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New Georgia aquarium is the largest in world

By Joshua Owens
[email protected]
Staff Writer

As childern watch, a gigantic tuna swims past. Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the world, is now receiving visitors in Atlanta.

The aquarium, which took nearly three years to complete, opened on Nov. 23, 2005, boasts the square footage of approximately 550,000 and water volume of over 8 million gallons.

The exhibits, according to georgiaaquarium.org, display 100,000 marine creatures representing 500 species in five separate galleries: Ocean Voyager, Georgia Explorer, Cold Water Quest, River Scout and Tropical Diver.

A scubadiver swims above the shark tunnel as aquarium visitors stroll underneath. The Ocean Voyager, with its 6 million gallons of water, is the largest of the galleries. This exhibit emulates the rich biodiversity of a major coral reef off the coast of Central America, the Meso American Barrier Reef.

The Georgia Explorer is an interactive gallery. It has �touch-pools� � similar to a petting zoo � where patrons have the opportunity to feel stingrays, sea stars, horseshoe crabs and shrimp.

The Cold Water Quest displays, true to its namesake, sea-dwellers in comparatively colder regions. The Quest showcases sea dragons, giant octopi and the noted beluga whale.

Norton, the whale shark, swims happily in the largest tank in the aquarium. The River Scout brings the African safari to Georgia. There are also specimens from South America and Asia, like the arapaima, a famed Amazon resident, as well as electric eels and voracious piranhas.

The Tropical Diver exhibit at the end of the tour features rare tropical coral and exotic mariners like yellow-head jawfish and fairy basslets.

Visitors wait from five to thirty minutes in the queue before entering the aquarium but online reservation is available at georgiaaquarium.org. Admission is $22.75 for adults.

Dining accommodations are provided by the Caf� Aquaria, which offers several restaurants � including Ben & Jerry�s Ice Cream. For more information visit georgiaaquarium.org.