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Tennessee Aquarium

The Tennessee Aquarium is a non-profit public aquarium located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It opened in 1992 on the banks of the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga, with a major expansion added in 2005.

The Tennessee Aquarium’s exhibits are housed in two structures, the original River Journey building which opened in 1992 and the neighboring Ocean Journey expansion, which opened in 2005.

River Journey

The River Journey facility is a 130,000 square foot structure equivalent in height to a twelve-story building. It contains a total of 400,000 US gallons (1,500,000 L), and was the largest freshwater aquarium in the world when it opened.   It is organized around the theme of the Story of the River, following the path of a raindrop from high in the Appalachian Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately two-thirds of the facility’s display follows this theme, with the rest devoted to smaller aquatic exhibits hosting organisms from around the world. Major exhibits in River Journey include:

 Potbelly seahorses on exhibit in River Journey.

River Journey also displays turtles, seahorses, frogs and other aquatic and marine life.

Ocean Journey

Ocean Journey, a 60,000 square foot structure equivalent in height to a ten-story building, opened in 2005 and contains a total of 700,000 US gallons (2,600,000 L).[9] It ostensibly follows the theme of the River Journey by following the river into the Gulf of Mexico, although it is thematically less consistent than the original structure. This facility includes hyacinth macaws, a touch tank of small sharks and rays, and a butterfly garden with free-flying South American species. Major exhibits in Ocean Journey include:

Sea nettle on exhibit in Ocean Journey.

Offsite activities

In addition to its exhibit halls, the Tennessee Aquarium includes two public offsite facilities. The River Gorge Explorer, a 65-foot catamaran tour boat, offers daily tours of the nearby Tennessee River Gorge and other sites along the Tennessee River, boarding from the public pier in Ross’s Landing Park adjacent to the aquarium.[17][18] The aquarium also operates an IMAX 3D theater.

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