SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium Review (November 2023)
I visited Kelly Tarlton’s on 03/11/2023. It was a weekday during term time, which allowed me to avoid the crowds associated with weekends and school holidays and no doubt made for a more pleasurable visit. There was ample free parking with the aquarium’s car park and on the main drive, which was appreciated now other attractions like Auckland Zoo charge for parking.
The lengthy winding corridors dedicated to queuing indicate how busy the aquarium can potentially be, with social distancing lines on the ground a relic from the pandemic. The admissions staff were friendly and detailed points of interest about the facility; but didn’t provide a map.
The aquarium begins with a replica of Scott Base (Antarctica), including a cabin and pantry. I wasn’t interested in learning about the history, but there was adequate signage if I had of been; and it was interesting to see a skeleton of a King penguin as part of one of the displays.
Next is the ‘Antarctic Whiteout’, which is a boardwalk with moving walls. It was a novel experience compared to other aquariums I’ve visited and set the scene for the Antarctic exhibits that followed. The penguin exhibit is home to large colonies of King penguin and Gentoo penguin and features an underwater viewing window and multiple viewing points where you can see the penguins nesting etc. The highlight was seeing chicks of both species. It was a fantastic exhibit, but condensation on the windows was terrible and greatly reduced visibility.
A lot of aquariums seem to have a Giant squid these days and Kelly Tarlton’s is no exception. There’s is an approximately 12 month old female (11 metres in length). It was fascinating to see, though visibility could have been improved by better lighting. This led into the Southern Oceans tanks, which included the requisite jellyfish disco and an interesting display of jellyfish polyps. Signage was otherwise very poor in this area and several species weren’t signed.
Signage was equally poor in the next zone, with numerous tropical fish tanks unlabelled. There was a interactive kids area I paid little attention to bar a reef exhibit (again unsigned). If a visitor’s dearest ambition was to see Nemo or Dory, this was the tank for them - with large shoals of Clownfish; and a handful of Indo-Pacific surgeon fish among other equally vibrant species.
Off to the side was a Tuatara exhibit, which had little to no relevance to the rest of the collection, but a welcome inclusion nonetheless.
Turtle Bay was spectacular. The 350,000 Litre pool houses juvenile New Zealand eagle ray, as well as two Green sea turtle. Kelly Tarlton’s operates a rehabilitation and release programme for sea turtles and via the website, I learnt these were Green sea turtles named Smee and Te Ahuru. Again, signage was lacking here.
From here, visitors enter a conveyor belt, which takes them through the combined 110 metre underwater viewing tunnels of Shipwreck Discovery and the Shark Zone. I feel like everyone outside the ages of 3-8 years old would enjoy the experience more without the conveyor belt, but at least it offers you the opportunity to stand on the fixed sides to view the species passing alongside or above you. The highlight was the three shark species: Sand tiger shark, Broadnose sevengill shark and School shark; as well as the Short-tail stingray and adult New Zealand eagle ray.
There was a range of fish species throughout Shipwreck Discovery and the Shark Zone including Hapuku, Black angelfish, Yellow moray, Kahawai, Red moki, Sweep, Australasian snapper, Two spot demoiselle, Pigfish, Jack mackerel, Sandager’s wrasse, Green wrasse, Blue mao mao, Trevally, Hiwihiwi, Black spotted grouper, Yellow tail kingfish and Red scorpion fish all signed. I saw many of these, with the Yellow moray being a notable omission.
Several tanks following holding New Zealand long-fin eel, Packhorse lobster, Slipped lobster, starfish and Hermit crabs. Signage was via a central board, which omitted a few species. It would have been more visitor friendly to have the individual tanks labelled, but an improvement on the unlabelled tropical tanks. Tanks for Spiny sea dragon and Big-belly seahorse were in an adjacent room and well signed, with information regarding Kelly Tarlton’s being the first aquarium in the world to breed Spiny sea dragons.
Overall, I was impressed by Kelly Tarlton’s. I spent around 90 minutes there and saw nearly every species I wanted to see. Aside from the condensation in the penguin habitat, visibility of all exhibits was great with ample viewing opportunities. The lack of signage in places was my main complaint and would be an easy fix. The admission price was a little steep compared to New Zealand’s main zoos (all of which would be considered a half day out or longer), but if you don’t visit often like myself, it’s something a bit different and a good way to kill an hour or two.
I’d like to conclude by thanking @akasha and @splendens for their assistance in fish ID.
