The Seattle Aquarium is a public aquarium opened in 1977 and located on Pier 59 on the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
[edit] History
The aquarium opened on May 20, 1977, and was initially owned and operated by the City of Seattle, Department of Parks and Recreation. On July 1, 2010, the nonprofit Seattle Aquarium Society, the official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization for the Seattle Aquarium, assumed management of the Seattle Aquarium from the City.[5] Architects for the facility were Bassetti/Norton/Metler/Rekevics.[6]
The aquarium is a vital force for marine conservation and is uniquely positioned to help over 800,000 visitors each year, including 50,000 students, understand and become aware of the impact they have on marine life. An 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) expansion that opened in June 2007 includes a new 2,625-square-foot (243.9 m2) gift store and the Seattle Aquarium Café, as well as two new major exhibits: Window on Washington Waters and Crashing Waves.
[edit] Exhibits
Salmon in the underwater dome at The Seattle Aquarium.
View of Seattle Aquarium along Alaskan Way, Seattle
- Window on Washington Waters is a 120,000-US-gallon (450,000 l) tank created as part of the 2007 expansion. It replicates the coastal waters of Washington state from about 5 to 60 feet (1.5 to 18 m), and is home to native marine life including salmon, rockfish, and sea anemones. During the dive shows which take place several times each day, divers wearing special masks are able to converse with the visitors.[7][8]
- The Crashing Waves Exhibit located next to the Window on Washington Waters tank is a 40-foot (12 m) wave tank that replicates Washington shores from the intertidal zone to a depth of about 5 feet (1.5 m).[8][9]
- Life on the Edge was opened in 2002. Two large exhibit pools that include touch zones let visitors see the tidepool life of Washington's outer coast and of Seattle's inland sea.[10]
- Life of a Drifter includes a 12-foot (3.7 m) high glass "donut" where visitors can be surrounded by moon jellies, a multi-species display featuring the giant Pacific octopus, and a 13-foot (4.0 m) touch table where visitors can get a closer look at some of the area's drifters including juvenile rockfish, sea stars, and plankton.[11]
- Pacific Coral Reef is a man made coral reef in a 25,000-US-gallon (95,000 l) tank that showcases fish that live in and around the reefs.
- Ocean Oddities is home to pinecone fish, cowfish, flying gurnards, potbellied seahorses, and short dragonfish.
- Birds and Shores consists of Northwest Shores, which shows birds in a variety of habitats of the coastal Northwest, Alcids, which showcases diving birds such as tufted puffins and common murres, and the Shorebird exhibit.[12]
- The Marine Mammals area includes exhibits for harbor seals, Northern fur seals, sea otters, and river otters.[9]
- Puget Sound Fish is a three part exhibit showing fish from the Puget Sound, including grunt sculpins, Pacific spiny lumpsuckers, midshipman fish, canary rockfish, wolf eels, and decorated warbonnets.[13]
- The Underwater Dome is a mostly transparent spherical undersea room in a 400,000-US-gallon (1,500,000 l) tank, accessed by two short tunnels. It was built as part of the original construction and opened in 1977. The tank is home to species that would be found in Puget Sound including salmon, Lingcod, sharks, sturgeon, skates, and rockfish.[2]
[edit] External links
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