I visited the aquarium today, and I liked it. It was pretty good, a very nice shark collection. I'm interested to here that it's run by the same organization as the Newport Aquarium as I quite liked that one as well and thought they, too, have a very nice shark collection. Only big complaints was that it was a bit too crowded (though that isn't the aquarium's fault and really it's a good thing in hind sight) and I found the glass to be really reflective, which I did not find at Newport. As others have mentioned, the African Penguin enclosure isn't the best and could be a great deal better. I did not like the hippo enclosure. Size-wise it seems to be okay (though I wish they have a softer, more natural substrate), but the new disco-potamus theme if just bizarre and I don't like it. The enclosure was dark (which makes for bad photos) and the light disk things on the trees were just odd. They had a light display on the back wall of the enclosure which shows random and very cartoonish-looking African animals walking by. The birds are obviously gone and the porcupines appeared to be as well. I think I would have liked it a lot more if it was the way it used to be. The hippos were fun to watch, though. They were both swimming around in the pool, which I quite liked actually, and one time one of them jumped against the glass, kicked off of it, and did an underwater flip over the second hippo! The same one spent most of her time chewing half of a truck tire. Now it hasn't been posted on here yet so if it wasn't known, the Shark Rays are now gone, leaving the Great Hammerheads to be the kings of the tank (and that's fine with me!) Also, seems the Longcomb Sawfish are gone, which was a disappointment, but it seems they have one or two young Atlantic Giant Groupers there to replace them, which made up for the sawfish. They have a couple Weedy Seadragons as well. Not sure if they've been there a while or not but I wasn't aware this species was in American aquariums so I figured it'd be worth mentioning. ~Thylo
does this mean that the hippos are kept dark pretty much 24 hours, or is there lighting on the ceiling for the night-time (to create a "day")? Previously did they have natural light through the roof when the birds were in there, or has it always been entirely without this? Sounds rather bad.
Well, it's more the area where the lights are that's dark. There are a few lights on that light up a bit of the enclosure. And the pool area is lite up. But as for the land they would mostly be in the dark. I'm unsure whether they have lights on at night. Before the remodeling, I believe they just had a lot of lights in the room to make the enclosure bright. ~Thylo
Oh and I just remember something I forgot to report before! I'm not sure if they'd been there for a while or not but the main shark tank with the Great Hammerheads now also have several Mahi-Mahi, which I found very cool! ~Thylo
Four African penguin chicks: N.J. aquarium welcomes 4 baby penguins, and yes they're insanely cute (PHOTOS)
It seems to have gone unreported on this thread, but in early 2016 the aquarium opened a brand-new exhibit for Little Blue Penguins. Here is an image of the habitat: Little Blue Beach | Adventure Aquarium | Camden, NJ Meanwhile, the outdoor exhibit for African Penguins (Penguin Island) was built in 1998 but it has been renovated and is due to re-open in spring 2018. Here is a fascinating series of images of the construction process: Penguin Island Renovation Progress | Adventure Aquarium | Camden, NJ
A porcupine, a kookaburra, and several lined seahorses have been born at the aquarium. The aquarium added Queensland groupers and fiddler rays to its collection The 34th African penguin chick has been born Two new African penguin chicks have been named Meatball and Pistachio A new restaurant has been opened, The Marketplace Also there's a new flavor of Dippin' Dots that's exclusive to the aquarium which I am dying to try
They got rid of the disco theme. I don't know if this is natural or not, but there are cichlids living in the water in the hippo's exhibit.
Yes I know. The cichlids have always been in there, just unsigned. Is that the only way it's now more natural? ~Thylo
The disco theme's gone. That's already an improvement. I haven't been there for a while now, might go soon. If I do, i'll take some pictures
Apparently Hippo Haven is getting renovated for this summer. The website said "new friends" will be joining the hippos.
