James D. Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his role in the discovery of the of the structure of DNA, and Edward O. Wilson, a pioneer in the study of biodiversity and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, will reflect on their storied careers, including their time together at Harvard, and look ahead to the key challenges for biological sciences in the 21st century. Moderated by Robert Krulwich, award-winning journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio.

Advance tickets are required. Admission is $10 for the public, $8 for Harvard Museum of Natural History members and current Harvard University ID holders; and $2 for Harvard University students. Tickets will be available beginning on July 28 through the Harvard Box Office in Holyoke Center (Harvard Square) or by calling 617.496.2222. The box office is open Tuesdays through Sundays, 12-6 pm. Sanders Theatre is wheelchair accessible.

The Watson-Wilson conversation is included as part of Harvard Museum of Natural History’s longstanding and successful public lecture series. These lectures, on a range of topics, including climate change, conservation, evolution, and the origin of life on earth, are attended by over 3,000 annually. The museum’s fall 2009 lecture series will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. A later series will explore the natural history of food. Upcoming speakers include primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, paleontologist Michael Novacek, and Cristián Samper, Director of the National Museum of Natural History, as well as numerous members of the Harvard faculty.

The exhibition, which opens to the public July 1, explores the inspiration visual artists have derived from music, from George Gershwin’s melodic rhapsodies and Billie Holiday’s soulful blues, to Bob Dylan’s folk anthems and Madonna’s pop songs. Many have responded by transforming something that is arguably intangible into a physical form, allowing viewers to ―see songs‖ in art. Seeing Songs presents an eclectic visual mix drawing on music as critical inspiration. Composed of objects from the MFA’s collection and several key loans, it features nearly 60 works by an international group of artists in a variety of media.

Highlights include Breitz’ wall-size installation of singers on 30 monitors, photographic portraits of rock legends Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner, and expressive prints by Wassily Kandinsky. Seeing Songs is on view in the Foster Gallery through February 21, 2010.

When you look at some of these works, with their bold colors and abstract forms, you can almost hear the music that inspired them,‖ said William Stover, assistant curator of contemporary art at the MFA and curator of the exhibition. ―Although considered one of the most ephemeral of the arts, music, and the emotional power that it conveys, has long been a subject for visual artists. With advancements in technology, they are finding yet even more interesting ways to respond to it.

The exhibition follows the evolution of artwork from abstraction through video art and their connections to musical forms as varied as classical, jazz, and pop. Six videos play an important part in the exhibition: two are on view during the entire run of Seeing Songs, and four are included in a rotating video program. The show features the Boston premiere of Candice Breitz’ Queen (A Portrait of Madonna) (2005, The Vanmoerkerke Collection, Brussels), which explores the dynamics between pop stars and their fans. Karaoke-like interpretations of Madonna’s hit album, ―Immaculate Collection, serve as the focal point for this eye-catching video presentation. A grid of 30 screens showcases the life-size heads of Italian fans of Madonna—some of whom do not speak English but know all the words to her songs—seen in heartfelt performances of impassioned idolatry. Also on view during the run of the exhibition is Annemiek (1997, Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery) by Rineke Dijkstra, who offers a portrait of a teenage girl, displaying the awkwardness and self-awareness of youth, as she lip syncs to a song by the “Backstreet Boys.”

Videos in rotation during the run of the exhibition begin in July/August with Gillian Wearing’s Slight Reprise (1994–95, Courtesy of the Artist and Maureen Paley Gallery, London). Evoking the ―fly on the wall documentaries of the 1970s, this video portrait of self-styled heavy metal ―air guitarists‖ draws upon the common fantasy of being a rock star. It is followed in September/October by Trine Lise Nedreass’ Singer with Butterfly (2003, Courtesy of the Artist and LUXE Gallery, New York), a video of a one-hour musical performance (done specifically for her camera) that has been edited down to a one-minute piece. In it all vocals and music have been cut out, leaving only the pauses between songs, making the viewer focus on unachieved desires and aspirations. The rotation continues in November/December with Christoph Brech’s Opus 110A (2001, Courtesy of the artist and KUNSTAGENTEN Gallery, Berlin), a study of the back of conductor Chistoph Poppen leading Shostakovich’s Symphony for Chamber Orchestra, 110a. Running the length of the actual performance, the folds and creases in the conductor’s tuxedo jacket replicate the rhythm and pace of the music. The final video, set for January/February, is Ana Prvacki’s Tent, Quartet, Bows, and Elbows (2007, Courtesy of the Artist), a hybrid of performance and video, which shows a white tent-like structure that shakes, quivers, protrudes and bulges to the rhythm of music by Lithuanian composer Ignas Krunglevicius. When the music has stopped and the structure recovers it original shape, the artist walks into the frame and unzips one side of the tent, allowing for the source of the music to emerge.

