Snowleopard's 2012 Road Trip
- Thread starter snowleopard
- Start date
DAY 17: Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
Road Trip Review # 15: Maritime Aquarium
Maritime Aquarium’s website:
Home Page
Aquarium Map:
http://www.maritimeaquarium.org/images/stories/pdf/TMA_MAP_2-2012.pdf
Maritime Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility located in Norwalk, Connecticut, and it was founded in 1988. Annual attendance is over 500,000 and with nearby Mystic Aquarium (1.5 hours away) there are two aquariums in the state that combine for 1.2 million annual visitors. While Mystic in my opinion is perhaps one of the 10 best American aquariums, I was also pleasantly surprised by what Maritime had to offer and we spent an hour and a half at the establishment. The aquarium had undergone a $9.5 million expansion/refurbishment in 2001 that added 33,000 sq. ft. of space, and then this year it finished up a $4.5 million renovation in April so there have been a number of changes in the last decade. There is not the quality of design that one finds in the major aquariums that have bucket-loads of cash, but for a small town institution it is well worth visiting and it perhaps might squeak into the top 20 American aquariums strictly in terms of attendance. The establishment has seals, otters, large sharks, sea turtles, a white alligator, river cruises, an IMAX movie theater and even meerkats!
We spent 1.5 hours at Maritime Aquarium and then drove 20 minutes to visit Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, where we spent about 2.5 hours including lunch. This review represents Part I of my July 18th Connecticut experience, and we have now visited both aquariums and the solitary zoo in the state.
THE TOUR: (I divided the review into the two main sections of the aquarium)
Newman’s Own Hall & Sound Voyage – This area is the major section of the aquarium and it begins with a brand-new, interactive, floor-to-ceiling wall map of Long Island Sound that serves as a terrific introduction. There is a large sea turtle tank that has low windows for viewing; a tall moon jellyfish exhibit that must have at least 150 jellies in it; a coral reef tank; 4 interesting exhibits reflecting each season (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter); and the shark tank is the most impressive as it has some large sharks and here is the species list: lemon shark, sand tiger shark, red drum, black drum, roughtail stingray, porgy, tautog, cunner and gray triggerfish.
A schooling pool with menhaden is spacious; and a single tank has spotted wolffish, American lobster, conger eel and Atlantic wolffish. Horseshoe crabs are found here; also American eels; a series of touch tanks are popular; and river otters never stop moving in an exhibit that is a bit on the small side. There are a series of reptile and amphibian tanks intermingled with fish in an area stretching from a Salt Marsh zone to an Atlantic Coast area with species such as the common snapping turtle, eastern box turtle, fiddler crab, Atlantic salmon, diamondback terrapin and many others. This large building has plenty of space for many more exhibits and it seems as if there is a fair bit of unused land.
A harbor seal exhibit is half indoors and half outside in a unique design that enables the seals to swim around and greet the elements or remain indoors as there are rocky outcrops in both sections. The exhibit is not very large but tremendously popular as there are at least 5 seals and shows 3 times a day. A short walk away outside is a covered exhibit upon a wooden deck that is used as a place to have temporary displays. Currently there is a white American alligator in a generic tank but the aquarium has rented penguins for the summer in the past.
The Sound and Beyond – A very nice shark and ray touch tank (with 90 feet of edge space around the pool) just opened in April and it was part of the $4.5 million refurbishment of a number of sections of the aquarium. There are 6 species that can be touched: cownose rays, southern stingrays, roughtail stingrays, little skates, chain catsharks and even a couple of 5-foot long nurse sharks can be petted if they are bold enough to move towards the edge of the tank.
An African zone has a delightful troop of meerkats that are in an exhibit with a pop-up bubble and are obviously at the aquarium to drive up attendance due to their enduring popularity. Other species include: Madagascar ground boa, giant day gecko, electric catfish and zebra tilapia are all found here, along with a Coral Reef tank, African lungfish, African black mud turtles, Cichlids of Lake Malawi and Cichlids of Lake Tanganyika. The African zone comes across as a temporary gallery and it shows in the design of the area as it lacks the subtle touches that would indicate a more permanent stay.
“Go Fish!” is a loop that contains a single 30,000 gallon tank with these 10 species: Atlantic wolffish, spotted wolffish, barndoor skate, clearnose skate, pollock, Atlantic cod, Atlantic salmon, tautog, striped bass and Atlantic halibut. This area is themed on the understanding of the fishing industry, and there is an actual boat that kids can climb into, nets hanging from the ceiling, an observation deck looking down into the main tank, a series of plates stocked with food in an old-fashioned diner, and other cool interpretative graphics that are wasted on most visitors but were appreciated by myself.
The Marine Lab area is disappointing but it essentially is a behind-the-scenes zone that has been brought to the forefront. Rows of tanks that would not look out of place in a pet shop feature a variety of seahorses and other fish, and there is a small jellies section as well. Adjacent to this zone is a Toy Boat Shop where children can take classes to construct their own wooden boats, which is a unique idea that I’ve never seen before.
On the second floor of “The Sound and Beyond” is a play area for small children, a display of over a dozen incredibly detailed boat models in glass cases and “Frogs”, a tiny room packed with a variety of terrariums that was so busy on my visit that I only gave it a cursory glance as I feared getting out alive if I entered.
OVERALL:
Maritime Aquarium is intent on displaying a fairly comprehensive list of species from in and around Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, and the only time they deviate from this theme is the African section. Nothing at the aquarium is truly remarkable, and it pales in comparison to Mystic less than two hours away, and yet I got the sense that the staff try hard to put some gloss on an ordinary environment. I’m amazed that both aquariums put up such impressive attendance figures but there are a lot of summer travelers who head down the coast and drop by for a visit. Maritime seems to have just enough marquee critters (seals, sharks, sea turtles, otters) to maintain a steady stream of guests, and the occasional temporary stars such as white alligators and meerkats lure locals to keep coming back on a regular basis. I was pleasantly surprised to spend an hour and a half at the facility, and I would definitely recommend it for any zoo enthusiast as within a 2 hour drive one can find Connecticut’s only zoo and two aquariums and thus it is not difficult to see them all in a short amount of time if one is in the area.
