Earlier this month, I traveled to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium. Located downtown in the city’s Inner Harbor, the National Aquarium is a beautiful facility with a walk-through rain forest, several exhibits, a 4D movie theater and a dolphin show. Our visit was on the Saturday before the Super Bowl, and the city was adorned with Ravens memorabilia and downtown was crowded with fans, but thankfully the Aquarium wasn’t packed. We only waited for a short time in the line outside the building before heading inside to explore.

Though not the world’s largest aquarium (the largest is the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta), the National Aquarium includes multiple levels; and we were entertained for three hours. Our favorite exhibit was Animal Planet Australia, featuring 120 species typically found in a northern Australia river gorge, including freshwater crocodiles, turtles, snakes, lizards, birds that fly freely throughout the exhibit, and gigantic stingrays. We continued our exploration of Australia with a 4D Immersion Theater experience, which is a 3D film with sensory effects like wind, mist, bubbles, scents and leg ticklers that made me jump in my seat.

After enjoying the 225,000-gallon, ring-shaped exhibit in Shark Alley featuring several species of sharks, we ended our visit with a stop in Jellies Invasion: Oceans Out of Balance. The exhibit features nine different species of jellyfish with information about how they have survived amidst environmental changes that have negatively affected other forms of marine life. 

I highly recommend a visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, though I would suggest going when the weather is warmer so you can explore the Inner Harbor and walk around downtown without the chill of the Chesapeake Bay. The facility is currently undergoing a $12.5 million renovation, and the Blacktip Reef exhibit, including a coral reef ecosystem with several new species of sharks, will open this summer.

— Monique Barrett, advertising and editorial coordinator