The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk’s waters are more shark-infested than ever – and you’re invited to come and stick your hand in.

The Maritime Aquarium’s new Sharks & Rays gallery is now open and it’s dominated by a large “Shark & Ray Touch Pool,” where visitors can touch live nurse sharks and a variety of stingrays.

The new 6,000-gallon “Shark & Ray Touch Pool” has more than 90 feet of pool edge, allowing more visitors more chances to run their fingers down the backs of these prowling – but harmless – predators. (By comparison, the Aquarium’s previous Ray Touch Pool had only about 20 feet of visitor access. And no sharks.) A clear side panel on the new exhibit provides fascinating underwater views of the sharks and rays as well.

Other don’t-miss exhibits in the new Sharks & Rays gallery display the creatures as they come to life. Visitors can watch as skates and sharks develop in – and hatch from – their embryonic egg cases. They'll be charmed by baby sharks and rays. And there will be more things to touch: actual shark teeth and cartilage at an artifacts display.

The new Sharks & Rays gallery is the second phase of a $4 million “FINtastic RefurbFISHment” that debuted in February, with dozens of new animals, an all-new seal show and dynamic new presentations about Long Island Sound and its creatures.

The “FINtastic RefurbFISHment” is the largest transformation to the Aquarium in more than 10 years.

Major donors for the Aquarium’s “FINtastic RefurbFISHment” include Newman’s Own Foundation ($1.2 million) and Richard & Wendy Hokin of Darien ($1.1 million).  Richard Hokin is a longtime Aquarium trustee.

Besides the Newman’s Own Foundation and Hokin gifts, other sources of funding for the project include CulinArt Inc., the Aquarium’s onsite food-service company and in-house caterer (Philip Stone Caterers); the late William Ziegler III, another longtime Aquarium trustee; Aquarium trustee Rob Rohn and his family; The Jaffe Family Foundation, which includes Aquarium trustee Richard Jaffe; Purdue Pharma L.P.; Aquarium trustee Ashraf Rizvi and his wife, Saira; Trustees Chairman Sanders Davies and his wife, Ann; and other trustees of The Maritime Aquarium.

The new Maritime Aquarium exhibits were designed by Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., and Aquarium staff.  Consulting engineers are Altieri/Sebor/Wieber, LLC, of Norwalk, and construction managers are Caldwell and Walsh, Inc., of Newtown.