Rock ’n’ roll is well represented in Seeing Songs, where legends such as Beatles John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr are captured in colorful pop-art posters created from photographs by Richard Avedon, while Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, and the Jefferson Airplane are pictured in naturalistic black and white images by Herb Greene. The exhibition draws from the MFA’s large collection of photographs by Herb Ritts to include images of Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Madonna. Other artists, such as Patti Smith and the Ramones, are seen in a compilation of photographs of 12 album covers by Nayland Blake, titled The Seventies (1991, MFA). This retrospective of the decade reflects the adolescent Blake’s identification with musicians who personified the rebellious spirit and raw power of rock ’n’ roll. Also featured in the show is the folk-rock tradition as recorded in photographs of musician Bob Dylan by Eliza Dorfman.

The sound of music also has long been visually preserved by artists in drawings and paintings, as can be seen in Wassily Kandinsky’s bold, abstract works, which he sometimes labeled ―improvisations and ―compositions. Klange (Sounds) (1913, MFA, Boston), a book with color and monochromatic woodcuts, and Violet (1923 MFA), a color lithograph, are two of several Kandinsky works on paper included in the show.

Also on view is Stuart Davis’ masterpiece of 20th-century American painting, Hot Still-Scape for Six Colors—7th Avenue Style (1940, MFA). In this visual equivalent of the syncopated rhythms of jazz, Davis evokes the energy of both this musical style and city life through his innovative composition of lively shapes and lines and his palette of vibrant color. As well, Arthur Garfield Dove’s George Gershwin–I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise (1927, MFA), is a wonderful example of the numerous music-related works created throughout his career. Like Davis, he was particularly attracted to the improvisational techniques of jazz, and references to music—ranging from Louis Armstrong and George Gershwin to the popular big-band sounds of Bing Crosby and even the avant-garde work of Igor Stravinsky—are reflected in his paintings.

Contemporary Outlook: Seeing Songs is the third in a series of small, focused exhibitions, drawn mainly from the MFA collections, which examine trends, issues, ideas and new ways of looking at art and artists that have emerged in recent years. In 2007–2008, the MFA presented Contemporary Outlook: Japan and Contemporary Outlook: German Photography. Seeing Songs is one of several exhibitions, special events, and opportunities aimed at younger audiences that the Museum offers throughout the year. These include the Elaine and Jerome Rosenfeld Concerts in the Courtyard summer series, mfafirstfridays, and free admission to the Museum on Wednesdays after 4 p.m. Concerts in the Courtyard, which runs from June 24–August 26, features an exciting range of music from Africa, the Caribbean, and Spain, as well as soul, gospel, and Cajun sounds from America. All concerts take place outside in the MFA’s Calderwood Courtyard on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. (in case of rain, concerts are moved to Remis Auditorium). Also offered is mfafirstfridays on the first Friday of every month in the Koch Gallery, where fine art, live music, cocktails, and a delicious tapas menu enhance an evening of socializing. During the summer, the event becomes mfasummerfridays each Friday from July 3–August 28 at 5:30–9:30 p.m. in the Calderwood Courtyard, where cocktails and music are served under the stars.

To enhance the appreciation of Seeing Songs, a course and gallery talks will be offered:

Course

• Picturing Music
  Tuesday, November 17, December 1 and 8, 10:30 a.m.–-noon
  Remis Auditorium

OR

• Wednesday, November 18, December 2 and 9, 7–8:30 p.m.
  Mabel Louise Riley Seminar Room

Three-session course: $54, MFA members, seniors, and students; $65, non-members (not available online)
Individual sessions: $20 MFA members, seniors, and students; $25 non-members (available online)

Instructors are James H. Johnson, associate professor of history, Boston University, and William Stover, assistant curator of contemporary art, MFA.