Road Trip Review # 15: Maritime Aquarium
Maritime Aquarium’s website:
Home Page
Aquarium Map:
http://www.maritimeaquarium.org/images/stories/pdf/TMA_MAP_2-2012.pdf
Maritime Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility located in Norwalk, Connecticut, and it was founded in 1988. Annual attendance is over 500,000 and with nearby Mystic Aquarium (1.5 hours away) there are two aquariums in the state that combine for 1.2 million annual visitors. While Mystic in my opinion is perhaps one of the 10 best American aquariums, I was also pleasantly surprised by what Maritime had to offer and we spent an hour and a half at the establishment. The aquarium had undergone a $9.5 million expansion/refurbishment in 2001 that added 33,000 sq. ft. of space, and then this year it finished up a $4.5 million renovation in April so there have been a number of changes in the last decade. There is not the quality of design that one finds in the major aquariums that have bucket-loads of cash, but for a small town institution it is well worth visiting and it perhaps might squeak into the top 20 American aquariums strictly in terms of attendance. The establishment has seals, otters, large sharks, sea turtles, a white alligator, river cruises, an IMAX movie theater and even meerkats!
We spent 1.5 hours at Maritime Aquarium and then drove 20 minutes to visit Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, where we spent about 2.5 hours including lunch. This review represents Part I of my July 18th Connecticut experience, and we have now visited both aquariums and the solitary zoo in the state.
THE TOUR: (I divided the review into the two main sections of the aquarium)
Newman’s Own Hall & Sound Voyage – This area is the major section of the aquarium and it begins with a brand-new, interactive, floor-to-ceiling wall map of Long Island Sound that serves as a terrific introduction. There is a large sea turtle tank that has low windows for viewing; a tall moon jellyfish exhibit that must have at least 150 jellies in it; a coral reef tank; 4 interesting exhibits reflecting each season (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter); and the shark tank is the most impressive as it has some large sharks and here is the species list: lemon shark, sand tiger shark, red drum, black drum, roughtail stingray, porgy, tautog, cunner and gray triggerfish.
A schooling pool with menhaden is spacious; and a single tank has spotted wolffish, American lobster, conger eel and Atlantic wolffish. Horseshoe crabs are found here; also American eels; a series of touch tanks are popular; and river otters never stop moving in an exhibit that is a bit on the small side. There are a series of reptile and amphibian tanks intermingled with fish in an area stretching from a Salt Marsh zone to an Atlantic Coast area with species such as the common snapping turtle, eastern box turtle, fiddler crab, Atlantic salmon, diamondback terrapin and many others. This large building has plenty of space for many more exhibits and it seems as if there is a fair bit of unused land.
A harbor seal exhibit is half indoors and half outside in a unique design that enables the seals to swim around and greet the elements or remain indoors as there are rocky outcrops in both sections. The exhibit is not very large but tremendously popular as there are at least 5 seals and shows 3 times a day. A short walk away outside is a covered exhibit upon a wooden deck that is used as a place to have temporary displays. Currently there is a white American alligator in a generic tank but the aquarium has rented penguins for the summer in the past.
The Sound and Beyond – A very nice shark and ray touch tank (with 90 feet of edge space around the pool) just opened in April and it was part of the $4.5 million refurbishment of a number of sections of the aquarium. There are 6 species that can be touched: cownose rays, southern stingrays, roughtail stingrays, little skates, chain catsharks and even a couple of 5-foot long nurse sharks can be petted if they are bold enough to move towards the edge of the tank.
An African zone has a delightful troop of meerkats that are in an exhibit with a pop-up bubble and are obviously at the aquarium to drive up attendance due to their enduring popularity. Other species include: Madagascar ground boa, giant day gecko, electric catfish and zebra tilapia are all found here, along with a Coral Reef tank, African lungfish, African black mud turtles, Cichlids of Lake Malawi and Cichlids of Lake Tanganyika. The African zone comes across as a temporary gallery and it shows in the design of the area as it lacks the subtle touches that would indicate a more permanent stay.
“Go Fish!” is a loop that contains a single 30,000 gallon tank with these 10 species: Atlantic wolffish, spotted wolffish, barndoor skate, clearnose skate, pollock, Atlantic cod, Atlantic salmon, tautog, striped bass and Atlantic halibut. This area is themed on the understanding of the fishing industry, and there is an actual boat that kids can climb into, nets hanging from the ceiling, an observation deck looking down into the main tank, a series of plates stocked with food in an old-fashioned diner, and other cool interpretative graphics that are wasted on most visitors but were appreciated by myself.
The Marine Lab area is disappointing but it essentially is a behind-the-scenes zone that has been brought to the forefront. Rows of tanks that would not look out of place in a pet shop feature a variety of seahorses and other fish, and there is a small jellies section as well. Adjacent to this zone is a Toy Boat Shop where children can take classes to construct their own wooden boats, which is a unique idea that I’ve never seen before.
On the second floor of “The Sound and Beyond” is a play area for small children, a display of over a dozen incredibly detailed boat models in glass cases and “Frogs”, a tiny room packed with a variety of terrariums that was so busy on my visit that I only gave it a cursory glance as I feared getting out alive if I entered.
OVERALL:
Maritime Aquarium is intent on displaying a fairly comprehensive list of species from in and around Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, and the only time they deviate from this theme is the African section. Nothing at the aquarium is truly remarkable, and it pales in comparison to Mystic less than two hours away, and yet I got the sense that the staff try hard to put some gloss on an ordinary environment. I’m amazed that both aquariums put up such impressive attendance figures but there are a lot of summer travelers who head down the coast and drop by for a visit. Maritime seems to have just enough marquee critters (seals, sharks, sea turtles, otters) to maintain a steady stream of guests, and the occasional temporary stars such as white alligators and meerkats lure locals to keep coming back on a regular basis. I was pleasantly surprised to spend an hour and a half at the facility, and I would definitely recommend it for any zoo enthusiast as within a 2 hour drive one can find Connecticut’s only zoo and two aquariums and thus it is not difficult to see them all in a short amount of time if one is in the area.
DAY 17: Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
Road Trip Review # 16: Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s website:
Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
Zoo Map:
http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/zoomap.pdf
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is an AZA-accredited facility that is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is the only zoo in the state (although there are two aquariums) and it opened in 1922 and therefore is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. There are only around 300 animals of 110 species, and the annual number of visitors is 250,000 on the 52 acres. Other than a pair of Amur tigers all of the animals found at the zoo are from the Americas (North and South).
We spent 1.5 hours at Maritime Aquarium and then drove 20 minutes to visit Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, where we spent about 2.5 hours including lunch. This review represents Part II of my July 18th Connecticut experience, and we have now visited both aquariums and the solitary zoo in the state.
