ridley sea turtle
A baby olive ridley sea turtle nears ocean waters in Punta Chame beach, Panama, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. Some 200 newborn sea turtles were released near shore by the environmental activist group Tortuguias.
AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco
Leatherback sea turtle
Yawkey, a rare leatherback sea turtle, moves off the beach at the Isle of Palms, S.C., on Thursday, March 12, 2015. The turtle was being returned to the the Atlantic Ocean after it was treated for five days at the South Carolina Aquarium. Yawkey, who was found on Saturday, March 7, 2015 in Georgetown County, S.C, is the first leatherback turtle known to have stranded alive in the state.
AP Photo/Bruce Smith
Baby green turtles
Kindergarteners react as they hold baby green turtles as they help release them to the ocean in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014. About 80 baby green turtles were released during a campaign to save sea turtles.
Firdia LisnawaAP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati
Indonesia sea turtle
Turtle conservation volunteers observe a sea turtle before it is released at the Kuta beach on the Indonesian island of Bali on Thursday, April 14, 2016. Bali police released about thirty one turtles which they seized last week from illegal poachers.
AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati
Green sea turtle
Myrtle, a green sea turtle estimated to be almost 90 years old, swims in the main tank at the New England Aquarium Friday, April 22, 2016, in Boston.
AP Photo/Bill Sikes
Green sea turtle
A green sea turtle crawls to the ocean on a beach in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014. Bali police released more than 40 turtles which they seized Tuesday from illegal poachers.
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