The Georgia Aquarium in the southern city of Atlanta calls itself the largest aquarium in the world. It is filled with thousands of fish, large and small, from all over the world. It is a very popular place for visitors who want to learn more about the wonders of the underwater world. Faith Lapidus tells us more.
FAITH LAPIDUS: (SOUND) Two huge walls of fish greet visitors to the Georgia Aquarium. The jack fish inside these tall tanks swim back and forth quickly. They are lit with a striking blue light and seem to glow in the dark room. Visitors can choose to visit rooms with river fish and animals, or they can explore creatures found in warm tropical waters.
In the "Coldwater Quest" exhibit, visitors can watch three large white beluga whales. These beautiful creatures live in the coldest northern waters. They are the only whales with necks that fully bend. Belugas are also known as "canaries of the sea" because of the high-pitched noises they make underwater. (SOUND) Watching them in the aquarium is a special experience. Their muscular bodies swim gracefully through the water.
The "Ocean Voyager" exhibit is home to many stingrays, hammerhead sharks and groupers. It also has two manta rays, the only ones in an American aquarium. Most exciting of all, this exhibit also holds several whale sharks. These huge creatures are the largest fish in the world. Despite their name, they are not whales. The Georgia Aquarium is the only aquarium in the United States that exhibits these huge fish.
To make all these creatures visible, museum experts built huge walls of acrylic material that is over half a meter thick. One viewing window is about eighteen meters wide by seven meters tall. But to really experience this ocean world, you can enter a tunnel and watch the fish swimming above you.
The exhibits teach young visitors about the importance of protecting sea creatures and the environments they live in.
But the Georgia Aquarium is more than just a museum. It partners with the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine to operate the Correll Center for Aquatic Animal Health. The group says this is the first and only teaching hospital for animals to operate within an aquarium.
