A public aquarium ( pl. aquaria ) or public water zoo is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo , which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, as well as smaller tanks.
27-546: The Boston Aquarial Gardens (1859-1860) was a public aquarium in Boston , Massachusetts , established by James Ambrose Cutting and Henry D Butler. The "conservatories [were] filled with rare marine animals imported and collected exclusively for this establishment; ... a perfect and striking illustration of life beneath the waters." The business was located on Bromfield Street in the Financial District . In 1860 it moved to
54-457: A speakeasy during Prohibition and later held large fish which no longer fit the Belle Isle Zoo's gallery tanks. Closed circuit television allowed remote viewing of these fish. The aquarium was slightly remodeled in the 1950s. Attendance was on a declining trend in the final decade of its first run: 113,000 visitors toured the aquarium in 1995, but only 56,000 in 2004. On 14 January 2005,
81-558: A day, but gave greater emphasis to groundbreaking scientific research . The aquarium also captured other orcas, belugas , narwhals and dolphins . The Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first public aquarium to display a great white shark . Beginning in September 2004, the Outer Bay exhibit (now the Open Sea galleries) was the home to the first in a series of great white sharks. The shark was at
108-572: A multiple-story Atlantic Coral Reef. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a shallow tank filled with common types of rays which visitors are encouraged to touch. The South Carolina Aquarium lets visitors feed the rays in their Saltmarsh Aviary exhibit. The largest public aquarium is the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park, opened in 2014 in Hengqin , Zhuhai , with a total of 48.75 million litres (12.87 million US gal) of water. The second largest
135-521: A new facility nearby, on Central Court, off Washington Street , and re-opened as the Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens . 42°21′25″N 71°03′36″W / 42.357°N 71.060°W / 42.357; -71.060 Public aquarium Since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular and their numbers have increased. Most modern accredited aquariums stress conservation issues and educating
162-571: A suspected rare case of parthenogenesis . There are several species at the Aquarium that are critically endangered or extinct in the wild. The Belle Isle Aquarium offers various education programs focused on water and environmental conservation that serve both students and educators from the elementary to university levels. The Aquarium has a formal partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to assist with repopulating sturgeon in
189-491: Is the Marine Life Park in southern Singapore with a total of 45 million litres (12 million US gal) of water for more than 100,000 marine animals of over 800 species. Most public aquariums are located close to the ocean , for a steady supply of natural seawater. An inland pioneer was Chicago's Shedd Aquarium that received seawater shipped by rail in special tank cars. The early (1911) Philadelphia Aquarium , built in
216-599: The Florida Aquarium , have aquatic aviaries . Modern aquariums also include land animals and plants that spend time in or near the water. For marketing purposes, many aquariums promote special exhibits, in addition to their permanent collections. Some have aquatic versions of a petting zoo . The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland houses several exhibits including the Upland Tropical Rain Forest and
243-489: The Hamburg Zoo from 1863 to 1866, served until 1874. With its emphasis on education , the public aquarium was designed like a grotto, part of it made of natural rock. The Geologische Grotte depicted "the strata of the earth 's crust ". The grotto also featured birds and pools for seals . The Aquarium Unter den Linden was a three-story building. Machinery and water tanks were on the ground floor, and aquarium basins for
270-912: The Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris and the Viennese Aquarium Salon (both founded 1860), the Marine Aquarium Temple as part of the Zoological Garden of Hamburg in Hamburg (1864), as well as aquariums in Berlin (1869) and Brighton (1872). The old Berlin Aquarium opened in 1869. The building site was to be Unter den Linden (along a major avenue), in the centre of town, not at the Berlin Zoo . The aquarium's first director, Alfred Brehm , former director of
297-633: The Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver , British Columbia , is a centre for marine research, conservation, and marine animal rehabilitation, particularly for the ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest. In 1964, the Vancouver Aquarium became the second aquarium to capture an orca , Moby Doll . He survived in captivity for just under three months, and the aquarium put him on display to the public for
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#1733092359532324-458: The fish on the first floor. Because of Brehm's special interest in birds, a huge aviary , with cages for mammals placed around it, was located on the second floor. The facility closed in 1910. The Artis aquarium at Amsterdam Zoo was constructed inside a Victorian building in 1882, and was renovated in 1997. At the end of the 19th century the Artis aquarium was considered state-of-the-art, as it
351-628: The Charleston harbour. In January 1985, Kelly Tarlton began construction of the first aquarium to include a large transparent acrylic tunnel, Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in Auckland , New Zealand. Construction took 10 months and cost NZ$ 3 million. The 110-metre (360 ft) tunnel was built from one- tonne (2,200-lb) slabs of German sheet plastic that were shaped locally in an oven. A moving walkway now transports visitors through, and groups of school children occasionally hold sleepovers there beneath
378-852: The Shedd Aquarium was the largest in the United States until the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta opened in 2005. Entertainment and aquatic circus exhibits were combined as themes in Philadelphia's Aquarama Aquarium Theater of the Sea (1962–1969) and Camden 's re-invented Adventure Aquarium 2005, formerly the New Jersey State Aquarium (1992). The first Japanese public aquarium, a small freshwater aquarium called " Uonozoki " (now Tokyo Sea Life Park),
