Like Fish

National Aquarium in Baltimore

October 24, 2008 – 1:34 pm

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is a public aquarium located at 501 E Pratt St. in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was opened in 1981 and was constructed during the urban renewal period of Baltimore. The aquarium has an annual attendance of 1.6 million to see its collection of 16,500 specimens of 660 different species. Particular attractions include the dolphin display, rooftop rainforest, and central ray pool, and multiple-story shark tank. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is widely considered to be one of the best in the United States, if not the whole world. Coastal Living named it the #1 aquarium in the U.S. in 2006.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is not to be confused with the National Aquarium in Washington, D.C.; however, the National Aquarium in Washington D.C. has been operated by the National Aquarium in Baltimore since 2003.[1] As of 2005, the National Aquarium was the largest tourist attraction in the state of Maryland.

In November 2006, the National Aquarium won a Best of Baltimore award for “Best Over Priced Destination for Families.”

Layout
The aquarium consists of two buildings joined by a single enclosed walkway/bridge. The larger of the two buildings contains the main gallery, which overlooks a pool occupied by sharks (including a blind zebra shark named Zoe), rays (southern stingrays, butterfly stingray,cownose stingray, bullnose stingray, pelagic stingray and roughtail stingrays), tarpon, and a green sea turtle (Calypso). The gallery itself begins with a series of upward spiralling floors connected by long escalators, featuring at first fish from Maryland, first showing a stream in the mountains of western Maryland, and ending with the ocean, but then featuring fish that show off vital skills for survival needed in their various environments. At the top of this spiral is the aforementioned rainforest exhibit, which contains several animals found in the Amazon Rainforest.This part of the aquarium contains an elevated platform for bird/monkey viewing and a cave of various glass enclosed displays of reptiles, amphibians, and terrestrial arthropods. This exhibit exits back into the main gallery, which then goes into a downward spiral. One is then surrounded by the Atlantic Coral Reef filled with fish that would be found anywhere from closer to shore (the loop end closer to you as you exit the escalator) to out into the trench and open ocean. Below the ACR is found sharks. In this exhibit there are sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, and sawfish. One then appears under the Wings in the Water display where one can watch the rays, turtle, sharks, and fish under the water.

The smaller building, opened in 1990, features the marine mammal display and a dolphinarium, which holds dolphin shows at various times. It also holds a temporary exhibit on assorted frogs called “A Chorus of Colors” based on the book. Both buildings have two gift shops and a cafe each.

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