Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia
World's Largest Aquarium a Habitat for Whale Sharks and Belugas
Aug 19, 2009
With eight million gallons of water, the Georgia Aquarium exhibits 100,000 animals in 500 species. The stars of the show are the beluga whales, which normally swim among icebergs in the Arctic, and the whale sharks, the largest fish in the world.
Whale Sharks Are the Big Guys at Georgia Aquarium
Because they are not mammals, whale sharks technically are not whales, though you wouldn’t know it from their size. They average 18 to 32 feet in length, though some have been reported as large as 60 feet. The longest to be measured with any accuracy came in at 40 feet, 7 inches.
Despite their girth, females Alice and Trixie and males Yushan and Taroko find plenty of room to roam in their 6.33-million-gallon tank in Atlanta, the biggest aquarium habitat in the world and the only one outside Asia where whale sharks are displayed. Like all whale sharks, their mouths are huge, up to 4 feet across, and they feed by swimming open-mouthed through swarms of small fish and plankton.
Visitors to the Georgia Aquarium’s Ocean Voyager gallery are dwarfed by the giant gray and white speckled creatures as they swim past floor-to-ceiling windows and a 100-foot-long tunnel that wraps around visitors on three sides. Other giants that keep these big guys company include potato grouper, giant grouper, tarpon, sawfish, blacktip reef sharks, batfish and wobbegong sharks.
Curious Belugas Play with Georgia Aquarium Visitors
Nico and Maris, two of the beluga whales in the Cold Water Quest gallery, seem to enjoy interacting with visitors, staring back at them through the viewing windows and teasing by twisting and diving then popping up again in a game of hide and seek.
These highly social animals live in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic waters where temperatures often hover close to the freezing point. Born gray, they turn white as adults and grow to 10 to 15 feet in length. The “melon” on their bulbous head enables them to produce sounds that they use to locate each other and objects in the water. These chirping sounds earned them the nickname “Canaries of the Sea.”
The belugas share gallery space with other chilly water lovers, such as California sea lions, sea otters, a giant Pacific octopus and penguins that visitors can see close up through a pop-up viewing window.
Aquarium Visitors Touch and See Close Up
In addition to the beluga and whale shark galleries, the Georgia Aquarium contains three more galleries representing a broad range of earth’s aquatic life.
- Tropical Diver: Largest living coral reef exhibit in a U.S. aquarium; thousands of colorful tropical fish, eels and jellies
- River Scout: Freshwater gallery with animals from rivers of Africa, North and South America and Asia, including otters and piranhas, whose sharp teeth can be seen through a pop-up window.
- Georgia Explorer: Interactive gallery with children’s play area; loggerhead turtles; touch pools containing bonnethead sharks, cownose rays, horseshoe crafts, sea stars and shrimp.
The aquarium also houses an interactive 4D theater, Learning Loop educational program for school children, ballroom for up to 6,000 people and the Correll Center for Aquatic Animal Health veterinarian teaching hospital.
Behind the Scenes Tours feature views from the top of the exhibits, the vet clinic and surgical room, the commissary and the filtration system.
Home Depot and Coca-Cola Made it Happen
The Georgia Aquarium opened in 2005 on 9.5 acres of land donated by the Coca-Cola Company, which opened its new World of Coca-Cola museum next door in 2007.
The aquarium cost more than $320 million and was funded through a gift of more than $250 million by Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot, and his wife, Billi. Sixty exhibits are housed in the 580,000-square-foot building with an exterior designed to resemble a ship breaking through a wave.
In 2010, the aquarium plans to open a $110 million dolphin exhibit, adding an additional 84,000 square feet of space. The 1.3-million-gallon exhibit will feature dolphin shows and opportunities for dolphin encounters with visitors.
The Georgia Aquarium honors CityPass tickets and partners in combo tickets with Atlanta area attractions such as World of Coca-Cola, CNN, Stone Mountain and the Atlanta History Center, which operates the Margaret Mitchell House. Passes help make Atlanta an affordable vacation destination.
Current hours and ticket prices appear on the Georgia Aquarium Web site.
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