Does anybody know, how many self-acting aquariums excist in the USA ? And don't count in aquariums in zoos. Or does anyone has an idea, where I could get the information ? Thanks. I
I've read before that there are between 48-52 accredited aquariums in the United States, although that number might well include a handful in Canada and/or Mexico.
I think, most zoos in the states do not have an aquarium anymore, because there are now to many other aquariums, so its to expensive and not necessary for the zoos, to have an own aquarium, do I see that correct ? Cincinnati has closed the aquarium and rebuild it into the Manatee Exhibit. Which zoos in the States still have an own aquarium ? I've seen one in Toledo,Houston,Columbus,Pittsburgh, and I know, the Wildwilfe World Zoo Litchfield has an aquarium, opened in december 2008.
Omaha, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Denver, Brookfield, John Ball (Grand Rapids), Columbus, Riverbanks, Memphis, Pt. Defiance all have fairly extensive aquarium facilities, although in many cases the aquatic exhibits are distributed around the zoo, not just clustered in one "aquarium" building.
I find it tough not to include some aquariums that are in zoos as great aquariums by themselves. Some aquariums are realtively small and make up a portion of the collection (i.e. staten island, toledo, cleveland etc.) at the zoo and I can understand why it wouldn't be included on a list of aquariums. But some aquariums in zoos should be included on the list. Pittsburgh is a great example. Their aquarium would still be excellent if it wasn't in the zoo (whether you include Waters Edge or not) and the zoo collection is still great. Being from the Northeast I always had aquariums and zoos separate and personally thought we had better aquariums than zoos (New England, Mystic, NY). I envy people that grew up with zoos that had aquariums and especially people growing up in the Pittsburgh area and were lucky enough to see Chuckles before he passed.
The book "America's Best Zoos" lists the 10 best zoos with aquariums in the United States: # 1 - Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo (Scott Aquarium) # 2 - Pittsburgh Zoo The rest are in alphabetical order: Houston Zoo Louisville Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo Minnesota Zoo Oklahoma City Zoo Point Defiance Zoo Riverbanks Zoo Toledo Zoo
I think maybe the posts have gotten away from the original question. I culled this list from a bigger list of animal places. Disclaimer: This list is some years old, so some of these places may have closed, or may have changed names. I corrected a few. At least one that was on the list I know had never opened, and there are bound to be some that are new that I don't have on the list: Name City State Dauphin Island Sea Lab Dauphin Island Alabama Prince William Sound Science Center Cordova Alaska Alaska SeaLife Centre Seward Alaska National Park Aquarium Hot Springs Arkansas Ocean Institute Dana Point California Doheny State Beach Visitor Center Dana Point California Birch Aquarium at Scripps La Jolla California Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific Long Beach California Roundhouse Lab and Aquarium Manhattan Beach California UCLA Ocean Discovery Center Monica Beach California Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey Bay California Morro Bay Aquarium Morro Bay California Sea World of California San Diego California Aquarium of the Bay San Francisco California Steinhart Aquarium San Francisco California Cabrillo Marine Aquarium San Pedro California The Marine Mammal Care Center at Fort MacArthur San Pedro California Santa Barbara Sea Center Santa Barbara California Seymour Marine Discovery Centre Santa Cruz California Ocean Discovery Centre Santa Monica California Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly Marine World) Vallejo California Denver's Downtown Aquarium Denver Colorado Mystic Marinelife Aquarium Mystic Connecticut Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk Norwalk Connecticut National Aquarium Washington DC Parker Manatee Aquarium Bradenton Florida Clearwater Marine Aquarium Clearwater Florida Dolphin Connection Duck Key Florida Gulfarium Fort Walton Beach Florida Dolphin Research Center Grassy Key Florida Theater of the Sea Islamorada Florida Marinelife Center Juno Beach Florida Key West Municipal Aquarium Key West Florida The Seas Lake Buena Vista Florida Marineland Marineland Florida Miami Seaquarium Miami Florida Discovery Cove Orlando