An interesting tidbit over at the NY Times, who interviewed with NY Aquarium shark researcher Hans Walters: penguins will bite you! While he's never been bitten by a shark, he says: "I’ve only been bitten once — by a penguin. It was more like a bad pinch. These animals are our co-workers here; part of our job is teaching them certain behaviors." Those kids who stole a penguin from the aquarium in 1965 are lucky they didn't get bit—surely that animal did not want to be on the subway. (Photos of penguin bites can be found here.) more ›

Happy Halloween! Warning: These videos of various animals at the Wildlife Conservation Society's facilities may be too distractingly cute. more ›

Seems like just yesterday that Brooklyn's baby walrus was getting a name, but now at just over a year old Akituusaq he's gotten his tusks, or rather titanium crowns on his tusks! The Daily News reports that he "was fitted with the caps after his keepers noticed the tips of his tiny tusks were already wearing away." Rather than risk a bacterial infection in his tusks, he received some dental bling. A curator at the New York Aquarium joked about "putting a diamond in one, or having a laser etch his initials in the other." On a more serious tip, however, the Aquarium lost the baby's father, Ayveg, earlier this year, and is likely be extra careful with his offspring. more ›

Last September the NY Aquarium's walrus Ayveq, along with Kulu, brought a new baby Walrus into the world. Sadly, the Brooklyn Paper reports that the nearly one-year-old walrus is now fatherless; at age 14 Ayveq has died (most likely of a bacterial infection)...but at least he left a legacy. Aquarium Director Jon Forrest Dohlin told the paper “We are all still in shock about it. He was an absolute delight. He had a magnetism and a charm that was totally his own. He loved people and he knew how to work a crowd and entertain guests." The paper also mentions the walrus's "oddly compelling, masturbation rituals" which gave him international recognition. more ›

The cutest mustachioed baby in this town is definitely the new walrus at the New York Aquarium. The baby walrus, who was born on June 12 and weighed in at 115 pounds, is ready for his public, as he made his first appearance yesterday. But he needs a name, and people can vote on the Today Show's website for one of four names: Utvak (Means ice made from snow or ice cube), Ukiivak (Means king island), Utumek (Means earth), Akituusaq (Means gift given in return). more ›

Last week, we mentioned that the Metropolitan Museum of Art confirmed plans to show the Damien Hirst work, , a.k.a. "the shark floating in formaldehyde" to laymen. The museum sent us this cool image of the piece, so we couldn't help but mention it again. more ›

We read Nicholas Confessore's NY Times article about three finalists being chosen for the New York Aquarium's redesign in actual paper, but it's much better online with the color renderings of the designs. The designs had to make the aquarium "visually porous, engaging and inviting," because many people find the current structure too remote and walled-up. Oh, and the design had to be a "beacon for Coney Island." The three finalists do seem rather spectacular in their own ways: more ›

Because manatee is a fun word to say and because they are so cute, the NY Times continues to report on the meandering manatee that has been traveling up the Hudson. The manatee seems to be the talk of the towns on the river, and reporter Corey Kilgannon got this exchange:

Ian Heller, 15, and Jeff Samalot, 16, said they saw the manatee while in their 17-foot power boat heading from Haverstraw to the Shattemuc Yacht Club in Ossining, where they teach sailing. more ›

Well, Gateway National Recreation Area is right in our neck of the woods, extending in three New York City boroughs and into northern New Jersey. It is a good place to start your quest for the perfect patch of sand and cooling waters. more ›

Tomorrow is Earth Day, and there are a number of events in the city. Many are occuring at Grand Central Terminal, where there are exhibits, demonstrations, and musical perfomances with exhibitors like the Audobon Society, Google Earth and Recycle a Bicycle - check out Earth Day NY 2006. There's an Earth Awareness Festival tomorrow on Waverly Place, the events the Parks Department is organizing, and we are very partial to the events occuring at zoos around the city - activities and you can drop off your old cellphones at the Central Park, Bronx, Prospect Park, and Queens Zoos (plus the NY Aquarium). more ›

Holy manatee! David Blaine, everyone's favorite magician punchline (think of him as the 21st century Doug Henning), will live in an aquarium for a week outside of Lincoln Center. According to the AP:

The "human aquarium" in which Blaine will float is a specially built 8-foot acrylic sphere. He will receive liquid nutrition through a tube and the water will be kept at a balanced temperature to help keep his core temperature close to 98.6 degrees F. more ›

Last night, around 6 P.M., a 12-foot-long whale, possibly a sperm whale, washed ashore near 19th Street in Coney Island. The whale was long dead and so was not easy to identify. Parks Department workers quickly removed the mysterious mammal and a necropsy is to be performed today by the Atlantis Marine World Agency in an undisclosed location. The goal of the procedure is to get a look at the whale's jaw bone in order to figure out what kind it is. more ›

Child: "Probably like the biggest thing to happen in the Delaware River."Well, probably, next to Washington's crossing. But we guess that happened the Delaware. more ›

Raffi has a CD called Baby Beluga. Bluejake visited the NY Aquarium. more ›