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World Aquarium (Closed) Birdsandbats' World Aquarium QUICK Review

Discussion in 'United States' started by birdsandbats, 19 Aug 2018.

  1. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    17 Sep 2017
    Posts:
    11,359
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    WHAT

    Date of Visit: June 16 2018

    I visited this facility back in June during my trip to St. Louis. This was the first ZooChat visit since the aquarium moved from inside the City Museum to its own location. For some reason, I had it in my mind that the aquarium probably hasn't changed much since then. I was wrong. So here I will be dong a QUICK review. There will not be a full species list. There will not be awards at the end. There will not be a mention of every exhibit.

    Ground Floor
    This is the floor you enter from street level. This floor is not that good. Most of the aquariums here are too small, too barren, too covered with algae, or too filled with GloFishⓇ. There are some cool species (Nile Croc, two basilisk species, moray eels, Diamondback Terrapin, Cagle's Map Turtle, two-toed sloth, Kinkajou) but overall this floor is awful, even if you can feed the two mammals. Thankfully, the Basement makes up for it.

    Basement
    I wasn't expecting much after what I saw at ground level, but this is much better. What makes it good isn't the exhibits - better than the ground floor but still average at best. The interactions are awesome! I believe one of the most important parts of a zoo or aquarium is interacting with animals. If people get to know a species, they are more likely to help save it. This level has it down. So many animals were brought out for handling, it was ridiculous. And you couldn't avoid it either. People who weren't handling an animal were asked too. I know many people wouldn't like this, but I was fine with that (except for when an animal was perfectly posed for my camera and then a staff member came over and said something like "Would you like to hold a python?").

    The animal collection is cool, too. This floor is about split even reptiles and aquatic animals. There is also a coati. And about five billion touch tanks. They even had Doctor Fish trained to eat old skin off your hand. A fish sucking on your hand feels weird.

    Before we go...
    The signage is awful. I discussed it a bit here. Species are often listed as the wrong species, or worse, under made up scientific names. The decorations are also incredibly random. Let's just say, I think the owner's idea for this facility was "Let's combine an aquarium and The House on the Rock and see what happens"!

    Also:


    At least you get a great view of the Gateway Arch from the aquarium. That makes up for that sign.
     
    pachyderm pro and Brum like this.