Walkabout with Becky: The Georgia Aquarium

The Georgia Aquarium, located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, is the world's largest aquarium, with more than 8.5 million gallons of marine and fresh water, housing more than 120,000 animals of 500 different species. The aquarium's notable specimens include four young whale sharks, four beluga whales, eleven Bottlenose dolphins, three Great hammerhead sharks and four manta rays. Funded mostly by a $250 million donation from Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus, the aquarium was built on a 20-acre site north of Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. Marcus credited his 60th birthday dinner at theMonterey Bay Aquarium in 1990 among the inspirations behind his desire to build an aquarium in Atlanta.

Georgia Aquarium sign at Pemberton Place in downtown Atlanta

The “prow” of the aquarium ship

The side of the aquarium features a scene from “Dolphin Tales.”

The entrance to the aquarium

We bought tickets from a kiosque, which cost $66.85 for 2 seniors, including admission to the Dolphin Tales show.

The security checkpoint before entering the aquarium

Crowds lining up to enter the aquarium

This is a Saturday, so there are as many kids as adults, maybe lots more kids than adults because the kids have come with school groups.

Immediately after the entrance, there is a corridor with a giant aquarium on either side.

The fish are Crevalle Jacks, and these silvery-looking fish are very much alive and very sinister-looking as well.

The other side of the corridor with the same silvery-blue fish

The atrium, a cavernous central space, is the hub of the aquarium, and the different gallery entrances are all visible from here. The aquarium includes five permanent exhibits, including Cold Water Quest, Georgia Explorer, Ocean Voyager, River Scout, and Tropical Diver, each featuring inhabitants of those environments. The gift shop and food court are also located around the hub.

The first performance of “Dolphin Tales” begins at 11:00AM, so that is where we head first.

The tunnel-like entrance to the theater with wall mosaics

The marine theme is carried through on the walls, the ceiling and even the carpet.

The bronze sculpture of dolphins is mounted on the wall by the entrance to the theater.

The indoor dolphin stadium, where the “Dolphin Tales” performance is given

The seats are arranged in a semi-circle, and the “Dolphin Tales” logo is displayed on a video screen facing the audience.

There is a huge semi-circular pool in front of the backdrop. There is a “bridge” above the pool, where the actors perform. The dolphins enter the pool when various hatch doors to the pool are opened.

I think that the performance is a musical story geared to children. It concerns our hero, “StarSpinner,” whose ship is sunk by sea monsters. However, with the help of courageous dolphins, the sea menace is vanquished, and the StarSpinner’s ship is raised from the depths. Yes, the story is kind of hokey, but the performing dolphins are a real crowd pleaser, and I could have watched them all day long. During an especially nice moment at the end of the show, a row of dolphins and trainers hook fins and arms over the ledge of the tank and face the crowd.

The performers bid the audience good-bye after the performance.

The River Scout Gallery

“Rivers are a source of life for animals, people and cultures throughout the world.” In the River Scout Gallery, there is a wide diversity of animals found in the rivers of Africa, South America, Asia and in Georgia.

Simulated rock and waterfalls at the entrance to the River Scout Gallery

The Gallery features a jungle-like path and an overhead river that snakes along as you walk the path below.

There are some long nosed gar, catfish and many other fish inhabitants of rivers.

River fish display

This river display is on a slant, bringing the fish even closer to the viewers.

An otter home

These fellows are too hyperactive for me to get a good shot of them. The display shows the underwater continuation of their habitat as well.

Got a shot of an otter, but not a very good one.

A cownose ray and horseshoe crab

The Touch Pool is full of horseshoe crabs, small sharks and rays. The pool is situated so that kids can lean over the edge of the pool and touch the fish. And some of the kids did touch the fish, but I sure wouldn’t. The sting rays I’m familiar with have stingers on their tails that can cause great pain if they come in contact with your skin. Maybe the barbs have been removed from these rays.

Rays in the Touch Pool

Bonnethead sharks in the Touch Pool

A cownose ray in the Touch Pool

The entrance to the Tropical Diver Gallery

One of the largest living reef exhibits in the world.

Living corals and thousands of reef fish are presented in a re-creation of a tropical Pacific coral reef.

Coral reef

In the tropical reef tank, jellies and seahorses drift through the largest living coral reef exhibit in the world.

Coral reef

A school of Yellow Tangs and coral formation

Ocean Voyager Exhibit

A 100-foot viewing tunnel allows visitors to walk “underwater” and watch fish swim overhead. Viewers can walk through the acrylic tunnel (or ride on a conveyor walkway) and then stand in front of a gigantic acrylic viewing window. The Ocean Voyager is home to the “gentle giants” of the sea, including whale sharks and manta rays. The Ocean Voyager exhibit, at 6.3 million gallons, is the largest aquarium habitat in the world.

A diver in the fish tank

Divers in the fish tank

A whale shark in the viewing tunnel--you can see a rib of the tunnel in the upper left hand corner.

The Georgia Aquarium is the only institution outside of Asia to house whale sharks. The importation of the whale sharks from Taiwan was "top secret" and had never been attempted previously. The move required the use of large aircraft, trucks and boats to ship the massive aquatic animals to Atlanta. The four whale sharks were taken from Taiwan's annual fishing kill quota, which the country has since abolished. Under the quota, the whale sharks would have been killed and eaten if they had not been purchased by the Georgia Aquarium. (Source: Wikipedia)

A manta ray

The aquarium acquired a manta ray named “Nandi” that was caught by accident in nets meant to protect the South African coast from sharks. Nandi first went on display in the Ocean Voyager exhibit on August 25, 2008 as the first manta ray on display in the country, and making the aquarium one of only four in the world to display one. A second manta ray named Tallulah was added to the collection in September 2009. On July 19, 2010, the Georgia Aquarium acquired yet another manta ray, an 8-foot female named Billi, which was found off the coast of Florida. The aquarium recently added a fourth manta ray to Ocean Voyager. The newest ray is the first male added to the exhibit. He measures almost 9 feet across, weighs approximately 265 pounds and was also found off the coast of Florida. (Source: Wikipedia)

A whale shark as seen from below

A diver addresses the audience in front of the giant viewing window.

Massive whale sharks and goliath groupers swim slowly past visitors in front of a two-foot-thick, 23-foot tall viewing window. Whale sharks “filter-feed;” that is, they swim with their huge gaping mouths open and collect plankton and small fish.