Top 10 Interesting Facts about the Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia. (2024)

Top 10 Interesting Facts about the Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia.

The Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia is the United States’ largest aquarium. The public facility is based in Atlanta’s downtown area.

The aquarium was started by Bernard Marcus. The vision Marcus had was to gift Atlanta an economic growth and education focussed aquarium.

Marcus received financial and in-kind support from corporates. Together with his $250 million donations towards the project, the aquarium was completed in less than two years.

The Georgia Aquarium(GA) was opened in 2005. It houses hundreds of species exhibits. There are thousands of animal exhibits as well. Get to know the Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia 10 Fun realities.

1. Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia was once the world’s largest aquarium

When the aquarium was opened in 2005 it boasted of being the number one largest aquarium in the globe. The water held was 42 million liters or 11 million US gallons. Other aquariums beat the record as provided by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The largest aquarium around the world is the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China. Chimelong is estimated to hold 13 million US gallons of water.

In second place is Singapore’s S.E.A. Aquarium. It holds about 12 million gallons or 45 million liters of water. That leaves Georgia Aquarium in third place.

2. The Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia is United States’ largest aquarium

3. The Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia took less than two years to construct

Construction of the Georgia Aquarium started in May 2003. The aquarium opened to the public on 23 November 2005.

The aquarium which is 550,000 square feet took less than two years to construct. The Georgia Aquarium has a car parking garage that can allow about 1600 cars. It was also completed within the same time.

The huge structure is not all about animal habitation. The aquarium has other facilities within it. Such as a ballroom that is 16400 square foot sized.

There is a 4-D theater, a gift shop, and foodservice kitchens in the aquarium. Another massive installation in the Georgia Aquarium is the air conditioning, heating, and ventilation system.

The temperature regulating system handles the right environment for the animal habitats. It makes over 9000 options every minute. Its capacity can be equated to about 1200 homes of average size.

4. The Georgia Aquarium was debt-free at its opening

Bernard Marcus made known his idea to build an aquarium in Atlanta in November 2001. He visited 13 countries and 56 aquariums to get exposure to what the venture entailed.

Marcus and Billi, his wife gave 250 million dollars to aid the construction of the Georgia Aquarium. They received a $40 million contribution from corporates.

Some companies made their contributions in kind. Like the Coca-Cola Company gave nine acres for the location of the aquarium. UPS also gave in-kind support by helping in the transportation of the animals to the facility.

The other companies that gave are such as The Home Depot, where Marcus is a co-founder. In the list also BellSouth, SunTrust Bank, Southern Company, AirTran Airways, and Georgia-Pacific. The six companies are among those that sponsored the galleries and the 4-D theatre of the aquarium.

The Learning Loop was sponsored by Turner Broadcasting System. Individuals gave via the program FishScales. All the contributions enabled the Georgia Aquarium to open a debt-free status.

5. The Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia has notable species

The whale shark species is the aquarium’s centerpiece. The exhibit has 24 million liters or 6.3 million US gallons of water. In the other exhibits are beluga whales, manta rays, California sea lions, and bottlenose dolphins.

6. Georgia Aquarium has its animal habitats in seven galleries

The galleries are known as Cold Water Quest, Aquanaut Adventure, and Ocean Voyager. Also, Dolphin Coast and Tropical Diver add up to the list. The Southern Company River Scout and Truist Pier 225 complete the exhibits list.

7. The Georgia Aquarium has more volunteers than staff

The aquarium has over 500 employees. At any given time the aquarium has over 1000 volunteers.

8. Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia first 100 days of opening received a million visitors

The number of visitors that streamed in within the first 100 days of Georgia’s Aquarium was a record one million visits. Yet the admission charges are among the U.S. highest prices.

The aquarium recorded three million visitors in August 2006. In May 2007 the number was five million. As of June 2009, the aquarium reported ten million visitors.

9. The Georgia Aquarium ensures high security

Other than the security staff deployed in the aquarium, extra security is in place. There are almost 100 proximity card readers and video cameras.

All visitors are checked before entering the aquarium. Objects like lighters, knives, guns, and matches are forbidden in the vicinity. Fish safety is regarded resulting in warnings against straws in the aquarium.

10. The Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia has among the best aquatic health center on the globe

Georgia Aquarium has a state-of-the-art aquatic animal health center. The center is known as Correll Center for Aquatic Animal Health.

The Georgia Aquarium offers a clinical medicine and aquatic animal pathology complete program at the Correll Center.

The Georgia Aquarium is featured in the Ben 10 movie. Here are more fast fascinating certainties of the Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia that missed out on the list.

The animals at Georgia Aquarium came at a cost

The aquarium is no exception to animal rights groups’ criticism. The critics claim the animals would be better if left in their wild habitats rather than be enclosed.

The majority of the Georgia Aquarium animals came from other aquariums, zoos, and fish farms. Some animals were rescued by the aquarium staff from endangered living conditions.

Georgia Aquarium in partnership with United Parcel Service (UPS) brought fish from Taiwan. Air, Land, and Sea transportation were used by UPS to deliver the animals to the aquarium.

Georgia Aquarium uses a gantry crane to feed the animals

The aquarium’s animal meals are prepared in special design kitchens with high standards observed in the kitchens. Feeding the animals is done using a gantry crane that is placed on rails over the width of the tank.

Georgia Aquarium’s water is recycled

Georgia Aquarium uses the equal amount of water an average supermarket would use. This is because the aquarium has a system that treats, cleans, and recycles its water.

The Atlanta Aquarium, Georgia has held to its purpose

The vision of the facility was to be an education and economic growth aquarium. The aquarium has observed its purpose.

The signs and touch screens on all exhibits give details about the inhabitants’ held.

The aquarium has a Learning Loop dedicated to education and research. It is fitted with hands-on activities and labs for students of all age groups.

The loop is separate from the visitor area and takes up an entire floor. It offers professional development summer classes to teachers. In a year an estimate of 70000 students engages with the loop’s program.