With modern technology, music is now more accessible than ever. Artists have long been inspired by music, transforming intangible sounds into colors, forms, and images. Participants examine the mutual influences of these two worlds in this three-session course, exploring how artists have pictured music and how music and musicians continue to animate art.

Music as Inspiration
This session offers a look at the inspiration visual artists from Stuart Davis to Christian Marclay have derived from music and the many ways they captured what they heard.

Music as Abstraction
The intangible qualities of music are explored, in particular, how artists such as Wassily Kandinsky and Jim Hodges have translated those qualities into equally abstract, “musical” works of art.

Music as Presentation
How do composers and performers—Wagner, the Beatles, Madonna—influence how we present ourselves to others? Participants examine the nature of presentation and identity among performers and their audience.

Gallery Talks

Contemporary Outlook: Seeing Songs
Gallery Talks are free with Museum admission and depart from the Sharf Visitor Center

• Wednesday, July 29, 6–7 p.m., led by William Stover, assistant curator of contemporary art, MFA
• Wednesday, August 19, 6–7 p.m., led by William Stover Sunday, September 20, 2–3 p.m., led by Benjamin Weiss, manager of adult learning resources, MFA
• Saturday, September 26, noon–1 p.m., led by Joe Wardwell (local artist in the exhibition)
• Wednesday, October 21, 6–7 p.m., led by Benjamin Weiss

At second look, Monica questioned her initial assumption. The whale was rolled up on its side, yet there was no visible wound. The red-tinged water around the whale’s belly and tail flukes was breaking up quickly due to the turbulence of the white water created by the thrashing. Somehow, the whale’s movement seemed more rhythmic and purposeful than just a spasmodic reaction to great pain. Then the whale dropped below the water’s surface. Three and a half minutes had passed since Monica had first spotted the lone whale. Suddenly, the whale resurfaced without any thrashing. An object about one quarter the length of the adult appeared alongside it. There was no longer just one whale but two – a mother and her newly born calf!

The drama associated with invigorating new life was not yet over. The approximately twelve-foot, one ton calf was listless, and its tail flukes appeared to be curled under. The mother again dipped from the surface and when she reappeared the calf was draped limply over her back. The calf then rolled off its mother’s back and began to swim. Over the next fifteen minutes, the calf stayed within a half body’s length of its mother making frequent body contact and rolling. A few times, the pair surfaced with the calf positioned near its mother’s flippers, which is where nursing would take place. The water was too murky to observe any actual suckling, but the crew was encouraged. After twenty minutes, the plane needed to move on.

Despite thousands of hours of flights to monitor right whales in their calving grounds off the coasts of Georgia and northern Florida, no human had ever seen the birth of a North Atlantic right whale, the most endangered large whale in the Atlantic. In a population of less than 400, every new right whale calf is a cause for celebration in the effort to battle their extinction. Beyond the trauma of giving birth, motherhood in the world of right whales is highly demanding and requires a maternal dedication that is awe-inspiring.

Here are a few of the facts:

• Late each autumn, pregnant females swim over 1000 miles from New England waters to their calving grounds near the Florida/Georgia border. The maternal strategy to have newborn calves with little blubber enter the world in the much warmer waters to the south.
• Right whale mothers essentially fast for four months while they are at the calving grounds and on the migration each way. Once out of New England waters, their preferred food of animal plankton is too low in density to make feeding worthwhile.
• Calves are still hungry and must nurse on their near cottage cheese-like milk of their mothers to gain the hundreds of pounds that they gain weekly. Scientists postulate that over the course of the late pregnancy and a year of nursing, right whale mothers can lose 10 – 30% of their average 50 ton weight or anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds.

Later photo analysis by New England Aquarium researcher Heather Pettis revealed that the mother was called “Cat’s Paw”, a namesake for a small white scar that the whale has on its shoulder.

The photos were taken in the winter of 2005 and have just been published in the scientific journal Aquatic Mammals. The delay in the release to the mass media is an unfortunate necessity for scientists who must first publish in academic venues.

