Georgia Aquarium

On July 3, 2009 Donna and I visited the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta; it is the largest aquarium in the world in terms of volume of water, with over 8 million gallons. It has more than 100,000 animals of 500 species. Yet with all that, it is designed very well and is easy to navigate. It is divided into 5 sections, each radiating from the center like a star.

In addition to the aquarium, they currently have a temporary Titanic exhibit with many interactive displays, photos, and nearly 200 artifacts recovered from the wreckage. It is a very impressive exhibit.

We arrived around 4:00 to find a massive crowd; we initially thought we'd have a lengthy wait, but we managed to get in pretty quickly. We first spent a couple of hours in the Titanic exhibit (no photography allowed, so nothing to show) and then took a break and enjoyed a bite to eat and a cup of coffee from their onsite eatery. A jazz group was performing out in the center section, so we were able to enjoy them a bit while eating and as we moved from section to section.

We then visited each of the 5 sections from around 7:00 until closing time at 10:00. It was all very impressive, but the creature that stood out the most to us was their 8-foot wide manta ray; this aquarium is one of only 4 in the world to house a manta ray, so seeing one is quite an opportunity. The pictures just don't portray just how large this guy is.

The manta ray:




















These spider crabs were huge! About 3 feet in width.
























A parting shot of downtown Atlanta before we headed home: