Meet the Residents of Woods Hole Science Aquarium

While visitors love seeing the wide array of animals we have, some residents are real characters and become true fan favorites. Let’s meet a few residents that won the hearts of both visitors and our staff.

Where The Residents Are During Construction

While the aquarium undergoes foundation repairs, a small group of animals are temporarily residing with our partners at the Marine Biological Laboratory. While they are not available for public viewing, these animals will be the first animals to return to the aquarium upon completion of the structural repair work. Aquarium biologists continue to provide daily care to ensure their welfare and comfort until they return to their forever home at the aquarium.

Our Newest Resident - Twix

Meet the newest addition to our Woods Hole Science Aquarium—a 1 in 50 million lobster!

We learned through our aquarium network that the Wellfleet Shellfish Company had a rare split-color (bilateral) female lobster they recently acquired from a lobsterman fishing off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They were looking to rehome her so she could be shared with the broader community. After contacting the shellfish company and seeing photos of this beauty, our aquarium staff quickly began preparations to pick her up.

Split-colorization occurs when two fertilized, unlaid eggs contact each other, causing one to absorb the other. This creates a lobster with two sets of genetic information, and the ability to store color pigments differently on either side of its shell. Estimates of split-coloring is about 1 in 50 million lobsters!

Stumpy the Diamondback Terrapin

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Bio:

Hometown: Maryland

Birth year (estimated): 2006

Forever home date: 2008

Favorite foods: Herring and capelin and krill; his favorite is shrimp.

Favorite toys: Stumpy loves following his tank mates around and playing a terrapin version of Red Light, Green Light with aquarium visitors. He’ll follow visitors as they walk by his tank, but as soon as someone stops to look at him, he stops swimming and stays very still.

Personality: Outgoing and shy. The struggle is real!

History:

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Weighing in at a whopping 360 grams (approximately 0.8 lbs), Stumpy is a fully grown, non-releasable diamondback terrapin. At the Woods Hole Science Aquarium he is an ambassador for his species, helping visitors learn about the key role estuaries serve for our marine environment along the East Coast. Diamondback terrapins can be found in brackish waters (a mix of freshwater and saltwater) all along the East Coast. Cape Cod, Massachusetts is their most northern range. Diamondback terrapins are considered threatened in Massachusetts, with factors such as climate change, bycatch, road mortality, and habitat loss affecting their wild range.

Stumpy celebrated his 20th birthday in 2026. He has been living at the aquarium since 2008 and is a staff and visitor favorite. He can be found throughout the day cruising his tank, interacting with visitors, or basking under his heat lamp. Visitors may see aquarium staff caring for Stumpy and his tank, taking and recording Stumpy’s weight, scrubbing and examining his shell, or giving him a weekly freshwater bath. In the summer, you may find a sign on Stumpy’s tank that says he is “Out Catching Rays.” In the warmer months, Stumpy regularly gets trips outside to enjoy the Cape Cod sunshine—providing him with natural UV light, key for the health of his shell.

Stumpy at the Marine Biological Laboratory:

Stumpy is living his best life at the lab’s Marine Resource Center . His biologists moved his entire tank and filtration setup across the street so Stumpy could be comfortable while the aquarium’s construction was completed. His new favorite activity is greeting visitors to the center, eagerly swimming over to splash and say hello.

Ink the Common Octopus

Bio

Hometown: Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

Birthday (estimated): November 2025

Favorite foods: Shrimp, green crabs

Favorite enrichment: Ping pong balls, Legos, Kong

Personality: Outgoing, curious, and a bit of a troublemaker

History

Ink and Blot, two common octopus (octopus vulgaris), were brought to the aquarium in November 2024. A local fisherman found them as tiny hatchlings, accidentally stranded on his boat after being transported in empty whelk shells. Unable to safely return them to their natural habitat, the fisherman contacted aquarium staff for assistance. The biologists were excited by the rare opportunity to display this elusive and fascinating animal, as the aquarium had not housed an octopus in many years. Ink and Blot soon became beloved residents; their distinct personalities quickly highlighted the intelligence and uniqueness of each individual.

Species Fun Fact:

Common octopus have the ability to learn. In aquariums, octopus require extra enrichment to keep them active and engaged with their environment. To help stimulate their natural instincts, Ink and Blot are offered feeding puzzles, opportunities to interact with their favorite caretakers, changing caves and tank structures, and their favorite… toys! Toys for the octopus range from glass jars, green army guys, Legos, and Kong dog toys.

