The Georgia Aquarium

The Georgia Aquarium opened it's doors on November 23, 2005 as an absolutely magnificent gift to the residents of the State of Georgia by Bernie and Billi Marcus and The Marcus Foundation (Bernie is co-founder of The Home Depot).   As a gesture of his appreciation to the citizens of Atlanta and the State of Georgia for helping him achieve the growth potential of The Home Depot over the years, Bernie and The Marcus Foundation donated over $250 million to build this facility.

At over 6.2 million gallons (almost 23.5 million liters), The Georgia Aquarium is the largest in the world.  The aquarium is located adjacent to downtown Atlanta and next to Centennial Olympic Park.  The Georgia Aquarium is also the only facility outside Taiwan to display the enourmous whale shark found in the Pacific Ocean near the coasts of Japan and Taiwan.   There are over 100,000 animals from 500 species housed in this facility that comprises both fresh and salt water.  Backdrops that give the perception of eternity and unique lighting in each display offer sights that were often before unseen.

The Georgia Aquarium is comprised of six different exhibit areas, each comprised of animals and plants from specific regions or ecosystems around the world:

4-D Theatre & Deepo's 3-D Wondershow:  Combines a wide array of special effects with digital projection and high definition 3-D film to create an exciting and adventurous experience.  Great for kids and adults alike.  If you've ever been to Disney's Animal Kingdom and gone through the film at the "Big Tree", it's very similar.

Tropical Diver:  As the name implies, this exhibit contains species from around the world found in tropical warm waters.   Experience elegant garden eels that pop from the sandy bottom, watch the slow and graceful sea nettles as their tentacles drape behind them in front of a seemingly endless background of bright blue.  Striking colors from coral reefs in peril around the globe are surrounded by surgeonfish, longnose seahorses and Forceps Butterflyfish.

Ocean Voyager:  This is by far the largest of the individual exhibits at The Georgia Aquarium and easily my favorite.  It was designed specifically to house the whale sharks but to also mimic the conditions and represent the diversity of marine life found in the Meso American Barrier Reef of Central America.  Fish seen here are the whale sharks, potato and giant grouper, golden trevally, great hammerhead sharks, large tooth sawfish and cownose stingrays.

Coldwater Quest:  An exhibit outlining the cold water regions of the earth that house some of the most productive commercial fisheries found in nature - many of which are in peril.  From California sea lions to Japanese spider crabs, you'll definately get an up close look at the marine life found in the cold regions of the earth here.

River Scout:  Ecosystems found in various river systems around the world from the mighty Mississippi that divides the United States to the Amazon and Nile rivers that flow for thousands of miles from their origins.

Georgia Explorer:  An up close look at some of the marine life found off the coast of Georgia.  Take the opportunity to touch southern and cownose stingrays (stingers removed!), starfish and/or brown shrimp.   Or study up on the endangered loggerhead turtle that nests on Georgia's barrier island.  This exhibit contains a lot of stuff for children and therefore is kindy noisy.

My visit to The Georgia Aquarium was a fantastic one and definately something that I'll do over and over again.  My advice:  GO EARLY and preferably Monday - Thursday if possible.  Otherwise, expect a lot of crowds on weekends and inconsiderate 'breeders' from the suburbs with their strollers and noisy kids.  I also highly recommend advance purchase tickets!  Click here to visit the website of The Georgia Aquarium for hours of operation, ticket prices and directions.  Easy access from CNN, Centennial Olympic Park, World of Coca-Cola (reopens May 26, 2007), Phillips Arena, Georgia World Congress Center and MARTA Mass Transit.