Baltimore Aquarium

Today the children and I, along with Enric and Miranda visiting in from Wisconsin, went to see the new AUSTRALIA exhibit at the Baltimore Aquarium!

I have been excited about this new exhibit since its announcement over a year ago. The aquarium has always been a wonderful place to visit, it has a whole new element with this AUSTRALIAN exhibit!

Some of the wonderful Australian creatures we were able to see were:

Death Adder
Archerfish
Barramundi
Black-headed Python
Empire Gudgeon
Frilled Lizard
Grey-headed Flying Fox
Johnston’s Freshwater Crocodile
Pig-nosed Turtle
Rainbow Lorikeet
Snake-necked Turtle
Spiny-tailed Monitor
Tammar Wallaby
Zebra Finch

To create an exhibit as expansive as Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes, the Aquarium needed a little more space…65,400 square feet actually.

The large steel grid that frames the roof was raised, and a 15,000 plus square foot hand-knotted metal bird screen from China was installed to ensure that the rainbow lorikeets, northern rosellas and 30 other species of birds remain safely inside their new home, while keeping them within sight of curious visitors!

The 35-foot waterfall was built using an armature of reinforced steel beams on which to place the distinctive hand-carved rockwork.

Craftsmen and artists from Cemrock, one of the world’s leading builders of naturalistic environments, have installed more than an acre of the stunning rock that makes up the waterfall and surrounding habitat. The rock was crafted from fine cement that was blasted into variant shapes, and then hand carved and painted by artists to recreate the ancient, water-worn river gorge habitat of Australia.

More than 33,000 square feet of glass fills in the tensile truss system, forming the enormous windows into the first major exhibit depicting an Australian river gorge in the U.S. The clear panes of the crystal pavilion will allow the unique habitat and pounding waterfall to be seen and enjoyed from much of the Inner Harbor.

Exhibit designers went to great lengths to create homes for the animals. Detailed micro-habitats, such as river log jams, have been created to make the fish and turtles feel at home.

Basking lights and warming rocks will serve as comfortable areas for the animals to lollygag. More than 100 live trees and shrubs planted in the exhibit will add to the ambiance and provide the animals with perching and hiding spaces.

The Aquarium is home to approximately 10,500 specimens and more than 560 species of animals.

Our trip to the Aquarium can be seen though my photo site HERE

National Aquarium in Baltimore