Great Lakes Aquarium
Encyclopedia
Great Lakes Aquarium is one of few aquariums in the United States that focuses on freshwater exhibits (the Tennessee Aquarium
is another example). It is housed in a three-story building in Duluth, Minnesota
on the shores of Lake Superior
and has numerous large and smaller satellite tanks that comprise the 120,000 gallon facility. Construction took 3.5 years and cost around $34 million.
All of the main exhibits of the 62000 square feet (5,760 m²) Great Lakes Aquarium (GLA) are based upon actual habitats in the Lake Superior basin. "Slices" of the St. Louis River, Baptism River, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
, Kakagon Slough, Isle Royale
and Otter Cove can all be viewed up close.
is the main exhibit located in the very center of the building, and it extends to both the first and second floors allowing visitors to view it from many different angles.
It contains fish like trout and lake sturgeon
.
and Kakagon Slough are inside of a netted area and feature sandstone cliffs, live songbirds, ducks, and wetland plants.
, Poison Dart Frogs, Arowana
, Piranha
, Thorny Catfish, and even a Macaw
.
and housed over forty interactive displays and live marine animal exhibits. Other traveling exhibits of the past include "Africa's Lake Victoria," which ended October 2003 and "Hunters of the Sky," which ended September 2001.
New exhibits are planned for 2010.
, Leisure Entertainment Management division, best known for their Believe it or not museums. Ripley's management reduced staff from a high of 90 down to 30 and cut costs in other areas bringing the Aquarium back from the immediate threat of permanent closure. According to a report aired on WDIO-TV in Duluth in June 2007, each successive year since Ripley's management of GLA has shown a notable drop in attendance from the previous year with projections dropping even more rapidly in the future. Even though it operates at a significant loss, GLA receives subsidies from Duluth of up to $300,000 annually so it could last indefinitely. On June 9, 2008, Mayor Don Ness outlined a plan to reduce the aquarium's subsidy by $100,000 due to a budget deficit in the city of Duluth. On June 29, 2008, it was announced that the aquarium would temporarily add an international passenger terminal so that cruise ship passengers from the 290 feet (88.4 m) cruise ship Clelia II could be processed on site. According to the Chicago Tribune, "Jack LaVoy, executive director of the aquarium, said a temporary passenger center could provide some welcome extra revenue for the attraction. 'We hope this is the beginning of what could become many cruises,' he said."
Tennessee Aquarium
The Tennessee Aquarium is a non-profit public aquarium located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its River Journey building is the largest freshwater aquarium in the world....
is another example). It is housed in a three-story building in Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
on the shores of Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
and has numerous large and smaller satellite tanks that comprise the 120,000 gallon facility. Construction took 3.5 years and cost around $34 million.
All of the main exhibits of the 62000 square feet (5,760 m²) Great Lakes Aquarium (GLA) are based upon actual habitats in the Lake Superior basin. "Slices" of the St. Louis River, Baptism River, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It extends for 42 miles along the shore and covers...
, Kakagon Slough, Isle Royale
Isle Royale
Isle Royale is an island of the Great Lakes, located in the northwest of Lake Superior, and part of the state of Michigan. The island and the 450 surrounding smaller islands and waters make up Isle Royale National Park....
and Otter Cove can all be viewed up close.
Isle Royale
85,000 gallon Isle RoyaleIsle Royale
Isle Royale is an island of the Great Lakes, located in the northwest of Lake Superior, and part of the state of Michigan. The island and the 450 surrounding smaller islands and waters make up Isle Royale National Park....
is the main exhibit located in the very center of the building, and it extends to both the first and second floors allowing visitors to view it from many different angles.
It contains fish like trout and lake sturgeon
Lake sturgeon
The lake sturgeon is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 20 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is an evolutionarily ancient bottomfeeder with a partly cartilaginous skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates...
.
Baptism River
Baptism River is a fast-moving exhibit featuring a waterfall. It contains rainbow, brown, and brook trout, as well as sculpin and longnose suckers.St. Louis River
The St. Louis River exhibit is a slow-moving river habitat with perch, walleye, gar, sturgeon, channel catfish, and other native species.Pictured Rocks / Kakagon Slough
Pictured RocksPictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It extends for 42 miles along the shore and covers...
and Kakagon Slough are inside of a netted area and feature sandstone cliffs, live songbirds, ducks, and wetland plants.
Otter Cove
Otter Cove is an exhibit that houses two river otters and was designed after a cove in Pukaskwa Provincial Park. Directly to the left is an exhibit containing a live bald eagle, a male named Bogey.Amazing Amazon
Amazing Amazon is the newest exhibit, opened summer 2008. It features freshwater creatures from the largest river in the world. This includes PacuPacú
Pacu or pacú is the common name of several South American fishes.PACU, Pacu or pacú may also refer to:*Piaractus mesopotamicus , a South American ray-finned fish that is endemic to the Paraguay-Paraná River basin*Tambaqui , known as black pacu, black-finned pacu, giant pacu*Philippine Association...
