The Great Lakes Aquarium opened in 2000 and is located on the Duluth waterfront. A 501(c)(3) private nonprofit, Great Lakes Aquarium features animals and habitats found within the Great Lakes basin and other worldwide ecosystems such as the Amazon River or Pacific reefs. The aquarium houses 205 different species of fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. It is one of few aquariums in the United States that focuses predominantly on freshwater exhibits.
31-529: Many of the main exhibits at 62,000-square-foot (5,800 m) Great Lakes Aquarium (GLA) are based upon actual habitats in the Lake Superior basin. "Slices" of the Saint Louis River , Baptism River, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore , Kakagon Slough, Isle Royale and Otter Cove can all be viewed up close. The 85,000-US-gallon (320,000 L) Isle Royale is the main exhibit located in the very center of
62-511: A primary focus on sturgeon from Russian and North Asian waters. Several species of those sturgeon including Beluga, Sevruga, Sterlet and Russian. Most originated from Sturgeon Aquafarms in Florida. Opened in 2019, Raptor Ridge is home to a Bald Eagle, Bogey, and a Turkey Vulture, Horus, both of which are non-releasable. This exhibit explores migration, rehabilitation, and care of birds of prey species. Origins explores how life came to be today. Follow
93-405: A result of significant sediment contamination and habitat loss (see next section). The Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) was established in 1971 to address serious pollution problems in the lower Saint Louis River Basin. WLSSD's regional wastewater treatment plant began operating in 1978. Within two years, fish populations rebounded and anglers began returning to the river. In 2013
124-565: A sign that a healthy fish population could grow on its own. Minnesota even began allowing catch-and-release fishing last year." The Saint Louis River Trail Association is planning the construction of a long-distance hiking trail along more than half the length of the river. Construction of the first 36-mile segment began in early 2012, with cooperation from the Minnesota DNR ; the trail association hopes to have this section completed in 2015. Gary Doty Gary Doty (born February 5, 1948)
155-608: A state park), and then paddled on to the Mississippi River. By the mid 20th century, the lower Saint Louis River became one of the most heavily polluted waterways in the state. Holling Clancy Holling , in his 1941 book Paddle-to-the-Sea , illustrated the polluted state of the Saint Louis River. In 1987, the river became a designated Area of Concern, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency as
186-463: A task force to improve the facility's long-term viability. Later that year the city took over managerial control of the Aquarium and briefly closed it. In May 2003, management of Great Lakes Aquarium was turned over to Ripley's Entertainment , Leisure Entertainment Corporation, best known for its "Believe it or Not" museums. The company eliminated 2/3 of aquarium staff and cut costs, bringing it back from
217-512: Is 192 miles (309 km) in length and starts 13 miles (21 km) east of Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota . The river's watershed covers 3,634 square miles (9,410 km ). Near the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin , the river becomes a freshwater estuary . According to Warren Upham , the Ojibwe name of the river is Gichigami-ziibi (Great-lake River). He notes: "The river
248-576: Is also a wide variety of interactive electronic exhibits located throughout the museum. Great Lakes Aquarium also features a local history center, a science center and cultural exhibits. The current exhibit opened in July 2014. Titled "Shipwrecks Alive!" It features how sea life makes their home in shipwrecks. It profiles the wreck of the SS America which wrecked in 1918 near Isle Royal. In May 2010, Great Lakes Aquarium opened rotating exhibit "Masters of Disguise" in
279-590: Is an American politician from Duluth , Minnesota , and a former mayor of that city. Doty was born in Duluth to parents Russell and Naomi Doty, and was educated in the public school system there, graduating from Central High School in 1966, before going on to the University of Minnesota Duluth . After graduating in 1970 with a B.S. in education, he was involved with a Young Advocate Program, which entailed work with children from correctional institutions. He also taught in
310-477: Is an exhibit featuring two North American river otters , Agate and Ore. The female otters, believed to be sisters, arrived at the Aquarium in early 2014. They were captured in live traps near a crayfish farm in Louisiana when they were not yet 2-years-old. Great Lakes Aquarium acquired Agate and Ore through a special program to relocate otters that might otherwise have been exterminated as "nuisance animals". Otter Cove
