Mystic aquarium in CT or New England aquarium?

Wondering if anyone has been to both or either, that can tell me which one they'd choose to go to, which has more things to see?Mystic aquarium in CT or New England aquarium?
I've been to both several times and I think that Mystic has a lot more to see. They have really interesting exhibits that people of all ages can enjoy and they have shows with their beluga whales (they might have dolphin and/or sea lion shows too but I'm not sure). Also, I think they are one of the only aquariums around that has beluga whales. They also have demonstrations of submarines and how they work and the even have something where they put some of their animals like manta/sting rays in a shallow tank and let you touch them. If you are over 16 then they also have occasional programs where you can interact with the beluga whales (I think people between the ages of 12-15 can do it too if an adult comes with them). Also Mystic in general is a fun sea town, with a lot of interesting stuff, especially if you are interested in history (and the pizza at a place called Mystic Pizza is supposed to be wicked good if you do visit the town). Also, the aquarium seems to have a much wider range of animals including, sharks, beluga whales, sea lions, manta rays, jellyfish, and a lot of other kinds of sea life. They also have an outside area where you can look in to the sea lion tank (at least in the summer they do, I think it is closed during the winter).



The New England Aquarium has some exhibits but I did not find it nearly as interesting as Mystic. It main exibit is basically set up with one giant cylindrical tank that is several stories tall and a circular walkway that goes up and around it. At the base there is an open pool-like area where they keep penguins (they have a lot of penguins), at least everytime, I've been there it has penguins but that might be because it was summer so they were keeping them inside, out of the heat. Along the walkway, there are smaller informational exibits, but not many of them have any sea creatures included, most of the creatures are in the big tank. They do have some seals outside and you can sign up and pay a fee to "help feed them" ,which is something my sister did, but basically it means that you throw some dead fish in the water and don't really interact with them at all. However, it is centrally located in Boston, right near Quincy Market, on the docks, and close to the MBTA so it is fairly easy to visit the aquarium for a couple of hours and then go out and explore Boston.



Basically it comes down to what you want. If you want to go to an interesting aquarium that you could easily spend at least half a day exploring, and that it near some other interesting places, choose Mystic. If you want to go to an aquarium that is fairly basic, with nothing too special and that you can easily see in within 1 and 1/2 - 2 hours, but is centrally located in a city, where you can go do a lot of other things go with the New England Aquarium. Also if one is significantly closer, take that into account, since if you live farther away, you will have to make it into at least a day trip, but both places have plenty of interesting things to do outside the aquarium if you do want to take a day trip.