Woods Hole is More than A Pretty Cape Cod Town

Woods Hole, Massachusetts has always loomed large in my mind. As a kid growing up I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. At that time the place to be in that field was Woods Hole.  Cutting edge science discoveries came out of Woods Hole. Besides, they had all of the cool toys like the RV Atlantis.

The RV Atlantis

We actually got to see it, the RV Atlantis. The RV stands for research vessel. It is one of three ships built to roughly the same specifications. Her main claim to fame is that she is often home to the DSV Alvin. DSV is Deep Submersible Vessel.  Alvin came to the public’s attention as the DSV that explored the Titanic.  Pretty cool, huh. Ok so I’m getting my “geek” on. So sorry . We didn’t see Alvin or even get on the Atlantis but for a science freak like me it was pretty special.

Follow the Fish

We passed a large gate adorned with squid as we wandered in the direction of the Woods Hole Science Aquarium. You really can’t miss it. Just follow the fish signs. Outside the aquarium is a decorative whale sculpture and the seal enclosure. It’s was quite sad to see the empty enclosure. Two long term residents had just died and the aquarium closed the exhibit to investigate the deaths. As far as I know they have not released any conclusions. 

Lovely Fish and more

The aquarium is free, donations only. It’s very tiny. It won’t take even an hour to explore but the aquariums are well lit, clean and colorful. There is even a behind the scenes exhibit where you can watch the water get pumped in and filtered. Various fish swim in separate tanks apparently off display or possibly quarantined. They have a touch tank there and they  had a  cute little turtle. 

I’d be boring and out of my league if I started naming all of the fish they had on display so I won’t even try but they do have sea horses! 

If You Go

Woods Hole Science Aquarium is open Tuesday – Saturday, 11-4. Admission is free but donations are appreciated. Parking is very limited especially during the summer. Visitors should use public transportation if possible. There is  no off-street parking available (other than two handicapped spaces). The village has on-street metered parking, but the spots fill up quickly in busy summer months. During the summer, you may want to park in Falmouth and use the capecodtransit.org.