I visited the aquarium in the summer of 2012 and here is my review from that year's 50 day/50 zoo 'Snowleopard Road Trip':
North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores is an AZA-accredited facility in Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina, and it opened to the public in 1976. It is part of a trio of aquariums that are all owned by the state, but each aquarium has a slightly different focus. Pine Knoll Shores focuses on “From the Mountains to the Sea” and the annual attendance is 380,000. The combined attendance of the trio of aquariums is over one million visitors per year.
Today we spent 1.5 hours at the Pine Knoll Shores aquarium before driving south for 2.5 hours to spend an hour at the Fort Fisher aquarium. This review can be considered Part I of our July 24th North Carolina experience.
THE BEST:
Ocean Gallery: Living Shipwreck – This is a 306,000 gallon tank that as its centerpiece has a replica of a U-352 German submarine that was sunk by the North Carolina coast guard during World War II. The major occupants are sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, green sea turtles and green moray eels, but there must be at least 15 species of smaller fish as well. This is a truly amazing tank with the fish swimming all around the sunken submarine, and the wall of viewing windows is large enough to allow for huge crowds to congregate.
Also in the Ocean Gallery is a Wreck of 'Caribsea' tank that is a smaller version of the Living Shipwreck behemoth; an Atlantic octopus has a very small tank; an American lobster, lionfish, moon jellies and other aquatic denizens of the deep are located along the walls of this gallery. A Sport-fishing Gallery has speckled trout, tarpon, permit and red drum in one tank and a large school of bluefish in a tank across the corridor.
White Sea Turtle – The aquarium has a miniature superstar in Nimbus, a rare white juvenile loggerhead sea turtle that is a rehabilitated animal. He has been an ambassador for his wild cousins for two years now and it is possible that Nimbus even outranks the river otters as the star attraction at the aquarium as he is such an extreme rarity.
Mountain Gallery – This is the first section that visitors see and it has a spectacular crashing waterfall that cascades into a circular pool set against a backdrop of rockwork. Deep Creek features fish known as “muskies” (muskellunge); Mountain Minnows is an open-topped tank with 11 fish species, including shiners, chubs and dace; Trout Pool has 3 species (brown trout, brook trout, rainbow trout) in another large open-topped exhibit that is the highlight of the gallery; and a Mountain Motion Pool showcases the diversity of local fish. The pathways are wide in this area and the lack of tanks is quickly forgotten due to the quality of the exhibitry.
Piedmont Gallery – This is the second section that visitors encounter, and there are a number of average-sized terrariums for these species in an area called Life on the Edge: Pine Barrens frog, tiger salamander, green tree frog, squirrel tree frog, leopard frog, pickerel frog, southern toad, eastern spadefoot toad and broken-striped newt. Falls Lake Reservoir is a huge tank with 16 species of fish, including: blue catfish, largemouth bass, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, green sunfish and longear sunfish. Lastly, Fairway Pond has these 4 species: spiny softshell turtle, koi fish, goldfish and grass carp. The true stars of this aquarium are once again river otters, and a trio has a large exhibit with underwater viewing that attracts humans like moths to a flame. My daily otter fix was sated at this entertaining habitat.
Coastal Plain Gallery – There are only 5 exhibits in this small area but I spent quite a bit of time here as the enclosures all contain fascinating occupants. A full-size replica of an American alligator is set in the center of the room, and to one side is a small tank with a couple of juvenile alligators. A gorgeous, open-topped exhibit at the entrance has 5 species of turtle and one fish species: red-eared slider, yellowbelly slider, Florida cooter, eastern river cooter, spiny softshell and bluegill fish. North Carolina has many numerous small animals, such as 18 species of freshwater turtle and more species of salamander than anywhere else on the planet. A small terrarium has a banded water snake and a red-bellied water snake; a large terrarium has several different colour morphs of the corn snake; and the largest tank in the room has an alligator snapping turtle, longnose gar, bowfin and bluegill.
THE AVERAGE:
Tidal Waters Gallery – A large tank with bonnethead sharks and a plethora of other smaller species of fish catches the eye but it is not as large as it first appears; lined seahorses have two very small exhibits; a Salt Marsh exhibit is nicely designed but not very big; a Dock tank has fish swimming amongst what appears to be a wooden pier; Oyster Rock is packed with lots of oysters and small fish; and juvenile sea turtles are in small rehabilitation tanks. A large touch tank has these 6 species: cownose ray, southern stingray, yellow stingray, smooth butterfly ray, Atlantic stingray and Atlantic guitarfish.
Fintastic! Weird & Wonderful Fish – This is a small gallery near the exit with an American eel tank; scrawled cowfish; and two southern flounder exhibits next to each other where it is difficult to locate the fish in their camouflaged surroundings.
THE WORST:
Penguin Plunge – There are 4 African black-footed penguins in a temporary exhibit, and they will be at the aquarium until September 30th. This is a seasonal gimmick to entice visitors to witness the appallingly tiny space where the penguins are located. They are found in Soundside Hall, a large room used for special events that is now empty except for a video screen of the penguins and the enclosure itself. I would estimate that the exhibit is 15 ft. wide, 15 ft. high and 15 ft. long and it is a new contender for America’s worst penguin exhibit. Great Plains Zoo, you have been warned!
OVERALL:
North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores is easily the best of the trio of state-run aquariums. It is the middle child in terms of geographic positioning, but it took an hour and a half to tour and there are many top-notch, hugely impressive exhibits. The main issue with the aquarium is that there is simply not enough to see to keep visitors for two hours and that is something that can be said for all three of the North Carolina aquariums. Pine Knoll Shores is the one that I would recommend driving out of the way to see regardless of whether an individual was heading down the coastline or inland.