The first two turbines are now in place on the Cambridge side of the Museum’s roof. Over the summer, people will also see three other kinds of turbines being mounted on the Museum’s Boston side. One type, a bank of five smaller turbines, will be visible only from the Charles River. The largest of the five types is 40 feet tall; the smallest, about seven feet – with 5- to 18-foot diameters.

“The Museum of Science’s turbine project will be an extraordinary learning tool for everyone who visits the Museum,” says Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. “This project will give us the information we need to debate the benefits of turbines in an urban environment and move forward on the technology front. I commend the Museum for helping maintain our state’s reputation as an innovator of renewable energy technology.” Intended to be a powerful teaching tool, the Museum project is both a public exhibit on wind energy and a laboratory, yielding original research data on the effectiveness of five small building-integrated turbines.

A Learning Experience

“This is a giant science experiment,” says David Rabkin, Farinon Director for Current Science and Technology at the Museum. “No one has tested five different small turbines in a rooftop laboratory. Despite a year of collecting wind data, we still don’t really know how much power they will generate. Although there’s lots of interest in small-scale wind turbines, we found little data on their performance and impact.” The Museum will investigate their strengths and weaknesses by monitoring local wind conditions and wind power generation data. Presenting the differences in design and function of five kinds of wind technologies and what one needs to consider in using them, the project will engage the public in critical thinking about an important source of renewable energy.

The Museum initially explored wind turbines as a way of generating clean electricity and creating a compelling complement to a wind power exhibit. But a year-long study by Boreal Renewable Energy Development of Arlington, MA, showed the Museum site to have limited wind resources and to pose engineering and permitting challenges. As a result, the Museum and the Renewable Energy Trust refocused the project on generating as much practically useful information and experience as possible.

The Museum will share all of its findings through interactive displays, programs, a website, and other outreach to the public including the companies whose innovative technologies are being tested. Thus the project serves both as education for the general public and as a resource for renewable energy professionals, building managers, and government officials.

Inside the Museum at the Catching the Wind exhibit, visitors can find out how and why the turbines produce electricity, while also monitoring live wind and power data via a system designed by Apterra Technologies of Stow, MA. In addition, visitors can literally feel how strong the wind needs to blow to turn a turbine and generate electricity using interlocking gears. After learning about what to consider when selecting and siting a turbine, visitors can try their hand at the Wind Power Challenge game, choosing a location and a turbine type to see if it could power their home, business, or community. Visitors will discover the stories of several different sites across Massachusetts where turbines were—and were not—installed, including the Museum’s own case study. A map of Massachusetts identifies the windier areas of the state.

A Commitment to Sustainability

“The Commonwealth is pleased to support, through the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, the Museum of Science in development of its new Wind Turbine Lab,” says Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles. “An exhibit featuring working wind turbines at this popular landmark will help to educate the public about wind energy at a critical time, as we advance toward Governor Patrick’s goal for 2,000 megawatts of installed wind power in Massachusetts by 2020.”

Building the country’s first museum-based wind turbine lab involved immense challenges from the start. In addition to obtaining variances and permitting for both Cambridge and Boston, the three-year project involved selecting and siting the turbines to maximize wind exposure, visibility, and safety in five different “microclimates.” Each turbine was its own engineering project. The Museum also worked with its neighbors, community groups, the Charles River Conservancy, the Charles River Watershed Association, the cities of Boston and Cambridge, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and many other groups to assess the turbines’ impact on the neighborhood, local zoning, and area wildlife. Unlike the “not in my backyard” response to some industrial turbines, the Museum’s project has elicited public support from neighbors and the cities.

“We are thrilled to share the results of our rooftop engineering project with the public,” says the Museum’s president and director, Ioannis Miaoulis, “and we hope it inspires them to learn more about the engineering involved in creating some of the latest wind power technologies and the skills we need to decide when to use them.”

Estimated Power and Costs

“At our site and with today’s economy, we need to think of the project as an exhibit and science experiment with some economic payback, not a business proposition,” says Rabkin. Small turbines, like those on the Museum roof, costing from $5,000 to $40,000, can generate up to 6 kilowatts—enough to power a home or a small business. (Large turbines, like those in the Nantucket Sound’s Cape Wind project, have rotors reaching 300 feet in diameter generating up to 5 megawatts of power). The Museum hopes to generate enough electricity to power two or three suburban homes, only a fraction of the Museum’s total power use. Because of its complexity, the lab will cost about $300,000.