Ink & Blot at Marine Biological Laboratory

Both Ink & Blot’s tanks were moved across the street to the lab to ensure they were as comfortable as possible while their aquarium home was repaired. It took significant planning and several hours of coordination to execute their move safely. Not to worry, their boxes of Legos and other toys also came with them! At just over a year old, both Ink and Blot are thriving, enjoying a little bit of quiet while out of the public eye.

Blot the Common Octopus

Bio

Hometown: Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

Birthday (estimated): November 2025

Favorite foods: Green crabs, spider crabs

Favorite enrichment: Exploring new cave structures after tank cleaning, watching movies on Disney+

Personality: Shy and reserved

History

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Ink and Blot, two common octopus (octopus vulgaris), were brought to the aquarium in November 2024. A local fisherman found them as tiny hatchlings, accidentally stranded on his boat after being transported in empty whelk shells. Unable to safely return them to their natural habitat, the fisherman contacted aquarium staff for assistance. The biologists were excited by the rare opportunity to display this elusive and fascinating animal, as the aquarium had not housed an octopus in many years. Ink and Blot soon became beloved residents; their distinct personalities quickly highlighted the intelligence and uniqueness of each individual.

Species Fun Fact: 

Common octopus have a beak, structurally similar to a bird’s beak. This beak is the only hard part of their body and used for crunching into their favorite prey items: shellfish. A common octopus is able to squeeze their body through small openings - as long as their beak fits, they can also fit.

Ink and Blot at Marine Biological Laboratory: 

Both Ink and Blot’s tanks were moved across the street to the lab to ensure they were as comfortable as possible while their aquarium home was repaired. It took significant planning and several hours of coordination to execute their move safely. Not to worry, their boxes of Legos and other toys also came with them! At just over a year old, both Ink and Blot are thriving, enjoying a little bit of quiet while out of the public eye.

Franklin the Snowy Grouper

Bio

Hometown: Waters of Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Birthday (estimated): Summer 2024

Favorite foods: Chunks of herring and capelin

Favorite enrichment: Feeding time

Personality: Can be shy; enjoys hiding in nooks and crannies

History

Franklin is a snowy grouper who was caught as a juvenile in the summer of 2024. The aquarium caught several juvenile snowy groupers—some were returned to the wild and others were shipped to various aquariums along the East Coast. The aquarium team kept Franklin. He has already quadrupled in size and continues to grow.

Species Fun Fact

Snowy groupers are uniformly brown by the time they reach adulthood. As they age, they will lose their spots and vibrant yellow tail margin. They may live as long as 30 years in the wild and can live even longer in an aquarium setting.

Franklin at the Marine Biological Laboratory

Franklin is living in a large holding tank with the other warm water residents that the aquarium is maintaining until the completion of structural repairs. His current favorite swimming buddies are the group of Atlantic spadefish, when he is not darting about between PVC hides.

Queenie the Queen Triggerfish

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Bio

Hometown: Southern Florida

Birthday (estimated): Unknown

Favorite foods: Clams, mussels, strips of nori, calcium cakes

Favorite enrichment: Plants, shells, and small rocks

Personality: Mischievous!

History

Queenie has been a longtime resident of the aquarium. Queen triggerfish can be found in Cape Cod waters as “Gulf Stream orphans”—traveling as larvae up the East Coast. Queenie was caught in Southern Florida and brought to the aquarium around 2013, where he continues to thrive. At the aquarium, visitors can often find Queenie redecorating his tank—manipulating plants, shells, and small decor items with his mouth. Aquarium staff encourage Queenie to engage in this behavior, though it might look silly.

Species Fun Fact

Triggerfish have a unique ability to evade predators by darting into rocky structures and deploying a “trigger” which locks themselves into place. This trigger is actually a modified part of one of their dorsal fins, which can lock and unlock a spine. Triggerfish have small mouths but powerful bites. Their jaws contain incisor-like specialized teeth used for crunching their hard-shelled prey items, or defending their territory. You may see Queenie stretching his fins and trigger, or showing off his teeth, during your visit to the aquarium.

Queenie at the Marine Biological Laboratory

Queenie is truly the king of his holding tank at lab. He tolerates his tankmates, so long as they steer clear when he is making his rounds. Queenie has limitations to his vision from an old injury, but his biologists have worked with him to come to the side of the tank when metal tweezers are gently tapped against it so he can be hand fed. Biologists ensured that Queenie’s tank has ample plants, shells, and rocks for him to move about, as well as his favorite faux-coral cave.

