Big news from Central Wharf: the New England Aquarium has just spotlighted the ocean’s true MVPs — keystone species, the animals whose outsized influence keeps entire ecosystems in balance. And here’s the best part: you can meet several of them on your next family visit to the Aquarium.
The story starts in a tide pool. Back in the 1960s, ecologist Robert Paine showed what happens when sea stars vanish from a shoreline: mussels take over and crowd out nearly everything else. Right here in Boston Harbor, just outside the Aquarium’s doors, northern and Forbes sea stars still do this everyday hero work, keeping mussels in check so barnacles, snails and algae can all thrive together.
Then there are the sharks — the ocean’s great shape-shifters. Tiger sharks don’t just hunt; their very presence changes how other animals behave, nudging sea turtles and dugongs to graze gently so seagrass meadows stay healthy. Even here in New England, white sharks off Cape Cod may be playing that same keystone role, with gray seals adjusting their habits whenever sharks are near.
The celebration continues with African penguins — critically endangered ocean-health messengers whose colony you can visit at the Aquarium — and stony corals, the foundation species that build the reefs nearly a quarter of all marine life calls home.
Families are invited to come see these underwater superheroes up close and discover how protecting them protects the ocean we all share.
Photo: New England Aquarium