While there’s uncertainty about how the turbines will perform, the Museum’s best estimate is that each of its turbines might produce the following percentage of electricity used in a typical American home:

• Mariah Power Windspire: about 15% (with a 1.2kW at-peak vertical-axis turbine about 10 meters high)
• Southwest Windpower SkyStream 3.7: about 22% (with a downwind, horizontal-axis, 2.4kW design and a 3.7 meter rotor diameter)
• Cascade Engineering Swift: about 18% (with a 1.5kW upwind, horizontal-axis and a 2.1 meter diameter, featuring unique rotor and tail designs)
• A bank of five AeroVironment AVX1000 turbines: about 60% (a directional design for building parapets to take advantage of higher speed winds rushing up and over buildings, each unit rated at 1kW peak with a 1.5 meter diameter)
• The Proven 6: almost 75% (with a 6kW downwind, horizontal axis and a 5.5 meter rotor diameter)

The Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, New Jersey, the Da Vinci Science Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland, Ohio, all feature individual wind turbines, some as high as 150 feet, but the Museum of Science is the only museum testing five different types and experimenting with roof installation.

Support

The Wind Turbine Lab is made possible with support from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust and the Charles Sumner Bird Foundation with additional support from Keren Schlomy, Esq., Rubin and Rudman LLP, and New England Wind Systems. Special thanks to Boreal Renewable Energy Development, Titan Electric Corporation, the Cities of Boston and Cambridge, MA Audubon, the Charles River Conservancy, the Charles River Watershed Association, and the communities of East Cambridge and Boston‘s West End.

Catching the Wind is made possible by support from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust with funding from Bank of America and the Charles Sumner Bird Foundation. Additional support has been provided by: ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANSS), Holy Name Central Catholic Junior Senior High School, Massachusetts Port Authority, Newton South High School, Andrew Stern, the Town of Hull, and TRC Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRR).

Both the exhibit and Wind Turbine Lab are also supported by a gift from the Francis Wright Davis Fund.

The exhibit is ongoing and included with regular Exhibit Halls admission: $19 for adults, $17 for seniors (60+), and $16 for children (3-11). For more information, the public can call 617/723-2500, (TTY) 617/589-0417, or visit mos.org.

If you have ever been accused of having an overactive imagination or are secretly a turtle nerd, we know that many members of the public do see turtles in their everyday lives. To give that turtle talent an outlet, the Aquarium is running an online photo contest for your unorthodox images of the lovable reptiles. The winner and two friends will have the opportunity to meet and feed Myrtle, the Aquarium’s 560-pound green sea turtle. This up-close encounter will be part of a special behind-the-scenes tour of how the Aquarium cares for both its resident and rescued sea turtles. Two runners-up will receive four packs of tickets to both the Aquarium and the Simons IMAX Theatre.

The contest is part of new program being launched for December school vacation called “Turtles Uncovered – Get Beneath the Shell.” The program highlights the Aquarium’s outstanding collection of sea turtles from its 250-pound loggerhead sea turtles to its vitally important rescue work with hypothermic sea turtles found on Cape Cod.

The ad campaign also includes online video animations that feature iconic wintry images of a snowman, cup of cocoa, and snow-covered car morphing into sea turtles. To view all of the print and video images, visit the Mullen website.

The Aquarium’s winter marketing effort is the creation of Mullen, the Boston-based advertising agency. The visually clever and engaging turtle campaign is in the same spirit as Mullen’s work promoting the Aquarium’s shark program earlier this year. This past summer, Boston taxis were topped with shark fins, print ads showed shark teeth adorning the Hatch Shell, and there was even an online video of a shark following a Duck Boat down the freshwater Charles River.

“The campaign creates an element of surprise around the familiar and likeable sea turtle,” said Drayton Martin, senior vice president and group account director at Mullen. “We’re trying to get people to pause a moment and think that there may be more to learn about these popular and intriguing sea creatures. We want them to smile when they see the ads and consider a trip to the Aquarium to view the turtles in new and different ways.”

