Located on the waterfront of Dubuque, Iowa, the campus of the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium is bordered by the river for which it is named. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum opened in 1982, originally as a riverboat museum before eventually evolving into its current role. Riverboats still play a prominent role in the facility - visitors approaching the gate are greeted by the sight of an enormous paddlewheel turning endlessly, while the steamboat William M. Black is docked out back and open for exploration. A large part of the expansion, however, has been driven by new exhibits for the wildlife of the Mississippi River, including many of its most charismatic creatures.
The Museum consists of three main buildings, two of which - the West and East buildings - house the animal collection (a third building is the old riverboat museum). Upon entering the West Building, visitors are first greeted by the Backwater Marsh, an open air raised aquarium in which freshwater fish, turtles, and waterfowl can be seen without barriers. Directly behind this is the habitat for one of the most popular species in the collection, North American river otters. Otters can be seen both indoors and outdoors, with underwater viewing in both locations. For one of the their flagship species, I'll honestly admit it's not the most exciting otter habitat I've seen (many nature center museums seem to have gone with indoor otter exhibits as star attractions), but it's by no means the worst, and at least there is an outdoor component. Trailing behind the otters are a series of rather decent habitats for a variety of small Mississippi river herps, including a few snakes and salamanders which I'd never encountered before.
The West Building also houses the other anchor species of the aquarium, the American alligator, sharing a habitat with alligator snapping turtle. I would have liked for the big reptiles to also have had outdoor access like the otters, but I suppose that in a climate like Dubuque's, it probably wouldn't have been usable for that much of the year. Other large aquariums feature the big fish of the big river, including paddlefish (in a separate enclosure), channel catfish, lake sturgeon, and alligator gar, among others. Less glamorous to the public are the smaller displays of small freshwater fish and mussels, which represent some of North America's most imperiled species. A courtyard outside features a few small raptor aviaries, as well as a larger one for bald eagles. There is also an attractive boardwalk meandering through some wetlands, which can be a fine place to spot local wildlife, such as turtles and waterfowl, on your way to the steamboat, a log cabin, or other non-animal displays.
The East Building has fewer species, but a more oceanic focus. The animal highlight here is the largest aquarium at 40,000 gallons, dedicated to the sea life of the Gulf of Mexico. The tank houses a non-releasable sea turtle, as well as several fish. Nearby are a collection of smaller aquariums themed as Rivers to the Sea, which breaks a bit away from the Mississippi theme with the inclusion of some species decidedly not found in the scope of that particular waterway, such as giant Pacific octopus (an obvious aquarium crowd pleaser when the facility must have felt compelled to shoehorn in somehow). There are a few other non-natives in the gallery, such as a small display of Amazonian fish. And, of course, there is that staple of every aquarium these days, the stingray touch tank. This building also contains a coral propagation lab, a nod to one of the more prominent of conservation projects that is taking place among zoos and aquariums lately.
The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium is no Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in terms of its exhibitry or immersive experience; it lacks the botanical component, for one thing. It does offer a fun, educational year-round attraction (hard to do outdoors in Iowa) that offers compelling stories about the wildlife of the river that played such a pivotal role in shaping this country. I haven't really mentioned the non-animal displays (including a cool library and portrait gallery) as they fall somewhat out of the scope of this blog, but those are all very interesting as well - I do really enjoy exploring the interplay between history and nature, and wish more facilities took that kind of approach to telling stories about their collections.
My main takeaway about the museum is that its exhibits are diverse enough and unique enough that there will be something for everyone to enjoy on its campus.
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium
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