JJ the Northern Stargazer

Bio

Hometown: Off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard

Birthday (estimated): Unknown

Favorite foods: Large pieces of herring, capelin, or shrimp

Favorite enrichment: Hiding in a nice deep burrow of sandy substrate

Personality: Secretive, stationary, laid back

History

JJ, a northern stargazer, is a rare resident at the aquarium. While this species typically ranges from New York to North Carolina, JJ was found in the waters near Martha’s Vineyard in October 2025. A curious fisherman photographed the fish and reached out to the aquarium for identification and to see if they were interested in offering JJ a home. Despite the aquarium being under construction, the animal care team couldn't resist JJ's cute expression.

Species Fun Fact

Northern stargazers have an electric organ that is used to stun their prey! They also have small venomous spines above each of their pectoral fins. Aquarium care staff use special nets and gloves when handling JJ for his medical exams.

JJ at the Marine Biological Laboratory

JJ is sharing the large holding tank with his other warm water friends, like Franklin and Queenie. However, because JJ has a big mouth full of sharp teeth and the potential to send small electrical shocks, he lives inside a specially built structure—that way no fish can get to him and he can’t get to them. JJ’s house is equipped with a nice deep bed of sand for him to burrow in and he can still watch his tankmates swim by. When JJ returns to the aquarium post construction he will live in his own tank.

Pout Sisters

Bio

Hometown: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Birthday (estimated): Unknown

Favorite foods: Clams, mussels, chunks of fish and shrimp, sometimes squid

Favorite enrichment: Feeding time and new tubes to hide in

Personality: Relaxed, shy

History

Both of the aquarium’s current ocean pouts arrived in coordination with the spring long-line survey. Biologists at sea coordinate closely with biologists from the aquarium to ensure animals caught during the survey are brought to the aquarium as swiftly as possible to lower the risk of injury. When the ocean pouts arrived at the aquarium they were given medical exams to identify any parasites or injuries, They were then quarantined for a month before they were given a green health certificate by their veterinarian and joined the rest of the aquarium’s cold water animals.

Species Fun Fact

Female ocean pouts lay their eggs in nests, which they will then guard for 2–3 months until hatching. During this time she will not feed. Hatchling ocean pouts do not have a larval stage and are well developed upon hatching.

Male and female ocean pouts look the same externally. Aquarium biologists know that both current resident ocean pouts are females due to behavioral changes, weight gain during egg production, and via digital radiographs. Here’s PJs exam last spring, where staff were checking in on the development of her eggs. 

Wondering how aquarium biologists get radiographs of fish? First the fish is safely anesthetized, then the team works quickly to position them on the digital x-ray plate, sometimes with the help of sponges or towels to keep them in position. They snap a  quick image and move the fish into a recovery bath where a biologist slowly wakes them up and monitors their respiration until they are fully awake and ready to return to their home tank. 

Pout Sisters at the Marine Biological Laboratory

Both ocean pouts are living in a large holding tank at the MBL, alongside a constellation of sea stars, a sea raven, an elderly female chain catshark, and a blackbelly rosefish.

Former Residents

Sometimes our science aquarium isn’t a forever home for animals—sometimes we’re just a stop along their life’s journey.

Bubba the Harbor Seal

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Bio:

Hometown: Orlando, Florida, and Providence, Rhode Island

Birth date: April 30, 2000

Time lived at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium: May 2022 - September 2025

Favorite foods: Herring, squid

Favorite toys: Fishsicles, sprinkler

Personality: Gentle giant, tolerant, laid back, goes with the flow

HISTORY 

Bubba was born on April 30, 2000 at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Shortly after, he moved north to the Roger Williams Park Zoo where he lived for more than 20 years alongside his half brother, another harbor seal named Action. Following Action’s passing, Roger Williams Park Zoo searched for a new home for Bubba as the zoo planned on transitioning away from exhibiting harbor seals. Because Bubba was not born in the wild, he is a “non-releasable” harbor seal, meaning he would be unable to survive if released to the wild. 

In May 2022, we welcomed Bubba to Woods Hole, where he lived alongside harbor seal, Kitt. Bubba and Kitt were “ex-seal-ant” companions, with Bubba having lots of patience to tolerate the high energy antics of young, fully blind, Kitt. Bubba thrived at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, delighting guests and helping educate visitors on marine conservation. Bubba “seal-ebrated” three birthdays in Woods Hole.

In September 2026 Bubba made a cross-country trip from Woods Hole to Fort Wayne, Indiana to join other pinnipeds in the Coastal Cove exhibit at the Fort Wayne Zoo. After months of careful planning, animal care and veterinary teams from the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, the Fort Wayne Zoo, and Wild Ride, Inc., came together to made sure Bubba traveled first class to his new home. Two of Bubba’s trainers from Woods Hole traveled with him to assist in his transition, providing familiar faces in his new environment. To continue following Bubba’s journey, follow the Fort Wayne Zoo on Instagram and Facebook. 

