Newport Aquarium opens new exhibit, Hatchling Harbor, this weekend  

The Newport Aquarium’s newest exhibit, Hatchling Harbor, opens this weekend, March 3-5. Called Hatchling Harbor, the 25-foot-long Caribbean seagrass habitat will be home to a variety of sea life, including babies. 

“We work hard to make sure we’re taking guests ‘beyond the glass’ when we create a new exhibit,” said Rebecca Foster, Newport Aquarium’s executive director, in a press release. “You can better connect with the animals if you really feel like you’re with them in the environment where they live.” 

The environment includes a pier encrusted with barnacles, which visitors will be able to view from below. Visitors to the exhibit will have the opportunity to see scrawled filefish, lobsters, crabs, sea urchins, conchs, parrotfish and more. 

According to the aquarium, “Seagrass meadows are incredibly important places. The grasses provide shelter and protection for a vast density of life. Many animals lay their eggs here so their babies can benefit from the protection and ample food of the flowing grasses and rocky outcrops covered in corals. 

“With the exhibit being home to so many young animals, visitors will find a new experience every day watching them change their shape, color and markings as they grow into adulthood and ultimately head further out to sea.” 

The Newport Aquarium is located at Newport on the Levee, 1 Aquarium Way, in Newport, Kentucky. This weekend, the aquarium’s hours will be 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.