For more than 100 days, the Aquarium of Niagara has been closed. As of Tuesday, members can come say hello to the sea lions, sharks and the aquarium’s newest additions.

You’ll be asked to wear a mask, and follow the current.

“We want to make it really easy,” said Gary Siddall, Executive Director of the Aquarium of Niagara. “We don’t want this to feel like an intrusion on your visitor experience, but we need to keep everyone safe.”

To say the months-long shutdown of the aquarium has been a challenge is an understatement.

“Hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue and when you add that up over a period of three to four months, those numbers are really significant,” Siddall said. “And that money is used to take care of our animals.”

But Siddall says they just kept swimming, using the time to give the facility a face lift.

“Make some enhancements to spaces like our main entrance and our second floor event room so we took advantage of the opportunity to knock out some of those projects while we were closed,” Siddall explained. 

Some projects though, like M&T Banks Shark and Ray Bay experience are still under construction. It was supposed to already be open.

You’ll have to wait until the fall to get your hands on experience. What you will see for the first time in-person is Alpha and Beta, the aquarium’s newest additions. They were born back in April and haven’t had much experience with a lot of people, or cameras, hence their curious little faces.

Other new features to the aquarium are aimed at keeping your little school safe.

 “We tried to keep our graphics lively and interactive, so hopefully as you move through the building, you can have fun with it," Siddall said. "Follow the flow, the fish, whatever you want to say.”

The aquarium will be operating at 25 percent capacity, so grab those tickets fast.

They can be found online and are sold in half an hour increments. Its members only up until July 4. If you’re sad about the extra wait, don’t be. It’s giving Mira and company more time to perfect their new show for you.

 “We had a small group watch the show and the animals were definitely caught off guard and surprised to see people again," Siddall said. "We can’t say this for sure without asking them, but it certainly seems they enjoy it." 

If you want to spend more time with the Aliens of the Sea as well, you can! That’s because the aquarium has extended its hours until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 7 p.m. the rest of the week.