“Mullen’s ‘Where do you see turtles’ campaign is eye-catching and engaging. Their creative is just brilliant,” said Jane Wolfson, the Aquarium’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications. “We are excited to use this advertising campaign as another way to connect Bostonians and visitors to the Aquarium’s efforts to make sea life part of all of our daily lives.”

The Aquarium will accept submissions of “turtle” photographs through January 9th.

On Dec. 9, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will mandate that ships slow down to 10 knots within 20 miles of East Coast ports during the season when right whales are migrating to and from the calving grounds in the southeast U.S. With fewer than 400 remaining, North Atlantic right whales are considered among the most endangered large whale species in the world. Since 2001, 12 right whales have been struck and killed by vessels along the Atlantic coast. Right whales are particularly vulnerable to vessel strikes as they are slow swimming and spend much time near the water’s surface. This regulation will impose seasonal speed restrictions throughout the right whale’s range from the Gulf of Maine to Florida.

For the last 10 years, the New England Aquarium’s North Atlantic right whale team and other protection groups have been working with the federal government to pass this mandatory speed limit despite concerns from the shipping industry and resistance from the Bush administration.

“At long last, the ocean is going to be a little bit safer for right whales – cause for celebration amongst the many of us who have worked for the past decade to see this rule enacted,” said Amy Knowlton of the Aquarium’s right whale research team.

“The passage of the ship strike reduction rule is the culmination of years of dedicated work by a variety of groups – scientists, policy experts, conservationists, state and federal governments, and the shipping industry itself and is based on solid scientific data,” Knowlton said.

Researchers have found that the probability of right whales dying after being struck drops from over 80% when a vessel is traveling at 15 knots or more to just above 20% when a vessel is traveling at 10 knots or less. Average vessel speeds in critical right whale habitats have been around 15 knots.

“We’re really excited about this,” said Kerry Lagueux, an associate scientist for the Aquarium’s research department and a geographer who uses mapping technology to help identify potential conflicts between right whales, ships, and fishing gear entanglements.

Aquarium researchers are using Automatic Identification System technology, a transmitter system that sends data from vessels to a receiver they carry on their survey plane. This system has enabled researchers in the Southeast to collect data on ship speeds, vessel types, and port destinations in order to evaluate how vessels have responded to right whale information in the past. It will now be used to monitor their actions in response to this new regulation.

Right whales’ primary calving grounds are in and the nearshore waters of Georgia and northern Florida from Dec. to March each year. The first sighting of a mother and calf this year was earlier – in late November about six miles off Hilton Head Island, S.C. Other pairs were sighted last week in Georgia and Florida.

New England Aquarium and participating Right Whale Consortium scientists have created the world’s most extensive data base of all of known right whales. Accessible to the public via the Aquarium website, the catalog of over 45,000 photographed sightings allows scientists to identify whales by their callosities – or roughened skin patches on top of their head and to also monitor the level of vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements. Scientists can then track their whereabouts, births, death and other information.

The catalog includes photos from three aerial survey teams which sweep calving grounds in coastal waters along Florida and Georgia from December to March. The Aquarium scientists work closely with NOAA, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers and Georgia and Florida state environmental officials to protect and monitor whales along the Southeast coast.

In August and September, Aquarium scientists conduct vessel surveys in the feeding and nursing area of Canada’s Bay of Fundy to take photos and collect skin samples from the whales which give them genetic identification such as genotype, sex, potential paternity, and genetic ability to respond to disease.

With changes made to shipping lanes in Canada, Aquarium scientists are also seeing progress in protecting whales. This new vessel strike rule takes it one step further.

“To think that right whales will be able to migrate along the coast and avoid the now slow moving, oncoming ships that they come across routinely gives me tremendous hope that we are one step closer to giving this species a chance of avoiding extinction,” Knowlton said.

In early July, a guest diver lost his wedding ring while petting a 560-pound sea turtle named Myrtle. Bob Pirrmann, associate creative director with Boston-area ad agency Mullen and a certified recreational diver, was enjoying a rare public dive in the Aquarium’s famous Caribbean coral reef exhibit. Filled with giant sea turtles, large sharks, electric green moray eels and more than 700 other marine creatures, the Aquarium’s Giant Ocean Tank is a biologically rich and dense space.

