Great Lakes Aquarium

Great Lakes Aquarium

Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth, MN
Date opened	July 29, 2000
Location	Duluth, Minnesota, USA
Number of animals	Yes
Number of species	100
Website	http://www.glaquarium.org/

Great Lakes Aquarium is one of few aquariums in the United States that focuses on freshwater exhibits (the Tennessee Aquarium is another example). It is housed in a three-story building in Duluth, Minnesota on the shores of Lake Superior and has numerous large and smaller satellite tanks that comprise the 120,000 gallon facility. Construction took 3.5 years and cost around $34 million.

All of the main exhibits of the 62,000-square-foot (5,800 m²) Great Lakes Aquarium (GLA) are based upon actual habitats in the Lake Superior basin. "Slices" of the St. Louis River, Baptism River, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Kakagon Slough, Isle Royale and Otter Cove can all be viewed up close.

Permanent Fixtures

Isle Royale

85,000 gallon Isle Royale is the main exhibit located in the very center of the building, and it extends to both the first and second floors allowing visitors to view it from many different angles. It contains fish like trout and lake sturgeon.

Baptism River

Baptism River is a fast-moving exhibit featuring a waterfall. It contains rainbow, brown, and brook trout, as well as sculpin and longnose suckers.

St. Louis River

The St. Louis River exhibit is a slow-moving river habitat with perch, walleye, gar, sturgeon, channel catfish, and other native species.

Pictured Rocks / Kakagon Slough

Pictured Rocks and Kakagon Slough are inside of a netted area and feature sandstone cliffs, live songbirds, ducks, and wetland plants.

Otter Cove

Otter Cove is an exhibit that houses two river otters and was designed after a cove in Pukaskwa Provincial Park. Directly to the left is an exhibit containing a live bald eagle, a male named Bogey.

Amazing Amazon

Amazing Amazon is the newest exhibit, opened summer 2008. It features freshwater creatures from the largest river in the world. This includes Pacu, Poison Dart Frogs, Arowana, Piranha, Thorny Catfish, and even a Macaw.

Other Permanent Exhibits

19 satellite tanks are at various locations and contain animals such as fish, frogs, salamanders and snakes. There is also a wide variety of interactive electronic exhibits located throughout the museum. Great Lakes Aquarium also features a local history center, a science center and cultural exhibits.

Traveling Exhibits

As of May 25, 2007, Great Lakes Aquarium is currently hosting the traveling exhibit "Seahorse Secrets" in the Sandra and Roger Karon Exhibit Hall. Prior to this date, traveling exhibit "The Abyss: the Great Unknown" occupied this space. It explored deep-ocean exploration and was GLA's first foray into saltwater exhibits. The Abyss was based on the research of Bob Ballard and housed over forty interactive displays and live marine animal exhibits. Other traveling exhibits of the past include "Africa's Lake Victoria," which ended October 2003 and "Hunters of the Sky," which ended September 2001.

New exhibits are planned for 2010.

Architecture

Holt Hinshaw had the original vision and Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA) made it a reality. An office area at the rear of the first floor has been cleared out to host birthday parties and other pre-arranged events. There is an incredible harbor view from this area to say the least. When visitors enter the museum, they are encouraged to ride the escalator to the upper level first through Sensory Immersion Experience and continue onto the lower level later.

Main Floor

The main floor contains the following features:

• Seahorse Secrets (traveling exhibit)
• Gift Shop
• Otter Cove
• Bald Eagle
• Great Lakes Water Table
• Isle Royale
• Wow of Water
• International Lakes
• Amazing Amazon
• Boardroom
• Harborview Suite Party Room
• Learning Labs
• Behind the Scenes
• Lake Superior Deep Water Benthic Explorer

Upper Level

• Origins
• Human Migration
• Touch Tanks
• World of Water
• Harbor View
• Baptism River
• Isle Royale
• St. Louis River
• Uplands
• Weather Station
• Pictured Rocks
• Kakagon Slough
• Marketplace (interactive exhibits)
• Caretaking
• Cafeteria

Basement

The basement of this building is closed to the public. It contains offices and storage, as well as pumps for the aquarium, which can be viewed via camera near Isle Royale on the first floor.

History

The facility has never met the attendance and financial projections of its promoters. In 2002 it was effectively taken over by the City of Duluth, which was responsible for its debts. Though temporarily closed in the fall of 2002, GLA reopened that winter on weekends and soon resumed operations 365 days a year. Daily operations of GLA were contracted out to Ripley's Entertainment, Leisure Entertainment Management division, best known for their Believe it or not museums. Ripley's management reduced staff from a high of 90 down to 30 and cut costs in other areas bringing the Aquarium back from the immediate threat of permanent closure. According to a report aired on WDIO-TV in Duluth in June 2007, each successive year since Ripley's management of GLA has shown a notable drop in attendance from the previous year with projections dropping even more rapidly in the future. Even though it operates at a significant loss, GLA receives subsidies from Duluth of up to $300,000 annually so it could last indefinitely. On June 9, 2008, Mayor Don Ness outlined a plan to reduce the aquarium's subsidy by $100,000 due to a budget deficit in the city of Duluth. On June 29, 2008, it was announced that the aquarium would temporarily add an international passenger terminal so that cruise ship passengers from the 290-foot (88 m) cruise ship Clelia II could be processed on site. According to the Chicago Tribune, "Jack LaVoy, executive director of the aquarium, said a temporary passenger center could provide some welcome extra revenue for the attraction. 'We hope this is the beginning of what could become many cruises,' he said."

References

• "A Walking Tour of Great Lakes Aquarium" volunteer orientation manual

External links

• live camera of THE Great Lakes Aquarium
• Great Lakes Aquarium home page
• YouTube: Volunteer Diving at Great Lakes Aquarium
• NPR article
• Great Lakes Aquarium 5-year Anniversary
• "More from the Sturgeon General," Lake Superior Magazine