341-621: Is called the Rivière du Fond du Lac, and the map by Gilles Robert de Vaugondy (1755) and Jonathan Carver 's map (1778) is the earliest to give the present name." The river was a vital link connecting the Mississippi River waterways to the west with the Great Lakes to the east. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the St. Louis River competed with the St. Croix River as a candidate for a canal linking
SECTION 10
#1732851309162372-633: The St. Louis County Board of Commissioners during the 1980s. Doty was elected mayor of Duluth in November 1991, taking office in January 1992. He was subsequently re-elected to two additional four-year terms. He retired from office in January 2004. He was known for his socially conservative and fiscally moderate approach to governing. He was a strong proponent of the Great Lakes Aquarium , opened in 2000, which
403-535: The AOC. An impairment of beneficial uses means a change in the chemical, physical or biological integrity of the Great Lakes system sufficient to cause significant environmental degradation . A 1992 Remedial Action Plan determined that nine "beneficial use impairments" existed in the AOC including: As shown above, some of these impairments have already been removed. Once all nine Beneficial Use Impairments have been removed, application can be made for delisting, which means
434-587: The Duluth Public School system. In 1974, Doty was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives representing the old District 8A. He served from 1975–1976, and was a member of the Crime Prevention & Corrections, Governmental Operations, and Labor-Management Relations committees. His brother Ralph served as a state senator for the Duluth area during this same time period. Doty served on
465-641: The Duluth/Superior Harbor and Lake Superior, and the Nemadji River watershed. Draining 3,634 square miles (9,410 km ) of watershed and encompassing a 1,020-square-mile (2,600 km ) area, the St. Louis River is the second largest U.S.-based AOC. As the largest tributary to Lake Superior, the St. Louis River is vital to the regional economy and encompasses the Port of Duluth-Superior, an essential port for Great Lakes shipping. Historical industrial use of
496-422: The Mississippi River with the Great Lakes. The US Army Corps of Engineers ultimately concluded in 1913 that such a canal would be "inadvisable, infeasible, and impractical". Jay Cooke State Park is located near the mouth of the river and is the site of a canoe portage used by Native Americans, European explorers, fur traders, Voyageurs , coureurs des bois , and missionaries of the 18th and 19th centuries. It
527-567: The Sandra and Roger Karon Exhibit Hall. This intriguing attraction explores camouflage, coloring, mimicry and other visual tricks and behaviors that help sea creatures and land animals hide in plain sight. Shape-shifting fish, plant-like insects and color-changing reptiles are among the many new creatures featured. Prior rotating exhibits include "The Abyss: the Great Unknown" which ended in 2010, "Africa's Lake Victoria" which ended in 2003 and "Hunters of
558-555: The Sky" which ended in September 2001. Construction took 3.5 years and cost around $ 34 million. An office area at the rear of the first floor has been cleared out to host conferences, birthday parties and other pre-arranged events. There are harbor views from this area and other parts of the museum. When visitors enter the museum, they are encouraged to ride the escalator to the upper level first through Sensory Immersion Experience and continue onto
589-686: The State of Minnesota ended a project intended to research the mercury problem in the river. The cooperating agencies, including Wisconsin DNR and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, did not agree to end the study. In 2024, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency began the process to develop a St. Louis River Watershed Mercury Total Maximum Daily Load, with a goal of obtaining EPA approval in 2027. High levels of mercury in fish tissue have resulted in
620-479: The building, and it extends to both the first and second floors allowing visitors to view it from many different angles. It contains a variety of Minnesota native fish including perch, panfish, trout, lake sturgeon , and gar. Baptism River is a fast-moving exhibit featuring a waterfall. It contains kamloops and siscowet. The Saint Louis River exhibit is a slow-moving river habitat with perch, walleye, sturgeon, channel catfish, and other native species. Otter Cove
