Albuquerque Aquarium facts for kids
The ABQ BioPark Aquarium building
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| Date opened | 5 December 1996 |
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| Location | Albuquerque Biological Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States |
| Coordinates | 35°05′36″N 106°40′44″W / 35.0932°N 106.6790°W |
| Volume of largest tank | 285,000 U.S. gallons (1,080,000 L) |
| Memberships | AZA |
The ABQ BioPark Aquarium is a super cool place to visit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. It's part of the Albuquerque Biological Park, right next to the Rio Grande Botanic Garden. This aquarium lets you explore amazing sea creatures from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.
You'll see animals from different ocean homes. These include sandy surf zones, shallow waters, colorful coral reefs, and even the deep, open ocean. A major highlight is a giant shark tank. It holds 285,000 U.S. gal (1,080,000 L) of water! You can watch the sharks through a huge window that's 38-foot (12 m) wide and 9-foot (2.7 m) tall.
Other popular exhibits include Jellies: Aliens of the Sea, where you can see moon jellies and Japanese sea nettles. The Pacific Coral Reef Tunnel is also a favorite. In The South Pacific Gallery, you'll find graceful seahorses, unique pipefishes, and many brightly colored reef fish.
The Rio Grande at Central Bridge exhibit is special. It shows you how fish in the Rio Grande have changed over the last 100 years. For a really close look, try the Shark/Ray Encounter. Here, you can have a guided experience with bamboo sharks and stingrays. The Albuquerque Biological Park is a trusted member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
Contents
Cool Aquarium Exhibits
The Albuquerque Aquarium is designed to take you on a journey. You start at a fountain that looks like the beginning of the Rio Grande river. Your adventure ends at a huge 285,000-U.S.-gallon (1,080,000 L) saltwater tank. This tank is home to animals from the wide-open Gulf of Mexico.
When you first enter, you'll see freshwater tanks. These tanks show fish that live in the Rio Grande river. You can see both fish found there today and those that used to live there. Nearby, a small movie theater plays interesting films about life in the water.
Next, you'll discover the Gulf of Mexico Coast Gallery. This area has several exhibits that show you the shores of the Gulf. You'll see fish and birds from this region. There are also stingrays, a Texas Terrapin exhibit, and even a real, retired shrimp fishing boat.
In 2018, the aquarium added a big new exhibit for North American River Otters. This fun area houses three otters: two females named Chaos and Mayhem, and a male named Dixon. The exhibit has different levels. There's an upper area with land, hiding spots, and lots of dirt and plants. From here, you can see their large pool. The pool also has an underwater viewing tank. Around this tank, you'll find smaller tanks with local fish like bluegill and catfish. There are also terrariums with local amphibians, such as leopard frogs and bullfrogs, and invertebrates like crayfish.
After the otters, you'll see a replica of a coral reef. This exhibit features beautiful fish like parrotfish, angelfish, grunts, porcupinefish, and triggerfish. Then, you can walk through a coral reef tunnel. This tunnel shows many different fish species from the South Pacific.
The next part of the aquarium has a series of smaller tanks. These tanks display "oddities" – unique creatures like clownfish, seahorses, pipefish, jellyfish, hagfish, cuttlefish, and nautilus. Sometimes, there's even a touch pool where you can gently feel stingrays and baby bamboo sharks.
In 2020, the aquarium added a new exhibit for frogfish. The coral exhibit also got much bigger. A small 200-gallon tank became a large 1,500-gallon one. The aquarium is now home to 50 different kinds of coral!
The final exhibit is the huge 285,000-U.S.-gallon (1,080,000 L) saltwater tank. It has that amazing 38-foot (12 m) viewing window. Here, you can watch six different shark species. These include sandtiger sharks, sandbar sharks, blacktip sharks, nurse sharks, zebra sharks, and tasselled wobbegongs. You'll also see tarpon, barracudas, stingrays, big schools of fish, moray eels, and three types of sea turtles. These turtles are loggerheads, Kemp's ridleys, and hawksbills. Every day, divers go into the tank to feed the animals and keep it clean.
You can also find a restaurant and a gift shop inside the aquarium building.
Helping Our Oceans (Conservation)
The Albuquerque Aquarium works hard to protect fish found in the Rio Grande. They have a special program to breed the Rio Grande silvery minnow. They also help the Socorro isopod. In 2008, something amazing happened: three blacktip shark pups were born at the aquarium! This was the first time this type of shark was born in captivity. You can even watch a video of the births here.
The aquarium's main goal is to teach people about the world's oceans and the animals that live in them. They hold events all year long. These include monthly sleepovers, a special "Shark Week," and camps for kids in the summer and spring. They also celebrate important days like World Oceans Day and Earth Day.
Future Plans for the Aquarium
Exciting changes are coming to the aquarium! New plans include an updated entrance. A recent bond (money raised for public projects) was approved to help build a North American Otter exhibit near the existing Pelican pond. There are also plans to update the exhibits for local fish.
Past Exhibits and Residents
- A model boat exhibition hall used to be in the Aquarium. It has closed and is now part of the space for the new Otter Exhibit.
- The current Terrapin Exhibit once housed baby American alligators before the terrapins. Before that, it had fish.
- The South Pacific walk-through tunnel, which now has many different fish, used to be home to Moray eels and other types of eels.
See also
In Spanish: Acuario de Albuquerque para niños
