The Georgia Aquarium is a municipal aquarium in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States on land donated by the Coca-Cola Company and was the world’s largest aquarium when it was opened. It is located on the north of Centennial Olympic Park and is close to the Georgia dome, the Georgia World Congress Center, Philips Arena and CNN Center. It is a home to more than 100,000 animals, representing 500 species encircled in a covered area of 550,000 square feet, in 10 million US gallons (38,000 m3) of marine salt and fresh water.
The Aquarium was inaugurated on November 21, 2005 with 60 animal habitats after 27 months of construction. The credit for the creation of the aquarium, ranging from the design of the structure to the acquirement of animals for the exhibits goes to the Jeff Swanagan, the Aquarium’s founding president and executive director till 2008.It is a constituent of the Smithsonian Affiliations program.
The Aquarium’s eminent exhibit include four young whale sharks, four beluga whales, eleven bottlenose dolphins and four manta rays. Its blue metal-and-glass exterior indicates to conjure a giant ark breaking through a wave. The 16,400 square feet (1,520 m2) Oceans Ballroom holds 1100 seated visitors (1600 standing) and stresses on two 10 by 28 feet (3.0 m × 8.5 m) windows into whale shark and beluga whale specimens.
The aquarium’s animals are demonstrated in the following six distinct galleries each corresponding to a specific environment:-
· Georgia Explorer featuring numerous touch tanks with rays, sharks, sea turtles and the wildlife of Gray’s Reef.
· River Scout features an overhead river where the guests can view the North American fish along with other local exhibits.
· Dolphin Tales is the aquarium’s newest addition housing the indoor dolphin stadium.
· Cold Water Quest features animals from the polar and temperate regions of the world.
· Ocean Voyager is the world’s largest aquatic habitat featuring the world’s second largest viewing window.
· Tropical Diver features Indo-Pacific tropical fishes.
The aquarium also showcases a “4D”movie “Deepo’s Undersea 3D Wondershow” , a sector with different specimens of frogs and other attractions.
On January 1, 2011, the aquarium bought Marineland of Florida for $9.1 million from Jim Jacoby, a metro Atlanta developer and member of the aquarium’s board of directors. The aquarium is associated with Georgia Tech and Georgia State University in Atlanta and the University of Georgia in order to help to protect the endangered species by means of education and research programs since long.
Photos Of Georgia Aquarium
