Zoo Review: Tennessee Aquarium, Part I

Like many cities, when it came time for Chattanooga, Tennessee, to revitalize their waterfront, the city fathers decided upon building an aquarium as a centerpiece attraction.  The Tennessee Aquarium was one of several aquariums that opened in a relatively short time frame across the globe.  Aesthetically, both the interior and exterior bear a striking resemblance to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, which was designed by the same architects.  So striking is the resemblance that a friend of mine who worked at NAiB and visited the Tennessee Aquarium with me joked that she could give a tour of the place without ever having stepped inside before.  In reality, Tennessee differs from Baltimore - from all of the other major US aquariums, really - in one key respect.  It's primary focus is not on the oceans as much as it is on the rivers and other freshwater habitats of the world.

A journey through the aquarium's freshwater building starts on the top floor.  At Baltimore this glass pyramid houses an Amazon rainforest (a fairly common exhibit at aquariums), but Chattanooga's focus is closer to home.  The Appalachian Cove Forest starts off with a habitat of North American river otters, which can be observed both above and below the water, before meandering into an indoor forest which houses native songbirds flitting about (easier to hear than see, alas).  The vast skylights allow much natural light to enter the exhibit, allowing native vegetation to flourish and create a very realistic habitat.  The exhibit than descends into the Mississippi Delta, where American alligators are the stars.  Situated along the gallery walls are tanks of native herps, such as gopher tortoises and ratsnakes, as well as the very impressive collection of small North American freshwater fish - shiners, darters - for which the aquarium is famous in professional circles.  I'm a zoo person primarily, and my interest in fish is usually drawn towards the biggest or weirdest species.  For the ichthyologically-inclined, however, the collection is an absolute treasure trove.

The exhibit eventually moves to deeper waters, and a more conventional aquarium setting, and it is hear that visitors will start to see the bigger fish of the river.  Among the impressive specimens seen are alligator gar, sturgeons, and, my personal favorite, prehistoric-looking paddlefish.  Smaller side displays include amphibians, such as hellbenders, as well as a lab-like display that highlights Tennessee Aquarium's impressive conservation work with native fish.

If the aquarium is famous in aquarist circles for its freshwater fish, zookeepers will best know Tennessee Aquarium for its other specialty of the house: turtles.  This facility has the most impressive public display of freshwater turtles that I've ever seen.  Some of the species are seen in a special turtle gallery, with each geographic display featuring a handful of species from that region.  Others can be seen in the nursery, where hatchlings are raised in smaller, simpler tanks to allow aquarium staff to monitor their growth.  Others still can be found in what was one of my favorite displays, Rivers of the World.  This section could have been an aquarium on its own, a gallery of tanks that featured freshwater fish and herps (including Chinese crocodile lizard, dwarf crocodile, and yes, more turtles) in habitats depicting riverscapes such as such as the Congo, China's Yangtze, and New Guinea's Fly River.  The variety of turtles here really is spectacular, including such rare and beautiful specimens as the bog turtle, spotted turtle, four-eyed turtle, Sulawesi forest turtle, and black-breasted leaf turtle (Asian forest turtles, being among the most endangered, are the best-represented here)

The center of the aquarium is a series of ramps sloping through the darkened interior of giant tanks housing giant river fish from around the world (again very reminiscent of Baltimore - this time taking the space of the Atlantic reef and shark habitats).  The tanks an international smorgasbord of big fish, such as giant stingrays, arapaimas, and Pangasius catfish (most aquariums have an Amazon fish tank, but the diversity of big fish from around the world is truly impressive).

Until the mid 2000's, this would have concluded the Tennessee Aquarium experience, but after the addition of a whole new compound, there's plenty more to see!  We'll explore that tomorrow. 

Tennessee Aquarium