THE BEST:
Wolf Observation Learning Facility – This area is terrific as there is a rustic viewing cabin that looks out onto the grey wolf exhibit, but also an air-conditioned more modern cabin that has spacious viewing windows into both the grey wolf and red wolf exhibits. On my visit there were docents (volunteers) with a live snake and other goodies at a desk, while there were extremely active wolves in both exhibits. It was enjoyable to step out of the humid air and both wolf habitats are grassy and large but not too dense with foliage to hamper viewing conditions.
North American Plains – A spacious enclosure for bison and white-tailed deer is set against a backdrop of conifers; an equally large paddock for pronghorn antelope is fantastic in terms of shade and structure; and one of the better black-tailed prairie dog exhibits that I’ve seen is located here as there is at least 4 pop-up bubbles, a long tunnel that cuts through the back of the sloping enclosure, and a massive colony of the critters. The downside to this area is the tiny metal aviaries for a barred owl and a turkey vulture.
New World Tropics Building – This rainforest complex opened in 1992, the exact same year that arguably the two biggest and best rainforest complexes opened in American zoos (Omaha and Cleveland). Beardsley has a very small structure, but it sticks to its South American theme and what it does it accomplishes very well and thus I really enjoyed the experience. A boa constrictor exhibit is first seen and it is tall and allows the snake to gain height; a beautiful yacare caiman pool (which also contains mata mata turtles) is lushly planted; and then a short walk-through area has two netted habitats and one open-topped one. Keel-billed toucans, scarlet ibises, white-bellied caiques, Orinoco geese, ringed-teal ducks and red-footed tortoises have the option of venturing outwards (except for perhaps the tortoises) and golden lion tamarins are on one side and Goeldi’s monkeys, white-lined tanagers and two-toed sloths have the other netted exhibit.
Departing that area one arrives at the final room, and two large glass-fronted exhibits dominate the landscape. An ocelot has a good exhibit that is all indoors but has a massive tree with many branches off in all directions plus a genuine dirt floor and other natural substrates in the habitat. White-faced saki monkeys do not fare as well as their enclosure is mainly all fake with a cement floor, and they appear to rotate with the black howler monkeys (I saw them in an outdoor black metal cage). Other exhibits include a vampire bat, an emerald tree boa, Amazon milk frog and pygmy marmoset. There are basically only 11 exhibits in this rainforest building, but most of them are very nicely designed and now that 20 years has passed I’m pleased to announce that the area holds up quite well and there aren’t even any darn ring-tailed lemurs bouncing around to mess up the geographic theme.
THE AVERAGE:
Alligator Alley Loop – An American alligator exhibit that was built in 1994 has a rocking chair on a wooden deck overlooking a pool (something that I just saw at Newport Aquarium); a gray fox has a grassy exhibit; a pair of sandhill cranes have a large yard that is seen through chain-link fence; a trio of bald eagles have a gorgeous, naturalistic exhibit but there aren’t many areas for them to perch; and a river otter exhibit that was first constructed in 1969 is small and undeserving of the attention of such energetic mammals. A walk-through Wetlands Aviary is far too tiny and should be eliminated as soon as possible as the puny pathway makes it a nightmare of congestion even with a handful of people inside.
New England Farmyard – Naturally there is a barnyard/farm area with chickens, guinea hogs, sheep, waterfowl, cattle and goats, but some oddly-placed creatures include these species: raven, snowy owl, great horned owl, barn owl, rhea, Norway rat, helmeted guineafowl chicks, diamondback terrapin, common snapping turtle, porcupine and striped newt.
South American Enclosures – A maned wolf exhibit is quite nicely planted and contains thick grass; a llama yard is steeply sloped and naturalistic; a shockingly lush Chacoan peccary exhibit is seen from a boardwalk next to the rainforest building; an Andean condor aviary is large enough to allow flight; and a Galapagos tortoise/Aldabra tortoise yard is small and with only a couple of shade structures but it is only a temporary display as the tortoises are on-loan for the summer from Texas’s Cameron Park Zoo.
THE WORST:
Amur Tigers – A pair of tigers is separated by two adjacent enclosures, but the wire fence viewing is very disappointing considering how many great tiger habitats can be found in many American zoos. There should at the very least be a glass viewing section, or underwater viewing, or more spacious exhibits, or anything to entice visitors to linger longer at what are essentially basic cages that are too small for their inhabitants. The enclosures are far from terrible but as the zoo’s marquee animal (and the only creature from outside the Americas) as well as the logo of the facility; why not announce a capital campaign for an amazing new tiger complex?
Next to the tigers is a Canada lynx cage that is disappointing, as well as two more large metal cages that are both empty. Fairly recently the zoo had a spectacled bear in at least one of the enclosures but it was sent away as part of the SSP (Species Survival Plan) program.
Bug House – It is badly in need of a paint job, with shoddy signs and dirty glass on a series of terrariums that visitors walk around outdoors. There are about a dozen terrariums and some of the species include: honey bee, millipede, praying mantis, giant water bug and blue death feigning beetle.
Reptile House – This small building with a tiny pathway is located inside the farmyard area, and it concentrates only on animals found inside the state of Connecticut. Here is the species list: bullfrog, eastern milk snake, three-toed box turtle, common garter snake, spotted turtle, black rat snake, wood turtle, green frog, pickerel frog, wood frog, American toad, eastern mud turtle, eastern newt, eastern box turtle and eastern grey tree frog.
The Layout – The entrance to the zoo is tiny and nondescript, without the much-needed knockout animal exhibit to get visitors instantly excited. In fact, other than a small, temporary tortoise yard and an average-sized condor aviary there are no animals for quite a distance and instead there are things like a small welcome center, a long greenhouse, a sculpture garden, a picnic grove, a play area and a carousel ride in the forefront of the zoo and one can get 40% of the way across the zoo map before locating a single animal other than two tortoises and a condor. The space is certainly there (as well as all over the zoo) for a flashy new exhibit but the finances are surely another story.
THE FUTURE:
The map indicates that a Pampas Plains Exhibit is coming soon, and this area is directly behind the maned wolf and llama yards.