405-475: The aquarium by an overwhelming margin (88% in favor, 12% opposed). However, the vote was non-binding and the aquarium remained closed. In 2010, supporters of the aquarium were still trying to find donors to help defray the building's operating costs. Although the building was closed between 2005 and 2012, goldfish and koi from an outside pond were housed in the aquarium during the winter. Each year in February,
432-596: The aquarium for 198 days (the previous record was 16 days). The shark was released on 31 March 2005. The Adventure Aquarium in New Jersey has hippos . The Aquarium du Québec houses polar bears . Belle Isle Aquarium The Belle Isle Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Belle Isle Park in Detroit , Michigan . Designed by noted architects George D. Mason and Albert Kahn , it opened on August 18, 1904, and
459-430: The aquarium on a limited basis. The aquarium was reopened on 18 August 2012, the 108th anniversary of its opening. The Aquarium now operates with free public admission, welcoming visitors Friday-Sunday from 10am - 4pm, thanks to community funding and the efforts of Belle Isle Conservancy. In 2005, the aquarium had 60 exhibits with a total tank volume of 32,000 U.S. gallons (120,000 L; 27,000 imp gal), and
486-512: The aquarium opened for a day for the annual "Shiver on the River," a fund raising event to promote public support of Belle Isle non-profit groups including the Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium. On 14 August 2012, The Belle Isle Conservancy, a non-profit volunteer group established in 2011 from the merger of the Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium and other Belle Isle non-profit groups, announced the re-opening of
513-521: The city of Detroit announced that the aquarium would be closed to save $ 530,000 annually, with the staff being reassigned to the Detroit Zoo or the Belle Isle Zoo, and the fish transferred to other aquariums. It was originally scheduled to close on March 1. Although an extension was granted to the Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium to come up with a fund raising plan, the aquarium was closed on April 3, 2005. On August 3, 2005, Detroit citizens voted to reopen
540-430: The city's disused water works , had to switch to treated city water when the nearby river became too contaminated. Similarly, the recently opened Georgia Aquarium filled its tanks with fresh water from the city water system and salinated its saltwater exhibits using the same commercial salt and mineral additives available to home aquarists. The South Carolina Aquarium pulls the salt water for their exhibits right out of
567-793: The public. The first public aquarium was opened in London Zoo in May 1853; the Fish House , as it came to be known, was constructed much like a greenhouse . P.T. Barnum quickly followed in 1856 with the first American aquarium as part of his established Barnum's American Museum , which was located on Broadway in New York City before it burned down. In 1859, the Aquarial Gardens were founded in Boston . A number of aquariums then opened in Europe, such as
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#1733092359532594-507: The swimming sharks and rays. According to Samantha Muka, creating new public aquariums is an expensive process, that can become so expensive as to render the project economically unsustainable, due to the logistical demands of creating environments in which aquatic animals can survive. Public aquariums are often affiliated with oceanographic research institutions or conduct their research programs, and sometimes specialise in species and ecosystems that can be found in local waters. For example,
621-782: Was again at the end of the 20th century. Before its closing on 30 September 2013, the oldest American aquarium was the National Aquarium in Washington, D.C. , founded in 1873. This was followed by the opening of other public aquariums: San Francisco ( Woodward's Gardens , 1873–1890), Woods Hole ( Woods Hole Science Aquarium , 1885), New York City ( New York Aquarium , 1896–present), San Diego ( Scripps , 1903), Honolulu ( Waikiki Aquarium , 1904–present), Detroit ( Belle Isle Aquarium , 1904–2005, 2012–Present), Philadelphia ( Philadelphia Aquarium , 1911–1962), San Francisco ( Steinhart Aquarium , 1923), Chicago ( Shedd Aquarium , 1929). For many years,
648-463: Was home to over 1,500 fish of 146 species. The aquarium largely featured freshwater species native to the Great Lakes region, but also had salt-water species from around the world. Currently the aquarium over 200 species of aquatic animals. The aquarium made news in 2002 when one of its female white-spotted bamboo sharks gave birth to two young despite not having been near a male in six years, in
675-519: Was opened at the Ueno Zoo in 1882. Modern aquarium tanks can hold millions of litres of water and can house large species, including dolphins , sharks or beluga whales . This is accomplished through thick, clear acrylic glass windows. Aquatic and semiaquatic mammals, including otters and seals are often cared for at aquariums. Some establishments, such as the Oregon Coast Aquarium or
702-552: Was operated by the Detroit Zoological Society prior to the 2005 closure. It is currently operated by the Belle Isle Conservancy . The Belle Isle Aquarium opened on 18 August 1904. According to the address given at the opening ceremony, when it opened it was the third largest aquarium in the world. When it opened it held a total of 65,007 US gallons (246,080 L) of water. The aquarium basement served as
729-504: Was the oldest continually operating public aquarium in North America when it closed on April 3, 2005. The aquarium reopened to the public on August 18, 2012, and is now run entirely by Belle Isle Conservancy, a 501(c)3 non-profit partner to Belle Isle park. The 10,000-square-foot (930 m ) historic building features a single large gallery with an arched ceiling covered in green glass tile to evoke an underwater feeling. The aquarium
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