Photo by Matt Cohen.
By Matt Cohen and Sarah Anne Hughes
On the final afternoon the National Aquarium in D.C. would be in operation, about two dozen people gathered around a small tank to watch its leopard, swell and horn sharks eat.
It was the final feeding of (actual) sharks ever to take place in the basement of the Herbert C. Hoover Department of Commerce building, as renovations have forced the aquarium out after 81 years with no other place in D.C. to go. It would also be the final work day for 14 full-time and three part-time employees, as well as the 2,500 animals who call the aquarium home.
“It’s sort of a somber occasion for us,” the National Aquarium’s D.C. curator, Jay Bradley, said. Though the aquarium is shutting its doors today, there’s still a glimmer of hope that it’ll reopen one day, bigger, shinier, and fishier than ever. “At one point we were anticipating the potential of building a new site,” Bradley said. “With the timeline of the renovation of the building, it’s less likely to happen in the near future.”
While the National Aquarium Board of Trustees would like to still have a location in D.C., it’s just exactly clear when that will happen. “The timeline is unclear,” Bradley said. “The board has formed a task force to look into the possibilities here in D.C.”
With the future unwritten for the National Aquarium’s presence in D.C., most of its aquatic residents are being relocated to the aquarium’s Baltimore location. But transporting 2,500 sea creatures—1,700 to Baltimore—isn’t going to be a smooth ride. “It’s certainly going to be a stressful thing for the fish,” Bradley said. “They’re in an established environment right now where they’ve been for quite some time, and we’re going to be disrupting that.” Bradley and his team will try to reduce stress as much as possible by “monitoring water parameters, providing appropriately sized moving containers, and doing things as quickly and safely as we can.”
On the aquarium’s last day, dozens of people flocked to see the fish, alligators and sea turtles one last time. Kim Smith, a D.C. resident who first visited the aquarium around 1990, said that she “[finds] it very sad that we’re not going to have a National Aquarium in D.C. anymore.” While the National Aquarium’s Baltimore location is still a short drive away, Smith says it’s still “not our city” and that it’s a very different aquarium. “I think this is a nicer, more intimate setting.”
Even people who were here for their first time found it a sad occasion. “I love it, it’s really nice,” said Brook Warrington, an employee of the Baltimore location who made the trek down to the D.C. location before it closed. “It’s sad to see it go. … It’s my first time visiting, and it’s really beautiful.”
Photo by Matt Cohen.
Aquarist Katie Williams, who spent a year at the Baltimore aquarium before coming to D.C. in 2010 to care for the sharks, said the day was “a little crazy.”
“It’s heartbreaking, but I understand what’s happening,” Williams said.
One shark is going Baltimore, while the others will be taken to accredited aquariums, including some in Missouri. Williams said the transport process for sharks is “complicated.”
“We have to do everything by hand,” she explained. “We’re just really gentle with them. We try not to push them too far or stress them out.” Williams said they won’t have food the day before they move, so they don’t use the bathroom in their transport container.
As for Williams, she’s not sure where she’s going yet. A job at the Baltimore aquarium has not been offered to her, and she has to stay in D.C. because of her military husband.
When asked what she would miss the most about her job, Williams said “I love the … history of this place.”
“I love being a part of the history of this place,” Williams said before beginning to cry.