OVERALL:
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is a solid little zoo that has a nice rainforest building, a pleasant North American plains zone, a strong focus on particular areas of the world, and an excellent wolf complex. Many of the exhibits are of average quality, and the only really dreadful sections are the Bug House and Reptile Hose. Both of those structures are already so tiny that they are practically inconsequential to the average visitor, but the Amur tigers definitely need more space and a marquee, rock-your-socks-off exhibit complex. If the zoo wishes to stick with their Americas theme, which is constant throughout, then why not switch out the tigers and build a jaguar or mountain lion exhibit near the entrance to the zoo and embrace a New World cat? Overall the zoo is worth visiting for the zoo enthusiast, and the added bonus of having two decent aquariums nearby is a major perk to touring the state of Connecticut.
Road Trip Review # 16: Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s website:
Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
Zoo Map:
http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/zoomap.pdf
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is an AZA-accredited facility that is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is the only zoo in the state (although there are two aquariums) and it opened in 1922 and therefore is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. There are only around 300 animals of 110 species, and the annual number of visitors is 250,000 on the 52 acres. Other than a pair of Amur tigers all of the animals found at the zoo are from the Americas (North and South).
We spent 1.5 hours at Maritime Aquarium and then drove 20 minutes to visit Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, where we spent about 2.5 hours including lunch. This review represents Part II of my July 18th Connecticut experience, and we have now visited both aquariums and the solitary zoo in the state.
THE BEST:
Wolf Observation Learning Facility – This area is terrific as there is a rustic viewing cabin that looks out onto the grey wolf exhibit, but also an air-conditioned more modern cabin that has spacious viewing windows into both the grey wolf and red wolf exhibits. On my visit there were docents (volunteers) with a live snake and other goodies at a desk, while there were extremely active wolves in both exhibits. It was enjoyable to step out of the humid air and both wolf habitats are grassy and large but not too dense with foliage to hamper viewing conditions.
North American Plains – A spacious enclosure for bison and white-tailed deer is set against a backdrop of conifers; an equally large paddock for pronghorn antelope is fantastic in terms of shade and structure; and one of the better black-tailed prairie dog exhibits that I’ve seen is located here as there is at least 4 pop-up bubbles, a long tunnel that cuts through the back of the sloping enclosure, and a massive colony of the critters. The downside to this area is the tiny metal aviaries for a barred owl and a turkey vulture.
New World Tropics Building – This rainforest complex opened in 1992, the exact same year that arguably the two biggest and best rainforest complexes opened in American zoos (Omaha and Cleveland). Beardsley has a very small structure, but it sticks to its South American theme and what it does it accomplishes very well and thus I really enjoyed the experience. A boa constrictor exhibit is first seen and it is tall and allows the snake to gain height; a beautiful yacare caiman pool (which also contains mata mata turtles) is lushly planted; and then a short walk-through area has two netted habitats and one open-topped one. Keel-billed toucans, scarlet ibises, white-bellied caiques, Orinoco geese, ringed-teal ducks and red-footed tortoises have the option of venturing outwards (except for perhaps the tortoises) and golden lion tamarins are on one side and Goeldi’s monkeys, white-lined tanagers and two-toed sloths have the other netted exhibit.
Departing that area one arrives at the final room, and two large glass-fronted exhibits dominate the landscape. An ocelot has a good exhibit that is all indoors but has a massive tree with many branches off in all directions plus a genuine dirt floor and other natural substrates in the habitat. White-faced saki monkeys do not fare as well as their enclosure is mainly all fake with a cement floor, and they appear to rotate with the black howler monkeys (I saw them in an outdoor black metal cage). Other exhibits include a vampire bat, an emerald tree boa, Amazon milk frog and pygmy marmoset. There are basically only 11 exhibits in this rainforest building, but most of them are very nicely designed and now that 20 years has passed I’m pleased to announce that the area holds up quite well and there aren’t even any darn ring-tailed lemurs bouncing around to mess up the geographic theme.
THE AVERAGE:
Alligator Alley Loop – An American alligator exhibit that was built in 1994 has a rocking chair on a wooden deck overlooking a pool (something that I just saw at Newport Aquarium); a gray fox has a grassy exhibit; a pair of sandhill cranes have a large yard that is seen through chain-link fence; a trio of bald eagles have a gorgeous, naturalistic exhibit but there aren’t many areas for them to perch; and a river otter exhibit that was first constructed in 1969 is small and undeserving of the attention of such energetic mammals. A walk-through Wetlands Aviary is far too tiny and should be eliminated as soon as possible as the puny pathway makes it a nightmare of congestion even with a handful of people inside.
New England Farmyard – Naturally there is a barnyard/farm area with chickens, guinea hogs, sheep, waterfowl, cattle and goats, but some oddly-placed creatures include these species: raven, snowy owl, great horned owl, barn owl, rhea, Norway rat, helmeted guineafowl chicks, diamondback terrapin, common snapping turtle, porcupine and striped newt.
South American Enclosures – A maned wolf exhibit is quite nicely planted and contains thick grass; a llama yard is steeply sloped and naturalistic; a shockingly lush Chacoan peccary exhibit is seen from a boardwalk next to the rainforest building; an Andean condor aviary is large enough to allow flight; and a Galapagos tortoise/Aldabra tortoise yard is small and with only a couple of shade structures but it is only a temporary display as the tortoises are on-loan for the summer from Texas’s Cameron Park Zoo.
THE WORST:
Amur Tigers – A pair of tigers is separated by two adjacent enclosures, but the wire fence viewing is very disappointing considering how many great tiger habitats can be found in many American zoos. There should at the very least be a glass viewing section, or underwater viewing, or more spacious exhibits, or anything to entice visitors to linger longer at what are essentially basic cages that are too small for their inhabitants. The enclosures are far from terrible but as the zoo’s marquee animal (and the only creature from outside the Americas) as well as the logo of the facility; why not announce a capital campaign for an amazing new tiger complex?
Next to the tigers is a Canada lynx cage that is disappointing, as well as two more large metal cages that are both empty. Fairly recently the zoo had a spectacled bear in at least one of the enclosures but it was sent away as part of the SSP (Species Survival Plan) program.
Bug House – It is badly in need of a paint job, with shoddy signs and dirty glass on a series of terrariums that visitors walk around outdoors. There are about a dozen terrariums and some of the species include: honey bee, millipede, praying mantis, giant water bug and blue death feigning beetle.
