We’re small but mighty is what I like to say.

Sand is a curious substance — soft yet gritty, smooth underfoot but rough to the touch. It’s fun to play with at the beach, yet impossible to fully shake off afterward. Now imagine a sand flood … maybe it would be fun if it were kinetic sand.

Seeing a flood of kinetic sand is actually possible when visiting the new location of the Save The Bay’s Hamilton Family Aquarium, now in its second year at its second home in Newport.

One of the first things visitors encounter upon entering the aquarium is a giant basin filled with kinetic sand — a feature that instantly put the brakes on as four grown adults couldn’t resist digging in. “This seems pretty fun, right?” asked Maureen Fogarty, the director of operations. 

Juan Espinoza, the aquarium’s director of communications and marketing, chimed in with a smile saying, “As a parent, I totally approve of this space.”

The kinetic sand display is an interactive exhibit that demonstrates how water moves across land, explaining where freshwater in Narragansett Bay comes from, and how it behaves as it travels across different terrains. As visitors dig and shape the landscape, water appears and begins to flow.

“They can do things like, you know, make water flow in another direction or go downhill,” Fogarty explained. As she guided her fingers through the colorful sand, water began to collect in one low-lying area, almost as if by magic. “That’s going to fill up in a second, I think,” she said eagerly watching the miniature watershed take shape.

The interactive sand display at the new location is just one of many interactive experiences designed to engage visitors and inspire them to get involved in protecting the bay. And ironically, the reason for the aquarium’s relocation was — sand.

Although sand is common to see in an aquarium, a flood of sand piling up on the floor of one is not ideal. And so, when Hurricane Sandy came along in 2012 with storm surges reaching record levels, the aquarium in its previous location suffered some damage. Topher Hamblett, executive director of the aquarium, said, “When Sandy hit, the ocean ran right through the aquarium and left about 5 feet of sand.” He went on to explain why the decision to relocate was ultimately made, saying, “We’ve had other — not quite as extreme — but other incidents like that, and so we knew more than a decade ago we needed to move out of harm’s way. And ideally we knew we wanted to stay in Newport.”

On March 28 of 2024 what was once the first floor of Discover Newport, on America’s Cup Boulevard at the symbolic gateway to historic, downtown Newport, opened its doors to the public as Save The Bay’s Hamilton Family Aquarium — with the help of the Hamilton family, hence the name.

Margaret H. Duprey, board chair of the Hamilton Family Charitable Trust, shared her excitement over the one year anniversary of the aquarium’s new home, saying, “The vision of connecting people of all ages to Narragansett Bay through the aquarium inspired our initial support. We are excited that the vision has come to life, and we know the success of the first year will only continue.” 

The fish are visitors, too

The vision of connecting people to the bay comes to life in all sorts of interactive elements in the aquarium — one being the marine life that inhabit the space. On a day’s walk through the space, the stories of the marine life that inhabit it come alive.

“Two of the skates gave birth this morning,” said Espinoza, pointing to where the eggs could be seen lying on the rocks.

“This is our sandy shore touch tank,” shared Mateo, a marine biology student at Roger Williams University and one of the many volunteers who engages visitors in the experience at the aquarium. He zealously added, “I love this thing,” before detailing what can be found in the tank.

Behind each tank, a mural unfolds — the painted story of the Rhode Island habitats these marine creatures call home. Created by Portsmouth artist Amy Bartlett Wright, the murals invite visitors into the journey of the marine life that live in the bay. Fogarty shared, “Each mural is meant to give you a sense of the marine animals’ place in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay.” The mission is to get people excited about helping save the bay so these marine animals will continue to thrive.

“Everything comes from and goes back to the bay,” Fogarty explained. “They’re visitors too,” she said, as a child crawled through the tunnel to look up at the marine life of Narragansett Bay in the aquarium enclosure. 

She shared, “The only animals that we don’t release are animals that are either injured, or endangered, that you know, would not otherwise survive in the bay.”

Bowser, an alligator snapping turtle, is one of these animals. “He is a permanent resident here,” confirmed Fogarty. She went on to say, “He will not go back to the bay. He will not survive in the bay. So he has a nice big old tank and he’s even got a little plaque. We have a family that loves Bowser so they dedicated a plaque to him.” She said good morning to Bowser before moving on to the next interactive exhibit — the kids zone.

In the kids zone, there’s an interactive mural puzzle, video footage of the bay shot by volunteer videographers on the floor, offering visitors a real-time view of the bay — like looking through a glass-bottom boat. Kiosks provide more information about the bay, and there are several ways for visitors to learn how they can actively help save the bay throughout the aquarium.

“We’re small but mighty, is what I like to say,” shared Fogarty of all the opportunities. She went on to say, “There’s a lot to do here, a lot to do in every area, and a lot to do in the community”

The vision behind the aquarium is to connect people with the bay in new and exciting ways, to get them engaged in Save The Bay’s work of protecting and improving the bay. In one final exhibit, visitors can catch a glimpse of the new species inhabiting the bay due to warming waters; it is called “The Future of the Bay.”