Overlooking beautiful Charleston harbor, the South Carolina
Aquarium is one of the nation’s newest public aquariums. It is easily one of the most gorgeous. On my first visit, I intended to only spend
an hour or so – I had other plans for the day, and knowing that the aquarium
(mostly) featured native species, I figured it wouldn’t take too long to give
it a once over. Instead, I spent more
than twice as long as I intended, and was only left when I absolutely had to
for a prior commitment.
Even then, I
kind of wanted to sneak back….
Many aquariums are like underwater art galleries – dark hallways,
carpeted floors, hushed tones. The South
Carolina Aquarium, in contrast, was full of light, energy, and movement. I have rarely visited an aquarium where I
have not only seen so many animals, but also had so much fun. From the great ocean tank which dominates the
building to its marsh aviary, overlooking the harbor, I felt the aquarium was a
treat to explore. The single deviation
from the native wildlife theme was found on the ground floor, where a gallery
houses changing, traveling exhibits – when I visited, Madagascar was the themed
display, with lemurs, frogs, snakes, and crocodiles featured. Past exhibits have featured penguins and
Amazon wildlife.
The Great Ocean Tank – two stories tall, 385,000 gallons of
water, is the aquarium’s main exhibit.
Sharks and loggerhead turtles mill around divers during feeding demonstrations,
which visitors can observe from rowed seating or overlooking balconies. The second floor features more sea creatures –
flounder, crustaceans, sea horses. It
also tip-toes into the state’s terrestrial ecosystems, exploring the importance
of water to these habitats. Bald eagles,
river otters, and a host of native herps round out the collection. This is the south, so of course there is an
alligator exhibit – and what an alligator!
A beautiful, ghost-white giant lurks in a darkened enclosure, bobbing at
eye level with visitors. I normally
eschew albinos and other color mutations, but ever since I saw my first one two
decades ago, white alligators have always affected me.
The second floor is also home to what I consider one of the
most stunning aquarium exhibits I have ever seen. The Salt Marsh Aviary implies the presence of
birds, but it’s easy to overlook them in favor of the exhibit’s other
occupants. The walkway through the
exhibit winds between open-topped tanks, swarming with stingrays and
diamondback terrapins. Visitors can
purchase cups of chopped fish to feed the rays.
If you do happen to look up and notice the birds, you’ll be treated to a
variety of gulls, ibises, herons, and gallinules. Probably the coolest thing about this aviary
is that its windows look out over the harbor, so you see wild birds flying by
in the background – very closely. I had
a hard time telling if the gulls and pelicans that passed by were exhibit birds
or wild ones. Outside the aviary, a
touch tank features horseshoe crabs and other marine creatures.
Two things impressed me immensely about the South Carolina
Aquarium. The first was the onsite
conservation program. Like many
aquariums, this one devotes considerable resources to marine animal rescue and
rehabilitation, especially sea turtles, in this case. About 100 turtles have been processed by the
Sea Turtle Hospital and returned to the wild, a great success story.
What astonished me most of all, however, was the volunteer
program. It seemed that everywhere I
turned, there were teenaged volunteers – and this was during a weekday, in the middle of the day, in the school
year! They were handling herps for
demonstrations, manning the touch tank, assisting with keeper talks, or just
patrolling the building to make sure guests could find someone if they needed
help with anything. When I questioned a
few of them, they all seemed very knowledgeable and polite, and told me that it
was part of a school program that allowed them to intern here. What a great opportunity to get young people
involved in conservation and education, and what a tremendous difference I saw
them making in the experiences of so many visitors.
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