Reptile House – This small building with a tiny pathway is located inside the farmyard area, and it concentrates only on animals found inside the state of Connecticut. Here is the species list: bullfrog, eastern milk snake, three-toed box turtle, common garter snake, spotted turtle, black rat snake, wood turtle, green frog, pickerel frog, wood frog, American toad, eastern mud turtle, eastern newt, eastern box turtle and eastern grey tree frog.
The Layout – The entrance to the zoo is tiny and nondescript, without the much-needed knockout animal exhibit to get visitors instantly excited. In fact, other than a small, temporary tortoise yard and an average-sized condor aviary there are no animals for quite a distance and instead there are things like a small welcome center, a long greenhouse, a sculpture garden, a picnic grove, a play area and a carousel ride in the forefront of the zoo and one can get 40% of the way across the zoo map before locating a single animal other than two tortoises and a condor. The space is certainly there (as well as all over the zoo) for a flashy new exhibit but the finances are surely another story.
THE FUTURE:
The map indicates that a Pampas Plains Exhibit is coming soon, and this area is directly behind the maned wolf and llama yards.
OVERALL:
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is a solid little zoo that has a nice rainforest building, a pleasant North American plains zone, a strong focus on particular areas of the world, and an excellent wolf complex. Many of the exhibits are of average quality, and the only really dreadful sections are the Bug House and Reptile Hose. Both of those structures are already so tiny that they are practically inconsequential to the average visitor, but the Amur tigers definitely need more space and a marquee, rock-your-socks-off exhibit complex. If the zoo wishes to stick with their Americas theme, which is constant throughout, then why not switch out the tigers and build a jaguar or mountain lion exhibit near the entrance to the zoo and embrace a New World cat? Overall the zoo is worth visiting for the zoo enthusiast, and the added bonus of having two decent aquariums nearby is a major perk to touring the state of Connecticut.
@snowleopard how does the Beardsley Zoo’s exhibit compare with wolf woods at the Brookfield Zoo?
It is time for an update, as all I’ve been doing is posting reviews lately. I’ll address a number of topics in this one message.
Yes, I’m a day ahead of schedule and that is because we ticked off both Boston attractions on the same day and that was not part of the original plan. Seeing two Connecticut attractions yesterday and two New York attractions today makes sense as it kills two birds with one stone and saves on an extra motel night. We’ve now had 7 consecutive nights of motels costing between $100-125 and on one night I even drove around to 5 different motels but our costs have gone up substantially since hitting the east coast. A single adult with one bed is cheap, but with two adults and two beds there is a lot of extra money involved plus the kids need a fridge and microwave as we’ve been saving money by having soup and sandwiches/crackers in our room at night. It may sound cheap as we barely spend much money on food but 40+ nights in motels is draining on our depleted bank account.
Wolf Woods at Brookfield Zoo is probably the best wolf exhibit that I’ve ever seen as it is simply magnificent for both the wolves and the visitors. There are a lot of great wolf habitats in American zoos and along with otters those mammals seem to be the easiest to design excellent enclosures for.
Even though zoo reviews are definitely subjective and my views are far from the gospel truth, in many cases what I say in terms of the great zoos is actually agreed upon by almost all ZooChatters. For instance practically everyone has San Diego and Bronx listed in their top 5 zoos in America. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule but those two zoos are consistently highly regarded. It seems as if everyone adores Saint Louis, Sedgwick County, San Diego Zoo Safari Park and even Miami and so in the past when I’ve written glowingly about those zoos it is not really a major surprise. I almost prefer it when a real gem comes along (like Rosamond Gifford Zoo or Mystic Aquarium) that is much better than I had anticipated.
In terms of my knowledge in regards to European zoos I would estimate that it has quadrupled in the past two years. Since Anthony Sheridan’s book “What Zoos Can Do” came out in August of 2011 I have devoured every page and practically memorized his facts. While his ranking system leaves many folks up in arms, I find that the 3-pages devoted to each of the top 80 European zoos provides a great overview and I already have copies of maps of most of those zoos and so I can get my own map and have it open while I’m reading the book. Also, my friend Allen Nyhuis has been making a number of journeys to Europe in the hopes of writing “Europe’s Best Zoos” (a possible companion piece to his “America’s Best Zoos” book) and thus he has bounced lots of ideas off of me in hundreds of emails. If I had the substantial sums of money that would be needed then I most definitely would have a Snowleopard road trip of 40+ zoos throughout Europe. I’d start in Germany and the Netherlands and go from there!
Today was a VERY long day as we woke up at 6:45 a.m. and left the motel at 8:30 to begin the drive from Stamford, Connecticut, to New York City. Hitting painfully slow traffic we eased our way into Brooklyn and arrived at the New York Aquarium just after it opened at 10:00. We spent about an hour and 45 minutes at the aquarium and then we hung out on the iconic Coney Island boardwalk for about 20 minutes before we had to hit the road.
From Brooklyn we headed east for 2 hours, hitting intensely slow and crazy traffic for what seemed like an eternity before flying along at top speed until Riverhead, near the end of Long Island. We then had lunch and spent 3 hours at Long Island Aquarium and to be honest even with its kitsch and fake ruin-themed design (it used to be known as Atlantis World) it had far more spectacular tanks than what was in New York’s disappointing main building. Long Island had an awesome large shark tank, sea turtles, otters, seals, sea lions, penguins and even Japanese macaques. After our very enjoyable visit we headed east again and drove late into the night until we made it out of New York and into New Jersey, already our 18th U.S. state on this trip! Our plans are still slightly up in the air for tomorrow but within the next 48 hours we’ll definitely be visiting Adventure Aquarium and seeing Nile hippos within their all-indoor exhibit. After that it is south to Virginia Zoo and Virginia Aquarium before hitting the two Carolina states.
Thanks for all of the comments, private messages and genuine interest. Keep it coming and I’ll keep on posting…
Yes, I’m a day ahead of schedule and that is because we ticked off both Boston attractions on the same day and that was not part of the original plan. Seeing two Connecticut attractions yesterday and two New York attractions today makes sense as it kills two birds with one stone and saves on an extra motel night. We’ve now had 7 consecutive nights of motels costing between $100-125 and on one night I even drove around to 5 different motels but our costs have gone up substantially since hitting the east coast. A single adult with one bed is cheap, but with two adults and two beds there is a lot of extra money involved plus the kids need a fridge and microwave as we’ve been saving money by having soup and sandwiches/crackers in our room at night. It may sound cheap as we barely spend much money on food but 40+ nights in motels is draining on our depleted bank account.
