For this week, I wanted to take a break from the normal formula to talk about a recent opportunity I had a little while back. About a week ago, I got to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, and visit the city's aquarium. I thought it was an awesome experience, and I wanted to take the chance to talk about what the aquarium offers, for any who may be considering visiting it for the first time. I will be splitting this review up into three parts, this being the first one. Each post will be focused on reviewing different aspects of the aquarium. This first post will be an introduction to the aquarium, detailing what exactly the aquarium offers in both wildlife and entertainment. So, without further ado, let's dive into what exactly the Georgia Aquarium has to offer.
In the aquarium
In total, the aquarium hosts six different sections, each showcasing different types of animals and their habitats. In this post, I will talk about what each section offers, and then at the end discuss what I think of the overall entertainment value. The six sections I will be talking about in this post are: Cold Water Quest, Ocean Voyager, Tropical Diver, Pier 225, and River Scout. First, I will talk about my thoughts on Cold Water Quest.
Cold Water Quest
In this area, guests can take a walk through icy, arctic climates, and view animals such as penguins, beluga whales, sea otters, sea dragons, octopuses, and much more. It has a few stand out animals, the most noticeable being the beluga whales and the penguins. What impressed me the most about this section was the scale and ingenuity found within the exhibits. In the penguin area, they have a built in tunnel system that allows guests to crawl through the penguin exhibit and see them up close. In the beluga exhibit, they had one huge, glass viewing area that allowed guests to see the whale's entire habitat. Both experiences were surprisingly immersive, and it was fun to see the animals from different angles.
Ocean Voyager
This for me was the most interesting area in the Georgia Aquarium. Centered around one giant tank, the Ocean Voyager exhibit is home to dozens of different aquatic species, most notably three whale sharks. The Georgia Aquarium is the only aquarium in the United States to have whale sharks, and they are astonishing. The ocean voyager section consists of two main areas: a tunnel through the main tank, allowing you to look above and to the side to see animals, and one huge, flat viewing area that allows you to see everything, including this cute little zebra shark I managed to snap a poor picture of:
Tropical Diver
As the name states, the tropical diver section of the aquarium allows guests to see animals that would live in warmer, more "tropical" areas. Here they have animals like clownfish, moon jellies, sea nettles, and even some different types of lobsters. While there isn't anything particularly exciting about this section, its unique array of animals was certainly enough to keep me and my family interested.
Pier 225
Unfortunately, I was not able to experience the Pier 225 section of the aquarium. My family and I arrived after four at the aquarium (for the discounted price), and unfortunately that section had closed earlier in the day. However, it is my understanding that this section host's the aquarium's sea lions, allowing visitors to see them up close and in various shows. From what I have heard this section is quite interesting, and I am disappointed to have missed it.
River Scout
This section, again as the name implies, hosts animals likely to live in rivers. A few of the most notable animals in this area include: long nosed gar fish, albino alligators, and otters. Being one of the aquarium's oldest sections, there wasn't too much that stood out to me in terms of its design or wildlife, but it's quaint forest theming certainly helped to make the experience more interesting and immersive.
Dolphin Celebration
The final section of the aquarium, entitled Dolphin Celebration, is where the aquarium's dolphin show is located. However, I won't discuss it in detail here, as I am going to talk about it more in depth in the last post of this three part review.
Overall Thoughts
Now that we have each section covered, I wanted to talk a bit about my overall thoughts of the aquarium. And, overall, I was really impressed with it. Granted, I haven't been to that many aquariums, but the presentation combined with the diverse animal population really made for a great experience. Being a theme park buff as well, I love to see theming in anything, even if it's an aquarium, and the Georgia Aquarium certainly delivered in this aspect. Each section has its own unique theme, with scenery that really helps to put you in the environment of the animal. It is really nice to see an aquarium put in the extra effort to deliver a full experience like this one does.
In terms of the animals presented, the Georgia Aquarium has some of the most unique and interesting animals I have ever seen. They had whale sharks, beluga whales, sea dragons, and many more animals that you likely wouldn't see at any other aquarium. What really impressed me, however, was how they presented the animals. They, along with their sponsors, have come up with new and innovative ways to showcase their animals. This is clearly present in the Ocean Voyager and Cold Water Quest sections, with their interesting habitats and designs. I struggle to see a downside to the aquarium's entertainment factor, and if you are looking to be entertained you should most certainly check it out.
Conclusion
However, there are more aspects to an aquarium than just entertainment. While I think the entertainment is great, my thoughts on education are a little bit varied. So, in my next post, coming out next Sunday, I will be discussing how well the aquarium educates guests, and how this compares to some other aquariums I have been to. And two weeks from now, I will be talking in depth about the aquarium's dolphin show, and whether or not it is really as good as they say it is. So, if you are interested in learning more about the Georgia aquarium, I suggest to stick around. Anyway, thanks for reading.
Images
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Aquarium
http://sites.gsu.edu/nramirez5/2016/04/04/georgia-aquarium-map/
(Other images were taken by me)
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