Some things are meant to be.
That’s what Tracey Orlando, director and chairwoman of the aquarium project at The East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation, believes, about the series of events that led to today’s unveiling of a Greenport treasure — a refurbished 750-gallon saltwater aquarium that promises to offer a host of educational opportunities for children and adults of all ages.
Orlando said when she came onboard at the Museum, she felt the aquarium, which has been featured at the Museum since 1994, could use a much-needed facelift. “It was dark, and needed help, and I thought, ‘I can make this better,'” Orlando said.
But while the passion for the project was there, Orlando needed to find the right person to bring needed expertise to the proverbial table.
One night, while out to dinner in Southold, she struck up a conversation with Katie Marino, aquarist at the Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center in Riverhead, and a dream was born.
Orlando invited Marino to come see the aquarium and she did, on her day off, immediately embracing the project and pouring her heart into its restoration, all on a volunteer basis.
Marino, along with Ron Bruer, chair of the board of directors of the East End Seaport Museum, Kenny White, lead maintenance manager, Nicole Desiree, the Museum’s administrative director, and Orlando all worked tirelessly on restoring the aquarium, which is poised to be the centerpiece of a series of exciting events planned for the coming months.
“This is our year,” Orlando said. “This year will be tremendous.” Other events to come include a Bug Light exhibit to debut on June 6, as well as a Tall Ships exhibit, Desiree said.
Marino worked on a complete overhaul of the aquarium, including updating its plumbing and electric, sprucing up a badly scratched tank, replacing lights, and spending hours crouched inside, cleaning and repairing what had fallen into disrepair over the years. A sump pump was used to refill the tank, a process that took approximately two hours, Bruer said.
Although the tank was acquired in 1994 through the Norcross Foundation, with the intent of bringing a piece of the Peconic Estuary to life inside the Museum, no one on the volunteer staff had the expansive knowledge to keep it running up to par.
“Katie trained us to be better stewards,” Orlando said, adding that others have stepped up, including Bob Jester, who has experience in marine biology, to keep the updated aquarium running smoothly.
Marino enlisted the help of her Long Island Aquarium co-workers, including curator/co-founder Joseph Yaiullo, who helped bring the aging tank up to perfect order.
The tank will need to be replaced in the next three to five years, Orlando said, and a fundraising campaign will commence toward that goal in the future.
But in the meantime, the spiffed up aquarium is ready for its grand debut today; a ribbon cutting ceremony from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Museum.
The original aquarium made its debut in 1994, a cornerstone project of Seaport Museum founders. The exhibit of sea life forms serves to spotlight the flora and fauna that inhabit the Peconic Estuary, including killifish, flounder, feather blennies, oyster toadfish, sea robins, Atlantic silverside, blackfish, and tautog.
The aim, Orlando said, is to educate visitors on the contributions of marine life to the eco-cycle, with an eye toward promoting conservation of the environment in generations to come. Marino, Orlando said, has deep knowledge of local waters to share in an educational capacity moving forward.
Reflecting on Marino’s contribution, Orlando said her efforts were “herculean. She came in to give me an evaluation and she worked to create a brand-new system.” Surveying the sparkling new aquarium, Orlando said the Museum came “perilously close” to losing it.
Marino said the experience has been very rewarding, and added that she learned a great deal about various techniques such as buffering acrylic.
She said Orlando was the heart and soul of the project. “She was the sun and we were just orbiting around it.”
Also at today’s event, a raffle for Lighthouse Cruise tickets and other museum gift shop items will be held. The event is free; light refreshments will be served.