Wolf Woods at Brookfield Zoo is probably the best wolf exhibit that I’ve ever seen as it is simply magnificent for both the wolves and the visitors. There are a lot of great wolf habitats in American zoos and along with otters those mammals seem to be the easiest to design excellent enclosures for.
Even though zoo reviews are definitely subjective and my views are far from the gospel truth, in many cases what I say in terms of the great zoos is actually agreed upon by almost all ZooChatters. For instance practically everyone has San Diego and Bronx listed in their top 5 zoos in America. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule but those two zoos are consistently highly regarded. It seems as if everyone adores Saint Louis, Sedgwick County, San Diego Zoo Safari Park and even Miami and so in the past when I’ve written glowingly about those zoos it is not really a major surprise. I almost prefer it when a real gem comes along (like Rosamond Gifford Zoo or Mystic Aquarium) that is much better than I had anticipated.
In terms of my knowledge in regards to European zoos I would estimate that it has quadrupled in the past two years. Since Anthony Sheridan’s book “What Zoos Can Do” came out in August of 2011 I have devoured every page and practically memorized his facts. While his ranking system leaves many folks up in arms, I find that the 3-pages devoted to each of the top 80 European zoos provides a great overview and I already have copies of maps of most of those zoos and so I can get my own map and have it open while I’m reading the book. Also, my friend Allen Nyhuis has been making a number of journeys to Europe in the hopes of writing “Europe’s Best Zoos” (a possible companion piece to his “America’s Best Zoos” book) and thus he has bounced lots of ideas off of me in hundreds of emails. If I had the substantial sums of money that would be needed then I most definitely would have a Snowleopard road trip of 40+ zoos throughout Europe. I’d start in Germany and the Netherlands and go from there!
Today was a VERY long day as we woke up at 6:45 a.m. and left the motel at 8:30 to begin the drive from Stamford, Connecticut, to New York City. Hitting painfully slow traffic we eased our way into Brooklyn and arrived at the New York Aquarium just after it opened at 10:00. We spent about an hour and 45 minutes at the aquarium and then we hung out on the iconic Coney Island boardwalk for about 20 minutes before we had to hit the road.
From Brooklyn we headed east for 2 hours, hitting intensely slow and crazy traffic for what seemed like an eternity before flying along at top speed until Riverhead, near the end of Long Island. We then had lunch and spent 3 hours at Long Island Aquarium and to be honest even with its kitsch and fake ruin-themed design (it used to be known as Atlantis World) it had far more spectacular tanks than what was in New York’s disappointing main building. Long Island had an awesome large shark tank, sea turtles, otters, seals, sea lions, penguins and even Japanese macaques. After our very enjoyable visit we headed east again and drove late into the night until we made it out of New York and into New Jersey, already our 18th U.S. state on this trip! Our plans are still slightly up in the air for tomorrow but within the next 48 hours we’ll definitely be visiting Adventure Aquarium and seeing Nile hippos within their all-indoor exhibit. After that it is south to Virginia Zoo and Virginia Aquarium before hitting the two Carolina states.
Thanks for all of the comments, private messages and genuine interest. Keep it coming and I’ll keep on posting…
ZooMan Texas
Active Member
WWZ and AZA accreditation
Just wanted to mention than azcheetah has some misinformation about Wildlife World Zoo. They never sold animals to canned hunting operations, nor did they 'lose' their AZA status. They chose to leave AZA because of philosophical differences with the way AZA is going in a lot of different areas.
Just wanted to mention than azcheetah has some misinformation about Wildlife World Zoo. They never sold animals to canned hunting operations, nor did they 'lose' their AZA status. They chose to leave AZA because of philosophical differences with the way AZA is going in a lot of different areas.
DAY 18: Thursday, July 19th, 2012
Road Trip Review # 17: New York Aquarium
New York Aquarium’s website:
New York Aquarium
Aquarium Map (scroll down on page):
Plan Your Trip
New York Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility that originally opened in 1896 in Battery Park, Manhattan. It has been on the Coney Island boardwalk in Brooklyn since 1957 and joins 4 zoos as part of the Wildlife Conservation Society within the city of New York. There are about 800,000 annual visitors on the 14 acres, and it has long been recognized as yet another very good American aquatic facility both in terms of its displays and its conservation ethos.
We left Stamford, Connecticut, at 8:30 a.m., arrived at New York Aquarium just after opening time of 10:00 and then spent an hour and 45 minutes at the establishment. After we dawdled on the iconic Coney Island boardwalk for a little while we drove east to the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead. That 2 hour drive meant that we arrived there at about 2:30, and then we spent a full 3 hours at our second aquarium of the day and we then drove another 3 hours until finally checking into a motel at 8:30 p.m. to make it the longest day thus far on the road trip. This review can be considered Part I of our July 19th New York City experience. I have now visited New York Aquarium, Long Island Aquarium, Bronx Zoo, Rosamond Gifford Zoo and Central Park Zoo in the state of New York.
THE BEST:
Sea Cliffs – This area has the mega-stars of the aquarium, and there are 5 large outdoor habitats with a total of 6 species inhabiting them with a 300-foot rocky coastline as a backdrop. A couple of walruses are in the first one and they are such a rarity these days that any time I see them is a delight (for example Point Defiance and Indianapolis are the last two American zoos with the species). California sea lions and harbor seals share the next rocky exhibit; Northern fur seals gracefully swim around a third pool; sea otters are exhibited in the fourth enclosure and African penguins have the last and perhaps largest habitat.
As one ventures down the line of exhibits in the Sea Cliffs area the next exciting prospect is to go down a flight of stairs and see all 5 exhibits again but this time with underwater viewing zones. This naturally adds another dimension to the experience as seeing the marine mammals and penguins ducking, diving and zooming through the water is a major crowd-pleasing attraction. Interestingly enough the penguins appear to have leopard sharks and at least 5 other fish species in the pool with them and that is a rarity that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen before. In this underwater gallery is a giant Pacific octopus exhibit, seahorse tanks and a few other fish exhibits to go along with the marine mammals. There is also an Aquatheater: Sea Lion Celebration show in a separate area that has 4 sea lions doing tricks to pulsating music.
Glover’s Reef – This is what I like to see in any captive wildlife facility: a top-notch, stunning initial exhibit that excites a crowd and gets folks intrigued to see what else is on offer during their tour. This enormous tank is based on a real atoll in Belize, and it is packed with all kinds of colourful tropical fish, leopard sharks, moray eels and many stingrays. Visitors gawk in awe at the Coral Reef tank and they are immediately immersed within the world of water.