Kitt the Harbor Seal

Bio:

Hometown: Kittery, Maine

Birth year (estimated): 2021

Forever home date: March 23, 2022

Favorite foods: Squid and capelin 

Favorite toys: Kong tire, wubba-tugga, ice cubes, fishsicles, and anything that floats

Personality: Playful, inquisitive, total ball of energy

History:

In 2021, Kitt was found in Kittery, Maine, seriously wounded after being struck by a boat propeller. At the time of her stranding she was a very young pup. She was rescued and taken into rehabilitation by Marine Mammals of Maine. After months of rehabilitation, Kitt returned to good health; however, she lost her eyesight and was left fully blind. Because of the severity of Kitt’s injuries she could not be returned to the wild and found a home with us. Our aquarium specializes in being a home for non-releasable harbor seals, just like Kitt. 

For just under a year Kitt lived in Woods Hole. She was a lively and beloved companion for Bubba, and a fan favorite. Kitt could be found at any time of day playing with her toys, zooming around her pool, or following closely behind Bubba to see what he was up to. Kitt died suddenly in January 2023 due to complications related to her original stranding injuries. Her care team remembers her fondly.

Gilbert the Snowy Grouper

Fun Facts

Meet Gilbert, our aquarium’s young snowy grouper. He’s a favorite of both visitors and staff, probably because of his big personality. Snowy groupers are solitary predators, which is why Gilbert has his very own tank. He gets daily attention from his caretakers. They change his tank decorations and layout, give him sand baths, catch his interest through the tank glass, and provide him nutritionally rich foods.

Gilbert eats fish and gel food. In this video you will see him eat capelin. Gel is a special food made fresh each week by aquarium biologists. It is a blend of raw fish, carrots, spinach, and a fish meal that has all the essential vitamins and trace minerals that Gilbert needs to stay healthy.

Did You Know

• All groupers allow a cleaner fish or shrimp to eat parasites and dead skin from their bodies—even inside of their mouths—and the cleaner fish and shrimp get some "noms." In this relationship, called “mutualistic”, everyone wins!
• Snowy groupers are found in waters as deep as 1,700 feet! That’s deeper than the Empire State Building is tall. Typically they’re found at around 300 to 650 feet.
• Snowy groupers are “lie and wait” or “ambush” predators. They stay motionless and wait for something yummy to swim by before they ambush them.
• Snowy groupers can live around 30 years.

Joy the Loggerhead Sea Turtle

We helped Joy, a young loggerhead turtle, recover from damage to her shell and then released her back to the ocean.

Joy was stubborn, feisty, and did things in her own time in her own way. Her powerful jaws allowed her to eat hard-shelled creatures like sea urchins, horseshoe crabs, clams, and mussels. At the aquarium, we kept her shell clean. In the wild, she would carry many small animals and plants on it throughout her long migrations.

Loggerheads are an endangered species. That is one reason we took such good care of Joy. Her injuries happened after she was cold-stunned. “Cold-stunning” is when a cold-blooded creature like Joy is suddenly surrounded by temperatures too cold for her body to work correctly. Joy's shell was damaged by the cold temperatures. Some of it died and fell off!

The inner coast of Cape Cod is a well-known hot spot for sea turtle cold-stunning. More than 100 turtles can come ashore in a single day if there is an influx of unusually cold water, usually caused by a storm. Joy was one of the turtles in the 2018 mass cold-stunning event.

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Joy spent nearly 2 years with us, regrowing her damaged shell and regaining her strength. In late August 2020, Joy was tagged and released back into the wild off Cape Cod.

Did You Know

• Loggerheads are found in all but the coldest oceans
• Loggerheads almost never leave the water once they hatch
• They are the most common sea turtle in U.S. coastal waters
• Mother sea turtles return to the same beach where they were hatched to dig a hole in the sand, where they lay their eggs and cover them up. The temperature over the next 60 days determines the sex of the turtles that hatch.
• Floating plastics—such as plastic bags, balloons, packing peanuts—in the ocean are a threat to sea turtles. Turtles often mistake plastic items for food and eat them, which can be deadly.

Coloring Page

Make your world more turtletastic with our printable coloring page. Not only is it a great activity for kids of all ages, but it’s also an opportunity to learn about marine animals. Your masterpiece awaits! Download and print our Joy coloring page today! (PDF; 1 page)

About Our Science Aquarium

The Woods Hole Science Aquarium was established in 1875, making it the country's oldest public aquarium. The aquarium is designed for self-guided tours of the main exhibits and a behind-the-scenes look at aquarium operations.