Florida Sea World Orlando Florida Mote Marine Aquarium Sarasota Florida Pier Aquarium St. Petersburg Florida Florida Aquarium Tampa Florida Georgia Aquarium Atlanta Georgia Waikiki Aquarium Honolulu Hawaii Dolphin Quest Kameula Hawaii Maui Ocean Center Maui Hawaii Dolphin Quest Waikiki Hawaii Sea Life Park Hawaii Waimanalo Hawaii John G. Shedd Aquarium Chicago Illinois Aquarium Center Des Moines Iowa Newport Aquarium Newport Kentucky Aquarium of the Americas New Orleans Louisiana Gulf of Maine Aquarium Portland Maine National Aquarium in Baltimore Baltimore Maryland Calvert Marine Museum Solomons Maryland New England Aquarium Boston Massachusetts Kirkham Aquarium Springfield Massachusetts Aqua Circus of Cape Cod West Yarmouth Massachusetts Woods Hole Aquarium Woods Hole Massachusetts Belle Isle Aquarium Detroit Michigan UnderWater World Bloomington Minnesota Great Lakes Aquarium Duluth Minnesota J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium Biloxi Mississippi Marine Life Oceanarium Gulfport Mississippi Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium Gretna Nebraska Mirage Dolphin Habitat Las Vegas Nevada Mirage Aquarium Las Vegas Nevada Amoskeag Fishways Learning Center Manchester New Hampshire New Jersey State Aquarium at Camden Camden New Jersey Jenkinson's Aquarium Point Pleasant Beach New Jersey Albuquerque Aquarium Albuquerque New Mexico Aquarium for Wildlife Conservation/Brooklyn Aquarium Brooklyn New York Cape Vincent Aquarium Cape Vincent New York Cold Spring Harbour Fish Hatchery and Aquarium Cold Spring Harbour New York Long Island Aquarium Long Island New York St. Lawrence Aquarium Massena New York Aquarium of Niagara Falls Niagara Falls New York Atlantis Marine World Riverhead New York North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores Atlantic Beach North Carolina North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher Kure Beach North Carolina North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island Manteo North Carolina Sea World Aurora Ohio Oceana - Marinelife Center Sandusky Ohio Oregon Coast Aquarium Newport Oregon South Carolina Aquarium Charleston South Carolina Ripley's Aquarium Myrtle Beach South Carolina Marine Life Aquarium Rapid City South Dakota Tennessee Aquarium Chattanooga Tennesee Capital of Texas Aquarium Austin Texas Texas State Aquarium Corpus Christi Texas Dallas Aquarium Dallas Texas Dallas World Aquarium Dallas Texas Moody Gardens Rainforest Galveston Texas Sea World of Texas San Antonio Texas Echo Lake Aqurium and Science Center Burlington Vermont Nauticus National Maritime Centre Norfolk Virginia Virginia Marine Science Museum Virginia Beach Virginia Poulsbo Marine Science Center Poulsbo Washington The Seattle Aquarium Seattle Washington
Impressive list Talli! I just took a few minutes to scroll down the list of zoos and aquariums on the AZA website, and I counted 38 aquariums. That is only the accredited establishments, and I included all 3 of the Seaworlds. Obviously there are loads more that are not officially accredited by the AZA.
I could post the whole list in another thread, but as I said, it's some years old and could use a major cleanup. I notice I missed removing Sea World of Ohio which I belive closed, changed hands, and no longer has animals. Is there a way to upload an Excel file? It would be a nice resource if people worked on additions, deletions and corrections.
Thanks Talli for that list ! Some aquariums are missing, but its to hard to get a complete list of all aquariums in teh states. I would not call Seaworld ,Six Flags and Dalals World Aquarium true aquariums. Seaworld and Six Flags are Marine parks or Ameusement parks and teh Dallas Wordl Aquarium, founded as an aquarium, is more than an indoor zoo than an aquarium, they keeping more birds, reptiles and mammals than fishes now. But what makes an aquarium ? Keeping only fishes or marine mammals and water birds also ? There is book, dated 1989, "marine Parks and aquaria in the united states" with listed 95 aquariums and marine parks in the states, and since then, a few more aquariums were added. Another questions, which are the 10 aquariums with the most animal species in the USA ? My suggesstions are Shedd,Aquarium of the Pacific, Monterey,Georgia,Boston,Baltimore,NewYork,Tampa,Steinhardt ?,and maybe Chattanooga ? Does anybody has visited the new Steinhardt Aquarium at California Acdemy of Science or the temporariy Steinhardt Aquarium during the construction of the new museum building ?