Photos from my visit: Kelly Tarltons Underwater World - ZooChat
I visited Kelly Tarlton’s on 03/11/2023. It was a weekday during term time, which allowed me to avoid the crowds associated with weekends and school holidays and no doubt made for a more pleasurable visit. There was ample free parking with the aquarium’s car park and on the main drive, which was appreciated now other attractions like Auckland Zoo charge for parking.
The lengthy winding corridors dedicated to queuing indicate how busy the aquarium can potentially be, with social distancing lines on the ground a relic from the pandemic. The admissions staff were friendly and detailed points of interest about the facility; but didn’t provide a map.
The aquarium begins with a replica of Scott Base (Antarctica), including a cabin and pantry. I wasn’t interested in learning about the history, but there was adequate signage if I had of been; and it was interesting to see a skeleton of a King penguin as part of one of the displays.
Next is the ‘Antarctic Whiteout’, which is a boardwalk with moving walls. It was a novel experience compared to other aquariums I’ve visited and set the scene for the Antarctic exhibits that followed. The penguin exhibit is home to large colonies of King penguin and Gentoo penguin and features an underwater viewing window and multiple viewing points where you can see the penguins nesting etc. The highlight was seeing chicks of both species. It was a fantastic exhibit, but condensation on the windows was terrible and greatly reduced visibility.
A lot of aquariums seem to have a Giant squid these days and Kelly Tarlton’s is no exception. There’s is an approximately 12 month old female (11 metres in length). It was fascinating to see, though visibility could have been improved by better lighting. This led into the Southern Oceans tanks, which included the requisite jellyfish disco and an interesting display of jellyfish polyps. Signage was otherwise very poor in this area and several species weren’t signed.
Signage was equally poor in the next zone, with numerous tropical fish tanks unlabelled. There was a interactive kids area I paid little attention to bar a reef exhibit (again unsigned). If a visitor’s dearest ambition was to see Nemo or Dory, this was the tank for them - with large shoals of Clownfish; and a handful of Indo-Pacific surgeon fish among other equally vibrant species.
Off to the side was a Tuatara exhibit, which had little to no relevance to the rest of the collection, but a welcome inclusion nonetheless.
Turtle Bay was spectacular. The 350,000 Litre pool houses juvenile New Zealand eagle ray, as well as two Green sea turtle. Kelly Tarlton’s operates a rehabilitation and release programme for sea turtles and via the website, I learnt these were Green sea turtles named Smee and Te Ahuru. Again, signage was lacking here.
From here, visitors enter a conveyor belt, which takes them through the combined 110 metre underwater viewing tunnels of Shipwreck Discovery and the Shark Zone. I feel like everyone outside the ages of 3-8 years old would enjoy the experience more without the conveyor belt, but at least it offers you the opportunity to stand on the fixed sides to view the species passing alongside or above you. The highlight was the three shark species: Sand tiger shark, Broadnose sevengill shark and School shark; as well as the Short-tail stingray and adult New Zealand eagle ray.
There was a range of fish species throughout Shipwreck Discovery and the Shark Zone including Hapuku, Black angelfish, Yellow moray, Kahawai, Red moki, Sweep, Australasian snapper, Two spot demoiselle, Pigfish, Jack mackerel, Sandager’s wrasse, Green wrasse, Blue mao mao, Trevally, Hiwihiwi, Black spotted grouper, Yellow tail kingfish and Red scorpion fish all signed. I saw many of these, with the Yellow moray being a notable omission.
Several tanks following holding New Zealand long-fin eel, Packhorse lobster, Slipped lobster, starfish and Hermit crabs. Signage was via a central board, which omitted a few species. It would have been more visitor friendly to have the individual tanks labelled, but an improvement on the unlabelled tropical tanks. Tanks for Spiny sea dragon and Big-belly seahorse were in an adjacent room and well signed, with information regarding Kelly Tarlton’s being the first aquarium in the world to breed Spiny sea dragons.
Overall, I was impressed by Kelly Tarlton’s. I spent around 90 minutes there and saw nearly every species I wanted to see. Aside from the condensation in the penguin habitat, visibility of all exhibits was great with ample viewing opportunities. The lack of signage in places was my main complaint and would be an easy fix. The admission price was a little steep compared to New Zealand’s main zoos (all of which would be considered a half day out or longer), but if you don’t visit often like myself, it’s something a bit different and a good way to kill an hour or two.
I’d like to conclude by thanking @akasha and @splendens for their assistance in fish ID.
Photos from my visit: Kelly Tarltons Underwater World - ZooChat