I've been to few zoos which have been placed in a more gorgeous setting than the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, located in Tacoma, Washington. The facility is located in its namesake park, a 760-acre spit of land jutting out into Puget Sound; from its beaches a variety of birdlife and marine mammals can be spotted, while its trails meander through old growth forests and formal gardens. The zoo takes excellent advantage of its surroundings, both in terms of scenery - the sea can be seen from just inside the main gate - to theming. The living collection is heavily themed, mostly focused on the wildlife of the Pacific Rim.
Many zoos also list themselves as aquariums, but usually the aquarium is more of an afterthought to the zoo proper. In the case of Point Defiance, the reverse might be true, with the zoo almost overshadowed by the aquatic component. The zoo itself was founded in 1905, the aquarium in 1935 elsewhere - it was relocated onto zoo grounds and the facilities were combined in 1963. After struggling along for many years, the zoo was reinvigorated by much-needed financial support in the form of taxes and bonds in the 1990s, and is now home to not one but two aquarium buildings (I can think of no other zoo with two full aquarium buildings), along with more traditional zoo exhibits.
As with the terrestrial animal collection, the aquatic collection is focused on the Pacific Ocean. My favorite of the two is the Pacific Seas Aquarium, home to some of the more iconic of aquarium species. Among them are Japanese spider crabs, giant Pacific octopus, and a variety of jellies (including moon jellies maintained in a globe aquarium). One tank houses a large school of Pacific herring, which dazzle visitors with their movements. Other tanks offer glimpses into sub-habitats of the Pacific. One depicts the underside of a bridge, prowled by wolf eels and rockfish, another features a rocky seascape covered with sea cucumbers and anemones, while another is a kelp forest with California moray and sheephead. There is, of course, an excellent exhibit of Puget Sound marine life as well, as well as the ever-popular touch tank, populated by urchins, sea stars, and other invertebrates.
The largest habitat in either of the two aquariums is the Baja Bay Tank, a 280,000 gallon enclosure. Every aquarium it seems, is required to have the obligatory shark-and-sea turtle tank, and this is Point Defiance's answer to that demand. Scalloped hammerheads, spotted eagle rays, and green sea turtles are the main attraction here, while a variety of smaller but very beautiful fish - angelfish, snapper, tangs - provide color and motion. This exhibit can be viewed from different levels throughout the building, providing an excellent experience.
The second aquarium is the recently-renovated Tropical Reef Aquarium. The highlight of this aquarium is a second of the zoo's main shark tanks, only slightly smaller than the Baja Bay (but not offering as good of viewing, in my opinion). Several sharks - zebra shark, blacktip reef shark, spotted wobbegong among them - and rays can be found here, as well as humphead wrasse, unicorn tang, and other beautiful and strange-looking species. Other, smaller but (in my mind) more aesthetically pleasing tanks depict tropical lagoons and reefs, a perfect counterpart to the coldwater-focused Pacific Seas Aquarium.
Neither of this aquariums, it is noted, feature marine mammals or penguins, the stars of many standalone aquariums - which is not to say that they can't be found at Point Defiance. Those species are spread out among the outdoor zoo exhibits, which we'll review tomorrow.
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