Things to know for your visit: The Trust Family Shark and Ray Touch Tank opens at 9:30 a.m. Saturday-Thursday, and closes to visitors 15 minutes before the Aquarium closes every day. The Edge of the Sea touch tank is closed.

Can you touch the stingrays at the Boston Aquarium?

The Shark and Ray Touch Tank is one of the most popular exhibits at the Aquarium. Here you can calmly reach your hand into the tank and touch the smooth skin of a stingray or the rough skin of a shark as they glide by.

What sharks are in touch tanks?

The large touch pool in Shark Lagoon is now home to bamboo sharks, epaulette sharks, fiddler rays, and cownose rays. Bamboo and epaulette sharks glide around the shallow touch pools, where guests can reach in and touch these gentle and graceful animals.

Are there sharks in Boston Aquarium?

This 9,000-gallon, floor-to-ceiling, concave habitat showcases some of the most dazzling colors of the ocean. Watch our cownose rays, Atlantic rays, and epaulette sharks as they swim through The Trust Family Foundation Shark and Ray Touch Tank.

Are touch tanks cruel?

Suffering Animals Touch tanks also subject them to loud noises, potentially rowdy crowds, and the stress of having many people sticking their hands into the tanks. This is likely a terrifying and stressful environment for animals, who can easily be injured in these exhibits.

Has any aquarium ever had a great white shark?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium remains the only aquarium in the world to successfully display a white shark.

Why are touch tanks bad?

When animals are crammed into touch tanks at marine parks like SeaWorld, or aquariums like SeaQuest, bacteria from human hands contaminate the tank, which can be dangerous to the fish inside. Fish and rays have a natural mucous coating on their skin that protects them from parasites.

Why should aquariums banned?

Animals in an aquarium are confined in relatively small tanks and can get bored and frustrated. Capturing animals in the wild is stressful, injurious and sometimes fatal; breeding in captivity is also a problem because those animals will live their entire lives in a tiny tank instead of a vast ocean.