Going Behind the Seas at the Georgia Aquarium

As a resident of Georgia, you would think that I would have visited the Georgia Aquarium by now, but for some reason it just never happened until this past weekend. And I am so glad that I finally got to visit! The Georgia Aquarium was the largest aquarium in the world when it opened back in 2005, but an aquarium in China now holds that title. However, it is still the largest aquarium in North America and houses more than 100,000 animals (!!!) in 10 million gallons of water.

Outside of the aquarium

After almost being late due to the insane amount of traffic in downtown Atlanta, my friend Kela and I rushed inside to meet our tour guide for our Behind the Seas Tour that was scheduled for 12:00pm. I was told before going that this tour would show us the ins-and-outs of the aquarium and we would learn how the aquarium functions and cares for so many animals. As an animal lover, I was ecstatic to learn more about the animals with a personal guide.

Our guide’s name was Art and he has been a volunteer since 2010 at the aquarium… and wow, he really knows his stuff! He started by taking us up an elevator so that we could view the top of the Ocean Voyager gallery. This section houses 4 whale sharks, manta rays and other various fish. We got to go backstage and view the animals from above the tank, and see where the divers jump in. Art explained that the whale sharks, which can weigh a staggering 5,000 pounds, were rescued from Asia where they would have been killed and eaten. Some people in that part of the world cut off their fins and make shark fin soup with it, which is one of the most expensive soups in the world. However, the sharks cannot survive without their fins. I was very happy to learn that most of the animals at the Georgia Aquarium are rescued and cared for very well. Art joked that there is not even a 3 second rule for the animals’ food. If their food is dropped on the ground even for one second it is thrown away to ensure the utmost safety.

Our guide was talking to me about whale sharks.

A whale shark!

A manta ray with a whale shark behind it.

Next, we made our way over to the beluga whale’s tank where we got to see a trainer feeding the belugas through a glass window. There are four beluga whales at the Georgia Aquarium and they quickly became my favorite animals of the day. They are so cute and look a lot like dolphins, which I also love. These little cuties are located in the Cold Water Quest gallery, where you can also see African penguins and sea otters. Our tour guide also explained something that I thought was really interesting. The beluga whales breathe like humans, but only come up for air about every 20 minutes or so. You may be wondering how they come up for air while they sleep (I know I was). Well, only half of their brain sleeps so they always know with the other half when they need to come up for air. Isn’t that awesome?!

Look closely and you can see the trainer with the beluga whale.

Isn’t this beluga the cutest??

After learning all about beluga whales, we made our way over to the Tropical Diver gallery (or the backstage area of it). This gallery is home to tropical coral reefs, seahorses, jellyfish (they really freak me out), and thousands of colorful fish. We were up above this exhibit on our tour and could see many fish and how the wave is made. In the exhibit, there is an overhead crashing wave to recreate the tropical Pacific coral reef. We were literally right beside thousands of gallons of water as it poured into the exhibit. It was really cool to see it from this angle instead of down below in the gallery, and it made me realize how much water the aquarium uses. 10 million gallons!!! I can’t even fully comprehend that number honestly.

Kela and I with the waterfall behind us.

Jellies! Yikes!

Now that we knew some facts about many of the animals at the Georgia Aquarium, it was time to relax and enjoy the Dolphin Tales show. This is a broadway style show that includes singing and some awesome tricks performed by dolphins. It’s sort of like a show that you might see at SeaWorld or Gulf World in Panama City with the dolphins jumping in the air and performing various tricks, but there is some singing and a nice story to go with the show as well. I don’t want to ruin the experience for you so I won’t say too much, but I will tell you that it’s a terrific show and was one of my favorite parts of the aquarium. Plus, wheelchair users get some of the best seats in the house. We sat at the top of the first section and had a perfect view of the show.

Once the Dolphin Tales show was finished, we were free to explore the rest of the aquarium on our own. We wandered around and viewed countless other animals for a couple hours and even grabbed some lunch in the food court. The food was surprisingly really good and wasn’t terribly overpriced like I expected. I got a personal pan pizza (which was huge!), a cookie (also huge) and a drink for about $12.

It took almost four hours to fully experience the aquarium and this made for a long day, but it was worth every second. The Georgia Aquarium was unlike every other aquarium that I have been to, going above and beyond my expectations. The Georgia Aquarium is truly a spectacle that shouldn’t be missed in the Atlanta area.

 *Thank you to the Georgia Aquarium for partnering with Curb Free with Cory Lee and offering complimentary admission and tours. All opinions expressed are my own.