THE AVERAGE:
Conservation Hall – A part of the entrance building and adjacent to Glover’s Reef is a set of exhibits that highlight different ecosystems. Pacific Ocean’s Coral Triangle, African Great Lakes and Amazon Flooded Forest are showcased, along with a Pet Kiosk that discusses sustainability in the modern world of fish. The tanks are large, eye-catching and nicely done but there aren’t many of them and they are overshadowed by the Glover’s Reef habitat.
Sharks – This is a separate building with a single large tank with these 7 species: loggerhead sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, permit, roughtail stingray, white-tip reef shark, nurse shark and sand tiger shark. The two turtles are enormous up close, the sand tiger sharks are equally huge but also increasingly common in American aquariums, and the tank makes for worthwhile viewing but it is also showing signs of age. See below for the $100 million future transformation.
Explore the Shore – This is essentially the main indoor building and it is rather disappointing as it is extremely dark, disjointed in its list of exhibits, confusing in the layout of tanks, and with nothing really spectacular or remarkable. There are a few floor-to-ceiling exhibits and a really nice 400-gallon wave tank but also numerous small tanks that are not overly interesting to view. There are all kinds of crabs, lobsters, mini touch tanks, a grassy salt marsh, electric eels and other delights but the exhibitry could be modernized. Modern aquariums have lighter galleries, rockwork that sticks out from the wall to immerse visitors into their surroundings, or interactive elements to engage young learners. As it stands right now this area is perhaps a flashback to how aquariums appeared decades ago, with simple lighting and row after row of basic tanks.
Alien Stingers – This gallery is attached to the Explore the Shore building and contains a number of tanks with moon jellies, sea nettles and various other jellyfish species. The darkness works well here because then the luminescent jellies can light up their colourful tanks and this set of exhibits is worthwhile to visit.
THE WORST:
Other than the overwhelming summer crowds and the main building there is nothing too disappointing at this famous aquarium.
THE FUTURE:
Opening in spring 2015 will be “Ocean Wonders: Sharks!” It is a transformation of a current building and the price tag is a whopping $100 million.
An Ocean of Wonders
OVERALL:
New York Aquarium is known for its outdoor exhibits and it does not disappoint in that regard, especially with the vast underwater viewing area packed with great opportunities to see large marine mammals. Sea Cliffs and Glover’s Reef are both highlights of any visit and the 2015 opening of the new shark tank will undoubtedly improve attendance and hopefully reignite the future of this iconic aquarium. The problem with the facility is that a number of the indoor zones are simply average and not deserving of their dark, dated appearance. By modernizing the Explore the Shore structure the aquarium would be significantly improved and visitors would perhaps spend longer examining the habitats. As it is New York Aquarium is a must see for any zoo enthusiast who enjoys both solid animal exhibits and also loves touring historic facilities but there is definitely room for improvement.
Road Trip Review # 17: New York Aquarium
New York Aquarium’s website:
New York Aquarium
Aquarium Map (scroll down on page):
Plan Your Trip
New York Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility that originally opened in 1896 in Battery Park, Manhattan. It has been on the Coney Island boardwalk in Brooklyn since 1957 and joins 4 zoos as part of the Wildlife Conservation Society within the city of New York. There are about 800,000 annual visitors on the 14 acres, and it has long been recognized as yet another very good American aquatic facility both in terms of its displays and its conservation ethos.
We left Stamford, Connecticut, at 8:30 a.m., arrived at New York Aquarium just after opening time of 10:00 and then spent an hour and 45 minutes at the establishment. After we dawdled on the iconic Coney Island boardwalk for a little while we drove east to the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead. That 2 hour drive meant that we arrived there at about 2:30, and then we spent a full 3 hours at our second aquarium of the day and we then drove another 3 hours until finally checking into a motel at 8:30 p.m. to make it the longest day thus far on the road trip. This review can be considered Part I of our July 19th New York City experience. I have now visited New York Aquarium, Long Island Aquarium, Bronx Zoo, Rosamond Gifford Zoo and Central Park Zoo in the state of New York.
THE BEST:
Sea Cliffs – This area has the mega-stars of the aquarium, and there are 5 large outdoor habitats with a total of 6 species inhabiting them with a 300-foot rocky coastline as a backdrop. A couple of walruses are in the first one and they are such a rarity these days that any time I see them is a delight (for example Point Defiance and Indianapolis are the last two American zoos with the species). California sea lions and harbor seals share the next rocky exhibit; Northern fur seals gracefully swim around a third pool; sea otters are exhibited in the fourth enclosure and African penguins have the last and perhaps largest habitat.
As one ventures down the line of exhibits in the Sea Cliffs area the next exciting prospect is to go down a flight of stairs and see all 5 exhibits again but this time with underwater viewing zones. This naturally adds another dimension to the experience as seeing the marine mammals and penguins ducking, diving and zooming through the water is a major crowd-pleasing attraction. Interestingly enough the penguins appear to have leopard sharks and at least 5 other fish species in the pool with them and that is a rarity that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen before. In this underwater gallery is a giant Pacific octopus exhibit, seahorse tanks and a few other fish exhibits to go along with the marine mammals. There is also an Aquatheater: Sea Lion Celebration show in a separate area that has 4 sea lions doing tricks to pulsating music.
Glover’s Reef – This is what I like to see in any captive wildlife facility: a top-notch, stunning initial exhibit that excites a crowd and gets folks intrigued to see what else is on offer during their tour. This enormous tank is based on a real atoll in Belize, and it is packed with all kinds of colourful tropical fish, leopard sharks, moray eels and many stingrays. Visitors gawk in awe at the Coral Reef tank and they are immediately immersed within the world of water.
THE AVERAGE:
Conservation Hall – A part of the entrance building and adjacent to Glover’s Reef is a set of exhibits that highlight different ecosystems. Pacific Ocean’s Coral Triangle, African Great Lakes and Amazon Flooded Forest are showcased, along with a Pet Kiosk that discusses sustainability in the modern world of fish. The tanks are large, eye-catching and nicely done but there aren’t many of them and they are overshadowed by the Glover’s Reef habitat.