Pirrmann was a part of a group of Mullen staff taking part in an Aquarium launch celebration for the summer exhibit “Sharks & Rays.” Mullen had created an award-winning marketing campaign for the new exhibit that playfully inserted iconic images of sharks among classic Boston landmarks. Some images included a shark fin peeking from the water behind a rowing shell on the freshwater Charles River, shark teeth decorating the arch of the Hatch Shell amphitheater, and a brass shark fin added to the end of the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture in the Boston Public Gardens.

Pirrmann initially assumed his ring was lost forever. Aquarium assistant curator Dan Laughlin notified the Aquarium’s divers about the missing gold band and thought it might be found during routine cleaning procedures throughout the massive space. Three months passed, and Pirrmann even purchased another ring.

This past Sunday, Mike Whyte, a part-time diver for the Aquarium since 2001, was vacuuming food debris from several inches of sand near the bottom of the tank. As he worked through some delicate finger corals, he noticed an unusual shape. Divers are used to finding shark teeth or even items sometimes dropped by visitors, such as baby pacifiers. Whyte first thought the round object was a coin. Upon closer inspection, the Attleboro resident thought, “Ooooh, I know what this is!” He put the band on his own finger, finished his cleaning dive and returned the ring to Laughlin. Whyte also noted the irony that the cherished wedding ring had settled among the finger corals.

The innovative, new space will be called the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center in honor of a lead gift of over $3 million from the Boston-based foundation which has a strong focus on children. The grand opening is scheduled for next summer so as to coincide with and celebrate the Aquarium’s 40th anniversary.

As the Aquarium’s newest signature exhibit, the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center is designed to provide up-close visitor interaction with at least two species from the pinniped family. That includes seals and sea lions. The exhibit will most likely open with northern fur seals and will later include California sea lions. The open air but covered exhibit space will feature shallow pools and large decks where Aquarium visitors will be able to meet these impressive and very popular animals face to face. Young visitors will learn how the Aquarium’s marine mammal trainers help keep the seals and sea lions healthy through exercise, a sound diet, play and good hygiene, including brushing their teeth.

Engaging children and motivating them to become and stay fit is also one of the principal goals of the new exhibit. Ongoing programs called the New Balance Foundation “Get Your Feet Wet” programs will promote childhood fitness and activity by connecting kids to some of the most charismatic and athletic animals in the natural world.

“The New Balance Foundation is committed to encouraging childhood fitness and activity, and there is no better way to connect children to nature and the outdoors than through animals,” said Anne Davis, Managing Trustee of the New Balance Foundation. “Our partnership with the New England Aquarium through the new marine mammal center will help kids get moving and active through exposure to some of the most engaging sea creatures on the planet.”

The ten month construction project is confined to the back of the Aquarium and will have no impact on visitors’ experiences during that time. Along with the construction of the marine mammal center, the entire harbor-side plaza is being rebuilt. The publicly accessible Harborwalk on Central Wharf’s perimeter will be elevated and resurfaced. Several small utility buildings have been relocated to open up the public space and create great new views of Boston Harbor. Pedestrians will also be able to peek into the marine mammal exhibit through the glass walls that will surround the new center.

Aquarium President Bud Ris noted, “The New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center is an exciting and strong next step in the implementation of the Aquarium’s strategic action plan. We are rebuilding the Aquarium. This past winter, we completely renovated our spectacular penguin exhibit, and the new marine mammal center will provide visitors a unique and meaningful experience. Visionary community partners like the New Balance Foundation have been instrumental in helping us shape the next generations of healthy kids and a healthy planet.”

About the New Balance Foundation

The New Balance Foundation is a charitable foundation established in 1981 and funded by New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. The Foundation’s mission is to support effective charitable organizations which perform humanitarian services for the betterment of our children and our local community.

About the New England Aquarium

Located on the Boston waterfront, the New England Aquarium is one of the most prominent and popular aquariums in the United States. Hosting more than 1.3 million visitors each year, the Aquarium is a leading ocean conservation organization with research scientists working around the globe yet is also a major public education resource in New England.