Thanks to heroic efforts by staff-many of whom stayed at the Aquarium and former Animal Care Center in Fells Point overnight, traveling to and from both buildings by kayak-every single animal fared just fine. The storm surge put the Aquarium's entire ground level under 2 feet of water, and there's a watermark on the wall inside the Staff Entrance on Pier 3 to prove it. More recently, the Aquarium was shuttered for two days following Hurricane Isabel in September 2003. In November 1983, the Aquarium closed for three weeks so workers could address a condensation issue in the upper reaches of the Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. While the extended closure for COVID-19 in 2020 was the longest in the Aquarium's history, it wasn't the first. The Aquarium is usually only closed two days a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas. (The Marine Mammal Pavilion on Pier 4, which opened in December 1990, cost $35 million.) Records show that Aquarium leaders were hoping for 650,000 guests in the first year they welcomed more than double that, with 1.5 million visitors between August 1981 to August 1982. The total construction cost of the original Pier 3 building, which was built without any federal funding, was $21.3 million. The National Aquarium is a nonprofit organization, but its buildings and the piers on which they sit are owned by the City of Baltimore. The 150-year-old, 5,000-pound skeleton of a finback whale known as Omega is on permanent loan from New York State Museum in Albany. ![]() The enormous whale skeleton that hangs from the ceiling above what is now Blacktip Reef has also been part of the Aquarium since the start. The quote-which is from his book, "The Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature," published in 1957-still appears on a wall just inside the Aquarium's Main Entrance. Words To Set Our Thinking RightĪn August 8, 1981, article in the New York Times about the National Aquarium's grand opening begins, "On a plaque, to set our thinking right as we begin, are the words of Loren Eiseley: ‘If there is any magic on this planet, it is contained in water.'" Loren Eiseley was an anthropologist, science writer, ecologist and poet. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on August 8, 1978, three years to the day before the grand opening. Because of the proposed height and design of the Aquarium building, plans shifted to Pier 3. Initially, the Aquarium was going to be built between the Maryland Science Center and Harborplace Light Street pavilion, where the Baltimore Visitor Center now stands. When that project's funding was cut in 1972, Baltimore pivoted, and Plan B began taking shape. By 1971, designs for a federally funded public housing project called Inner Harbor West were complete. The Aquarium of the Pacific is temporarily closed to the public."It's well known that Mayor William Donald Schaefer and a trip to Boston played a key role in the Aquarium's development," says Scott Perich, the Aquarium's director of long-range planning, "but the redevelopment of the Inner Harbor with a convention center, shops and an aquarium, as our origin story typically begins, was actually Plan B." In 1966, Baltimore City residents voted to create an Inner Harbor renewal plan to revitalize the industrial harbor with its aging piers and wharves. So getting to know and understand them, through this engaging and educational virtual tour, is an important must-do for those landlubbers who love sharing this planet with a host of wonderful water-based beasties. We called the coral reefs of the ocean "otherworldly" earlier, but they're very much of our own world, of course. The ten-dollar ticket, by the by, is not per person but rather includes whole household, so send out the call to all the ocean aficionados under your roof. And here's something thrilling: She'll fly through the Tropical Tunnel, making your from-home tour extra-memorable. You'll even have the opportunity to admire a red-footed booby named Sula during the $10 event. ![]() "Because this exhibit was only open to the public for a brief time during the summer due to closures associated with the pandemic, the Aquarium is sharing it with the public now through this virtual tour." ![]() "Viewers can learn more about their favorite animals, see behind-the-scenes areas not currently open to the public, and meet the animal care experts and ask them questions," is the fin-tastic word on what this tour will delightfully encompass. In fact, "Coral Reefs: Nature's Underwater Cities," the Long Beach-based aquatic institution's newest exhibit, is where you'll be headed on the just-introduced Sunday tour, as well as into the Tropical Pacific Gallery. Help Pick a Name for LA Zoo's Miracle Condor Chick
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