, Poison Dart Frogs, Arowana
Arowana
Arowanas are freshwater bony fish of the family Osteoglossidae, also known as bonytongues. In this family of fishes, the head is bony and the elongate body is covered by large, heavy scales, with a mosaic pattern of canals. The dorsal and the anal fins have soft rays and are long based, while the...
, Piranha
Piranha
A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...
, Thorny Catfish, and even a Macaw
Macaw
Macaws are small to large, often colourful New World parrots. Of the many different Psittacidae genera, six are classified as macaws: Ara, Anodorhynchus, Cyanopsitta, Primolius, Orthopsittaca, and Diopsittaca...
.
Other Permanent Exhibits
19 satellite tanks are at various locations and contain animals such as fish, frogs, salamanders and snakes. There is also a wide variety of interactive electronic exhibits located throughout the museum. Great Lakes Aquarium also features a local history center, a science center and cultural exhibits.Traveling Exhibits
As of May 25, 2007, Great Lakes Aquarium is currently hosting the traveling exhibit "Seahorse Secrets" in the Sandra and Roger Karon Exhibit Hall. Prior to this date, traveling exhibit "The Abyss: the Great Unknown" occupied this space. It explored deep-ocean exploration and was GLA's first foray into saltwater exhibits. The Abyss was based on the research of Bob BallardRobert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard is a former United States Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989,...
and housed over forty interactive displays and live marine animal exhibits. Other traveling exhibits of the past include "Africa's Lake Victoria," which ended October 2003 and "Hunters of the Sky," which ended September 2001.
New exhibits are planned for 2010.
Architecture
Holt Hinshaw had the original vision and Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA) made it a reality. An office area at the rear of the first floor has been cleared out to host birthday parties and other pre-arranged events. There is an incredible harbor view from this area to say the least. When visitors enter the museum, they are encouraged to ride the escalator to the upper level first through Sensory Immersion Experience and continue onto the lower level later.Main Floor
The main floor contains the following features:- Seahorse Secrets (traveling exhibit)
- Gift Shop
- Otter Cove
- Bald Eagle
- Great Lakes Water Table
- Isle Royale
- Wow of Water
- International Lakes
- Amazing Amazon
- Boardroom
- Harborview Suite Party Room
- Learning Labs
- Behind the Scenes
- Lake Superior Deep Water Benthic Explorer
Upper Level
- Origins
- Human Migration
- Touch Tanks
- World of Water
- Harbor View
- Baptism River
- Isle Royale
- St. Louis River
- Uplands
- Weather Station
- Pictured Rocks
- Kakagon Slough
- Marketplace (interactive exhibits)
- Caretaking
- Cafeteria
Basement
The basement of this building is closed to the public. It contains offices and storage, as well as pumps for the aquarium, which can be viewed via camera near Isle Royale on the first floor.History
The facility has never met the attendance and financial projections of its promoters. In 2002 it was effectively taken over by the City of Duluth, which was responsible for its debts. Though temporarily closed in the fall of 2002, GLA reopened that winter on weekends and soon resumed operations 365 days a year. Daily operations of GLA were contracted out to Ripley's EntertainmentRipley's Entertainment
Created by the success of Ripley's Believe it or Not!, Ripley Entertainment Inc. is a large entertainment and edutainment holding company owned by the Jim Pattison Group...
, Leisure Entertainment Management division, best known for their Believe it or not museums. Ripley's management reduced staff from a high of 90 down to 30 and cut costs in other areas bringing the Aquarium back from the immediate threat of permanent closure. According to a report aired on WDIO-TV in Duluth in June 2007, each successive year since Ripley's management of GLA has shown a notable drop in attendance from the previous year with projections dropping even more rapidly in the future. Even though it operates at a significant loss, GLA receives subsidies from Duluth of up to $300,000 annually so it could last indefinitely. On June 9, 2008, Mayor Don Ness outlined a plan to reduce the aquarium's subsidy by $100,000 due to a budget deficit in the city of Duluth. On June 29, 2008, it was announced that the aquarium would temporarily add an international passenger terminal so that cruise ship passengers from the 290 feet (88.4 m) cruise ship Clelia II could be processed on site. According to the Chicago Tribune, "Jack LaVoy, executive director of the aquarium, said a temporary passenger center could provide some welcome extra revenue for the attraction. 'We hope this is the beginning of what could become many cruises,' he said."