651-514: The earths timeline from before animals appeared to current day. Animals featured include Corals, Invertebrates, Alligators, Grayling, Opossums, and Skunks A variety of animals that are found right outside your back door. Species include a crow, snake, frogs, turtle, and chipmunk. Exhibit aims to teach about our most local ecosystem. An exhibit featuring invasive species from around the world. Satellite tanks are at various locations and contain animals such as fish, frogs, salamanders and snakes. There
SECTION 20
#1732851309162682-616: The ecological benefits of the St. Louis River have been restored to an acceptable level. The river is fished for walleye , northern pike , smallmouth bass , largemouth bass , bluegill , black crappie , and channel catfish populations. Other species of rough fish include Shorthead Redhorse and White Sucker . The river is frequented by those traveling the Minnesota DNR Saint Louis River Water Trail, which has campsites and angling. Attempts to introduce sturgeon are underway by restoring habitat, stocking
713-405: The exhibit floor. Plans for new exhibit galleries and expanded educational outreach are ongoing. GLA is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. Saint Louis River (Lake Superior tributary) The Saint Louis River (abbreviated St. Louis River ) is a river in the U.S. states of Minnesota and Wisconsin that flows into Lake Superior . The largest U.S. river to flow into the lake, it
744-500: The fish, and monitoring their movements. While native to the river at one time, overfishing and pollution nearly wiped them out many years ago. In 1983 the DNR, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and others began rebuilding spawning habitat and introducing baby sturgeon into the river. In 2016 MPR reported, "Slowly, steadily, numbers increased as the stocked fish took hold in the river. Five years ago, tribal biologists found their first fry from naturally reproducing sturgeon,
775-481: The immediate threat of permanent closure. Under successive declining years of attendance, Ripley's ended its relationship with the Aquarium in 2007. At that time, the board of directors decided to return management of the facility back to local control and recruited Jack LaVoy to serve as executive director. Since 2008, a philosophy of continuous improvement has been adopted starting with a program called "The Three R's"; repair, replace or remove all defective exhibits from
806-573: The issuance of fish consumption guidance by the Minnesota Department of Health. The St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC) is one of 43 AOCs across the Great Lakes designated under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement ;in 1987. It is a bi-state (Minnesota and Wisconsin) AOC. The AOC boundary includes the lower 39 miles (63 km) of the St. Louis River, from upstream of Cloquet , Minnesota, to its mouth at
837-430: The lower level later. Great Lakes Aquarium opened its doors on July 29, 2000. It was built (on land donated by Duluth philanthropists Julia and Caroline Marshall) with a combination of state and local funds as well more than $ 6 million in private donations. While well attended in those opening months, construction delays resulted in a loss of around 30% of anticipated revenues that year. In 2002, Mayor Gary Doty appointed
868-418: The river, before the onset of modern environmental laws, has resulted in the degradation of habitat and sediments contaminated with: mercury, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other toxins. Pollutants in the AOC are also due to: historical discharges, Superfund sites, discharges from wastewater and from landfills, and other point-source discharges within
899-560: Was a rough trail of steep hills and swamps that began at the foot of the rapids above the neighborhood of Fond du Lac ("bottom of the lake") and climbed some 450 feet (140 m) to the present-day city of Carlton . Above Carlton, travelers proceeded upstream and continued on to Lake Vermillion and the Rainy River. Or they may have traveled southwest up the East Savanna River, portaged the grueling 6-mile long Savanna Portage (now
930-616: Was designed after a cove in Pukaskwa National Park in Ontario. Amazing Amazon opened in the summer of 2008. It features freshwater creatures from the largest river in the world. This includes Pacu , Arowana , Piranha , Catfish, Electric Eels, Discus. Opened in 2016, Unsalted Seas explores large lakes of the world and the animals that call them home. The exhibit features the second largest sturgeon touch pool in North America with
961-458: Was probably so named by Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (1685–1749), who was a very active explorer, in the years 1731 and onward. Shortly before his death the king of France in 1749 conferred on him the cross of Saint Louis as a recognition of the importance of his discoveries, and thence the name of the Saint Louis River appears to have come. On Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin 's map (1688) and Philippe Buache 's map (1754), it