Thanks Talli for that list ! Some aquariums are missing, but its to hard to get a complete list of all aquariums in teh states. I would not call Seaworld ,Six Flags and Dalals World Aquarium true aquariums. Seaworld and Six Flags are Marine parks or Ameusement parks and teh Dallas Wordl Aquarium, founded as an aquarium, is more than an indoor zoo than an aquarium, they keeping more birds, reptiles and mammals than fishes now. But what makes an aquarium ? Keeping only fishes or marine mammals and water birds also ? There is book, dated 1989, "marine Parks and aquaria in the united states" with listed 95 aquariums and marine parks in the states, and since then, a few more aquariums were added. Another questions, which are the 10 aquariums with the most animal species in the USA ? My suggesstions are Shedd,Aquarium of the Pacific, Monterey,Georgia,Boston,Baltimore,NewYork,Tampa,Steinhardt ?,and maybe Chattanooga ? Does anybody has visited the new Steinhardt Aquarium at California Acdemy of Science or the temporariy Steinhardt Aquarium during the construction of the new museum building ?
If you can tell me the missing aquariums, I'd like to add them to my spreadsheet. You had asked not to include aquariums within zoos, but I didn't know whether you wanted to include marine parks. To me, any place that displays non-domestic animals is a zoo, so it's all what you're looking for. Some places, like Underwater World in the Mall of America don't have aquarium in the name, but are clearly aquariums. We could probably discuss Dallas World Aquarium all day. Clearly they've added a lot of non-aquatic animals, but they're still in one big building, so to me an aquarium. Of course, again, to me an aquarium is an aquatic zoo, so probably splitting hairs. I haven't been to Steinhardt since they moved, but I don't remember it being up there in size with the bigger aquariums before the move. I would think definitely Tennessee Aquarium (Chattanooga) would be in the top 10 in number of species. Others that might be in the running I would say would include Denver, Newport, and Camden.
The new Steinhart Aquarium has some really interesting and novel exhibits. There are essentially four major new areas, all contained within the larger context of a "21st Century Natural History Museum." A huge and deep living coral reef, a large northern California coast tank (with tidal action), a giant rainforest including acrylic tunnel through a flooded forest, and a recreation of the original aquarium's Alligator Swamp. A series of smaller exhibits surround the lower level. Overall, the species diversity is significantly lower than the old aquarium, which was much more a traditional collection-oriented facility. In its heyday, the original Steinhart was easily one of the top 5 or 6 in the country in terms of diversity, but the new version is much more about ideas, for better and for worse.
This interesting link states that when the Vancouver Aquarium opened in 1956 there were only 5 aquariums in North America. It goes on to say that there are approximately 48 in North America now, with over 200 worldwide: History of the Vancouver Aquarium | vanaqua.org
With so many zoo books on the market, I have long felt that a good aquarium book is long overdue. Not only a general review book, along the lines of Alan's "America's Best Zoos" (substitute "Aquariums" for "Zoos"), but also an in-depth view of the aquarium movement today (conservation issues, challenges of maintaining underwater exhibits, etc). Anyone know of any such books?
Will this work? [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Window-Sea-Behind-Americas-Aquariums/dp/0762739703/ref=sr_1_104?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246835143&sr=1-104]Amazon.com: Window to the Sea: Behind the Scenes at America's Great Public Aquariums: John Grant, Ray Jones: Books[/ame]
Sorry what does the original question mean by "self acting"..? Wow NZ is doing really well then with 3 major aquariums for 4.2 million people... IF USA has only 48 for 300 million plus...
@NZ Jeremy: the United States still has probably 25% of the world's public aquariums, including masterpieces such as Shedd, Georgia and Monterey Bay. I'm not even sure if that list includes the enormous Seaworlds. But I am also impressed with New Zealand's average: 4.2 million people, 3 aquariums, 40 million sheep. I'll have to visit one day!
That's 3 major aquariums and plenty of minor ones... It's also closer to 80 million sheep..! Australia is pretty good too per head of population with large aquariums in Melbourne, Mooloolaba, Sydney and Perth and two smaller ones at Manly and Darwin plus the zoo/aquarium at Canberra... That's 7 good sized aquariums for 22 million people...
