Aquarium officials are surprised by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's call for the city to seize the New York Aquarium on Coney Island.

In his State of the Borough address Thursday, Markowitz said the non-profit aquarium's "guppy" budget prevents it from being all it could be. Markowitz said the aquarium needs a "whale-size investment" and that he'd ask Mayor Michael Bloomberg to help create an independent board of directors to oversee it.

The aquarium's director, Jon Dohlin, refutes Markowitz's claims of money problems hurting the program. According to Dohlin, more than $70 million worth of renovations are in the works, including a shark exhibit facelift.

Dohlin also says attendance has actually increased at the aquarium.