Albuquerque Aquarium
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| Albuquerque Aquarium | |
 The Albuquerque Aquarium building
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| Location | Albuquerque Biological Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Coordinates | 35°05′36″N 106°40′44″W / 35.0932°N 106.6790°WCoordinates: 35°05′36″N 106°40′44″W / 35.0932°N 106.6790°W |
| Official website | |
The Albuquerque Aquarium, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a facility of the Albuquerque Biological Park and is located next door to the Rio Grande Botanic Garden.
The aquarium exhibits Rio Grande freshwater species and Gulf of Mexico saltwater species from a variety of habitats, including estuarine, surf zone, shallow waters, coral reefs, open ocean and deep ocean. The highlight of the aquarium is a 285,000 gallon ocean tank where brown, sandtiger, blacktip, and nurse sharks swim alongside brilliantly colored reef fish, eels, sea turtles and open ocean species. Every day divers enter the tank to do daily chores (like feeding).
Other exhibits include a retired Gulf Shrimp Fishing boat, Marine Invertabrate Touchpool,Shark Rays Encounters;opened on March 20, 2009. This interactive exhibit allows guest to personally touch live bamboo sharks and southern stingrays, Jellyfish, seahorses, model ships, and an eel tunnel. A restaurant and a gift shop are located in the building.
In January 2008, three blacktip shark pups were born at the Albuquerque Aquarium. The births were caught on video, and are now available for viewing on Google Video.
The aquarium is dedicated to the education of the world oceans and the animals that live within. Events are held year round in order to educate the public about the oceans and marine animls. Some events include monthly sleepovers, Shark Week in the summer, camps for children during the summer and spring, discovery stations, World Oceans Day, and Earth Day every April.
Every year the Albuquerque Bioligical Park puts together a holiday light show at the Rio Grande Botanic Gardens and Albuquerque Aquarium in December known as the River of Lights. During the summer, The Albuquerque Biological Park hosts a number of concerts at Rio Grande Botanic Gardens and the Rio Grande Zoo.
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[edit] Exhibits
The Albuquerque Aquarium was built as a themed aquarium. Before entering the aquarium, there is a fountain that depicts the head waters of the Rio Grande river. When entering the aquarium, there are two freshwater tanks that display fish from Rio Grande. The first tank shows fish that are currently found throughout the river. The second tank shows fish that could only be found in small sections of the Rio Grande or are no longer found in the river. Afterwards, there is a ramp that leads visitors to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico Coast Gallery. In this area, colorful fish species are displayed from the Gulf of Mexico and stingrays swimming with a variety of coastal fish. Visitors are taken through a tunnel covered in life size replicas of fish. A replica of a coral reef greets visitors after going thru the tunnel. This exhibit displays fish such as parrotfish, angelfish, gunts, porcupinefish, and triggerfish. Visitors are then surrounded by water as they enter the eel cave. The eel cave displays green moray eels, spotted eel, purplemouth eel, and goliath groupers. A series of small tanks exhibit octupus, clownfish, seahorses, and pipefish. Jellyfish continue the visitors journey through the ocean. The final exhibit is the aquariums largest exhibit, a tank containing 285,000 gallons of saltwater. This exhibit displays the aquarium's five shark species which include [[sandtiger sharks, sandbar or brown sharks, blacktip sharks]], nurse sharks, and [[zebra sharks]]. Other fish include tarpon, barracudas, stingrays, and large schooling fish. The exhibit also contains three species of sea turtles such as the loggerhead, Kemp's Ridley, and a hawksbill. Other exhibits that guest enjoy is a model boat exhibition hall, a movie theater, and the aquarium's two touchpool; marine invertabrates and bamboo sharks.
[edit] Conservation
The Albuquerque Aquarium currently runs a facility that focuses in the conservation of fishes found in the Rio Grande. The project includes the silvery minnow breeding program and the socorro isopod. In the 2008, one of the blacktip sharks gave birth, making it the first birth of this species of shark ever recorded in captivity. In December 2008 the same shark gave birth again.
[edit] Albuquerque Aquarium Gallery
[edit] References
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