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Tennessee Aquarium

Coordinates: 35°03′21″N 85°18′39″W / 35.0557°N 85.3108°W / 35.0557; -85.3108
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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 62.107.193.67 (talk) at 02:54, 21 March 2014 (→Ocean Journey: tweak template; removed numbers (not sure exactly how many penguins they have now, but it has changed since its opening)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tennessee Aquarium
Map
35°03′21″N 85°18′39″W / 35.0557°N 85.3108°W / 35.0557; -85.3108
Date openedMay 1, 1992 (River Journey Building)[2] April 29, 2005 (Ocean Journey Building)[2][3]
LocationChattanooga, Tennessee, USA
No. of animals12,000[4]
Volume of largest tank500,000 US gal (1,900,000 L)[1]
Total volume of tanks1,100,000 US gal (4,200,000 L)[2]
MembershipsAZA
Websitewww.tnaqua.org

The Tennessee Aquarium is a non-profit public aquarium located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. When it opened, the River Journey building was the largest freshwater aquarium in the world.[2][5]

The Tennessee Aquarium's River Journey and Ocean Journey buildings are home to more than 12,000 animals including fish, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, birds, penguins, butterflies, and more.[4][6]

River Journey

The original River Journey facility, which contains a total of 400,000 US gallons (1,500,000 L),[2] is organized around the theme of the Story of the River, following the path of a raindrop from high in the Appalachian Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico.

Approximately 2/3 of the facility's display follows this theme, with the rest devoted to smaller aquatic exhibits hosting organisms from around the world. The self-guided tour takes visitors through three living forest exhibits that teem with life above and below the water’s surface. The first part is the "Cove Forest" exhibit, which has free-flying North American song birds, an exibit for river otters, and various North American fish (shiners, daces, darters, redhorse, hog suckers, trout and more), as well as an artificial waterfall falling into a 30,000-US-gallon (110,000 L) mountain sink.[7] Other parts of the River Journey are the "Mississippi Delta" with exhibits for American alligators, alligator snapping turtles, various other turtles, birds, snakes and fish (shiners, chubsuckers, topminnows, mosquitofish, darters, sunfish, bowfin and more), "Rivers of the World" with several small to medium-large aquaria aimed at the Amazon River, Congo (Zaire) River, Fly River and more, and the "Tennessee River gallery" where the centerpiece is the 145,000-US-gallon (550,000 L) Nickajack Lake featuring large North American freshwater fish.[7] River Journey initially included the 88,000-US-gallon (330,000 L) "Gulf of Mexico" aquarium with saltwater fish, but it was changed to "River Giants" after Ocean Journey opened.[7][8] "River Giants" contains giant freshwater fish from around the world, such as alligator gar, arapaima, giant pangasius, redtail catfish and giant freshwater stingray.[8]

Ocean Journey

A new addition to the facility, Ocean Journey, opened in April 2005, and contains a total of 700,000 US gallons (2,600,000 L).[2] It ostensibly follows the theme of an River Journey, though with much less consistency than the original. However this facility does include more hands on displays, such as a small shark and ray touch tank, large macaws, a butterfly garden with South American species on constant display. The largest tank in the Ocean Journey (and the Tennessee Aquarium) is the "Secret Reef", which contains 500,000 US gallons (1,900,000 L) and features species such as sand tiger sharks and bonnetheads.[1] Other sections include the Boneless Beauties gallery, where guests can see invertebrates like jellyfish, cuttlefish, giant Pacific octopuses, and Japanese spider crabs. An even newer 16,000-US-gallon (61,000 L) exhibit with Macaroni penguins and Gentoo penguins opened on May 3, 2007. The Tennessee Aquarium was the first to breed sea dragons.

Architecture

The Tennessee Aquarium’s initial conceptual design, architecture and exhibit design (opened in 1992) was led by Peter Chermayeff of Peter Chermayeff LLC while at Cambridge Seven Associates, and the expansion’s conceptual design, architecture and exhibit design (opened in 2005) was led by Peter Chermayeff and Peter Sollogub and Bobby C. Poole at Chermayeff, Sollogub & Poole.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Tennessee Aquarium: First sizeable sharks delivered to Aquarium’s animal care facility. Retrieved 21 March 2014
  2. ^ a b c d e f Tennessee Aquarium Newsroom - News Release
  3. ^ "Tennessee Aquarium Ocean Journey Building". Tennessee Aquarium. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Endangered Beluga Sturgeon will be Reunited with Brother: Delta Air Lines Transports 7-Foot Fish on 767 Passenger Plane". Tennessee Aquarium. May 25, 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  5. ^ Flessner, Dave (April 29, 2012). "Tennessee Aquarium aims to raise attendance and donations". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga Houses a Variety of Animals". BusinessClimate.com. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  7. ^ a b c North American Native Fish Association:The Tennessee Aquarium: A Must-See for Native Fish Enthusiasts. Retrieved 21 March 2014
  8. ^ a b Tennessee Aquarium: River Giants. Retrieved 21 March 2014
  9. ^ "Peter Chermayeff LLC". peterchermayeff.com. Peter Chermayeff LLC.
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