Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration

The Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration is one of the most unique and exciting aquariums in the United States. Located in the city of Mystic, on the southeast coast of Connecticut, it is easily accessed from Interstate Route 95 off of exit 90. The Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration has a number of highly educational and stimulating exhibits, educational programs, interactive experiences, and enough fun for a family to easily have the need to make plans to spend the whole day there. Where else are you going to be able to cozy up to a penguin or beluga whale, explore the Amazon, and visit the Titanic, except for the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration?

One exhibit after another at the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration will take your breath away. The Institute for Exploration is led by Dr. Robert Ballard, its founder and president, the man who discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985. This award winning former Navy officer, retired after thirty years as a scientist and Director of the Center for Marine Exploration at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, is currently an explorer in residence for the National Geographic Society. Deep sea archeology is the Institute's specialty, and it has the aim of developing this field with the use of today's ever growing technology, such as robotics, advanced mapping and imaging systems, and remote operated vehicles. A pioneer in this undertaking, the Institute is at the forefront of undersea exploration and has been involved in a large number of expeditions.

The fruits of these labors are apparent at the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration. The Return to Titanic exhibit features an incredible scale model of the doomed ship, one that is eighteen feet long and took five years to build from the original's blueprints. Actual footage of visits to the wreck, models of boilers and of the bow, reproductions of the radio room and more await visitors to this exhibit.