Mystic - Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration announced the start of an exchange program Thursday night between Mashantucket teenagers and their peers from Point Lay, Alaska, the small Arctic village where aquarium researcher Tracy Romano has studied beluga whales for many of the past 15 summers.

At Thursday's ceremony, attended by Mashantucket tribal members, the aquarium also unveiled a new exhibit that features the same snapping turtle that served as the model for the tribe's Childhood Development Center.

The student exchange and new exhibit continue the collaboration between the aquarium and tribe that began in 1995 when the tribe donated $5 million for the expansion and renovation of the Alaskan Coast exhibit, which is home to beluga whales and sea lions.

Last year the aquarium honored the tribe during a rededication ceremony for the exhibit, which has been renamed the Arctic Coast exhibit. Tribal members and elders attended as did representatives from Point Lay.

Romano, who is the aquarium's senior vice president of research and zoological operations, has been working on the exchange between the two native peoples for several years.

She said the 250 Inupiat people who live in Point Lay hunt belugas for food just as their ancestors did. Some have never left their village.

Romano said that by visiting the aquarium, the high school-aged children from Point Lay will see belugas in a different context, living under human care and learning to communicate with people.

The students will help the aquarium scientists who work with the animals and assist in their research.

"They're going to gain a new insight into the whales," said Peter Glankoff, the aquarium's senior vice president for marketing and public affairs.

Romano said she would like to see the Point Lay children become resources for their own community.

"We want them to be scientists and wildlife managers so they can preserve their resources for years to come as they deal with issues such as climate change and oil and gas exploration," she said.

When the first two Point Lay students and a chaperone arrive at the aquarium in February, they will be paired up with two Mashantucket children and a chaperone. They will also spend time at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center and Mystic Seaport and study the local marine environment with trips to Bluff Point Coastal Reserve State Park and Project Oceanology. Four more students from Point Lay are scheduled to arrive in 2011.

Romano said the long-term goal is to have the Mashantucket students travel to Point Lay. There, both groups will work with Romano and other researchers as they collect samples and attach radio transmitters to wild belugas. They will then return to the aquarium to study the samples in the laboratory.

Romano said she is excited about the effort because of the help that the people of Point Lay give her and other researchers each summer.

"Now we can give back to them," she said.

During discussions between the aquarium and the Mashantuckets, Romano and Glankoff met tribal elder Juanita Reels. She is the visionary behind the construction of the tribe's Childhood Development Center, which teaches tribal children about their customs, traditions, history and language. The striking building is shaped like a giant snapping turtle.

The aquarium learned that "Stretch," the snapping turtle that architects used as a model to design the building, was now part of the aquarium's collection, having been donated by Something Fishy, a Warwick, R.I., aquarium firm.

The aquarium then decided to create an exhibit with the turtle that explains the cultural symbolism and significance of the turtle to the Mashantuckets while outlining the work of the Childhood Development Center.

"This is not a mega-exhibit, but it serves as a significant milestone for us. It amplifies the deep connection between this institution and the tribe," Glankoff said.

j.wojtas@theday.com