National Aquarium in Baltimore

National Aquarium In Baltimore

The National Aquarium, Baltimore is a non-profit public aquarium located at 501 E Pratt Street in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. Constructed during a period of urban renewal in Baltimore, the aquarium opened on August 8, 1981. The aquarium has an annual attendance of 1.5 million. The Aquarium has a collection of 16,500 specimens representing 660 species. In 2003, the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the independent National Aquarium in Washington joined as one National Aquarium. The National Aquarium's mission is to inspire conservation of the world's aquatic treasures. The aquarium's stated vision is to confront pressing issues facing global aquatic habitats through pioneering science, conservation, and educational programming.

The National Aquarium houses several exhibits including the Upland Tropical Rain Forest, a multiple-story Atlantic Coral Reef, an open ocean shark tank, and Australia: Wild Extremes, which won the "Best Exhibit" award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 2008. The aquarium also has a 4D Immersion Theater. The aquarium opened a marine mammal pavilion in 1990 and currently holds eight Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Of the eight, six were born at the National Aquarium, one was born at another American aquarium, and one was collected by another aquarium in the late 1970s or early 1980s from U.S. waters.