Aquarium of the Americas
The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is an aquarium in New Orleans , Louisiana and is one of the leading aquarium facilities in the United States .
The Aquarium of the Americas is part of the Audubon Nature Institute, which also runs the Audubon Zoo and Audubon Park in other parts of the city. Located on the banks of the Mississippi River on the edge of the historic French Quarter on Canal Street, the aquarium opened in 1990.
It has 10,000 animals of 530 different species. One of the special exhibition areas is the “Mississippi River gallery” with catfish , paddlefish and alligators ; the “Caribbean reef exhibit” with a nine-meter-long glass tunnel that leads underwater through the habitat of the Caribbean Sea ; the “ Gulf of Mexico exhibit”, in which sharks , sea turtles and stingrays can be viewed.
The aquarium also has an IMAX cinema.
Damage caused by Hurricane Katrina
In 2005, the facility was badly affected by Hurricane Katrina . Although the building was not particularly damaged and is high enough to avoid the worst of the floods, the backup power supply could not sustain the expensive power supply to the aquarium that most animals needed to keep them alive.
The aquarium workers had to leave the city as well as the residents and could not return until four days later. When they returned, however, they could only determine the death of almost all living things. Outstanding was the survival of 19 penguins, which were immediately housed in other facilities and were able to return to their old home after the reconstruction of the aquarium.
The aquarium reopened on May 26, 2006. In order to restore the original biodiversity and exhibition size, an extensive sponsorship program was launched. The Aquarium of the Americas has also received numerous donations from other aquariums around the world. Since reopening, the aquarium has even been able to increase its diversity in some areas: additional species have been added to the Caribbean reef and the jellyfish exhibition . In addition, the water tank for the representation of the Gulf of Mexico was expanded.
Web links
Coordinates: 29 ° 57 ′ 1.2 ″ N , 90 ° 3 ′ 47.1 ″ W.