Sharks – This is a separate building with a single large tank with these 7 species: loggerhead sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, permit, roughtail stingray, white-tip reef shark, nurse shark and sand tiger shark. The two turtles are enormous up close, the sand tiger sharks are equally huge but also increasingly common in American aquariums, and the tank makes for worthwhile viewing but it is also showing signs of age. See below for the $100 million future transformation.
Explore the Shore – This is essentially the main indoor building and it is rather disappointing as it is extremely dark, disjointed in its list of exhibits, confusing in the layout of tanks, and with nothing really spectacular or remarkable. There are a few floor-to-ceiling exhibits and a really nice 400-gallon wave tank but also numerous small tanks that are not overly interesting to view. There are all kinds of crabs, lobsters, mini touch tanks, a grassy salt marsh, electric eels and other delights but the exhibitry could be modernized. Modern aquariums have lighter galleries, rockwork that sticks out from the wall to immerse visitors into their surroundings, or interactive elements to engage young learners. As it stands right now this area is perhaps a flashback to how aquariums appeared decades ago, with simple lighting and row after row of basic tanks.
Alien Stingers – This gallery is attached to the Explore the Shore building and contains a number of tanks with moon jellies, sea nettles and various other jellyfish species. The darkness works well here because then the luminescent jellies can light up their colourful tanks and this set of exhibits is worthwhile to visit.
THE WORST:
Other than the overwhelming summer crowds and the main building there is nothing too disappointing at this famous aquarium.
THE FUTURE:
Opening in spring 2015 will be “Ocean Wonders: Sharks!” It is a transformation of a current building and the price tag is a whopping $100 million.
An Ocean of Wonders
OVERALL:
New York Aquarium is known for its outdoor exhibits and it does not disappoint in that regard, especially with the vast underwater viewing area packed with great opportunities to see large marine mammals. Sea Cliffs and Glover’s Reef are both highlights of any visit and the 2015 opening of the new shark tank will undoubtedly improve attendance and hopefully reignite the future of this iconic aquarium. The problem with the facility is that a number of the indoor zones are simply average and not deserving of their dark, dated appearance. By modernizing the Explore the Shore structure the aquarium would be significantly improved and visitors would perhaps spend longer examining the habitats. As it is New York Aquarium is a must see for any zoo enthusiast who enjoys both solid animal exhibits and also loves touring historic facilities but there is definitely room for improvement.
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DAY 18: Thursday, July 19th, 2012
Road Trip Review # 18: Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center
Long Island Aquarium’s website:
Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center
Aquarium Map:
http://longislandaquarium.com/images/visitor-map.pdf
Long Island Aquarium is located in Riverhead on 3.2 acres, along the Peconic River, in the state of New York. It is a full 2-hour drive from the Brooklyn or Manhattan zones and thus there are perhaps more local visitors than to be found at some of the WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) facilities. The aquarium is themed around the lost city of Atlantis and it officially opened in 2000 and so everything is still fairly new and shiny. It has over one million gallons of water and what it claims is the largest all-living coral reef display in the Western Hemisphere within a 20,000 gallon tank.
The aquarium was originally named Atlantis Marine World (and in fact bizarrely that name still adorns the outside of the building) but in 2011 it underwent a name change and a $24 million expansion. A Hyatt Place hotel directly next door and a 28,000 sq. ft. ballroom made its debut along with an Exhibition Center (free-flying butterflies and birds). It is a major American aquarium due to having seals, sea lions, sea turtles, large sharks, otters, alligators and even Japanese macaques. Other than whales and dolphins almost all of the big-name, marquee aquatic creatures are represented and the presentation of the exhibits is for the most part very impressive.
We left Stamford, Connecticut, at 8:30 a.m., arrived at New York Aquarium just after opening time of 10:00 and then spent an hour and 45 minutes at the establishment. After we dawdled on the iconic Coney Island boardwalk for a little while we drove east to the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead. That 2 hour drive meant that we arrived there at about 2:30, and then we spent a full 3 hours at our second aquarium of the day and we then drove another 3 hours until finally checking into a motel at 8:30 p.m. to make it the longest day thus far on the road trip. This review can be considered Part II of our July 19th New York City experience. I have now visited New York Aquarium, Long Island Aquarium, Bronx Zoo, Rosamond Gifford Zoo and Central Park Zoo in the state of New York.
THE TOUR:
First Appearances & Indoor Exhibits:
Before entering the aquarium there is an 800 sq. ft. harbor seal/grey seal exhibit outdoors that can be viewed by passersby for free. Upon entry there is a large Ray Bay touch tank with stingrays and small sharks on the left that is set against a sandy beach backdrop. Visitors begin their tour by crossing over a bridge next to Sand Shark Lagoon, with smooth dogfish (sand sharks), crevalle jack, summer flounder and other fish swimming beneath the bridge in a pool that stretches on both sides.
The Main Level is a large room that has intricately designed seahorse statues mounted on the wall like guard soldiers, tall columns made of mock-brick, giant paintings on the walls, and ornate designs in every corner. The first impression is overwhelming as the Lost City of Atlantis theme is continued onwards in every crumbling brick, triton poking out of the water, crown protruding from the murk and each detailed stone carving. Whether one likes such ruined-theme architecture is irrelevant when it comes to the exhibits as many of them are spectacular. Along one wall are 4 spacious tanks with these 4 names: Best Buddies (Clownfish & Anemone); Piranha; Shipwreck Reef and Lake Malawi Cichlids. The tanks are probably about 12 ft. x 12 ft. x 12ft. and packed with fish and aquatic plantings.
Along the opposite wall is a series of tanks with flamboyant cuttlefish, flounders, puffer fish, electric eels and giant Pacific octopus. Seahorses have a tank in a corner of the room and a 20,000 gallon living Coral Reef tank and an Amazon Rainforest tank (with trees protruding from the deep water) are both amazing. Red-tailed catfish, silver arowana and red pacu are in the Amazon habitat and the 30-foot long Coral Reef exhibit has over 800 fish flitting in and around the brightly-coloured reef. Local Rocky Shores displays fish from just off of Long Island in a 2,000 gallon exhibit, and all of the surrounding tanks are excellent with interesting signage. The major exhibit is the awesome Lost City Shark Exhibit with these 9 species in 120,000 gallons of water: White-tip reef shark, sandbar shark, sand tiger shark, nurse shark, loggerhead sea turtle, crevalle jack, green moray eel, scup and Queensland grouper. There are fallen columns, a sunken statue of Poseidon (with a 12-foot high trident) and all sorts of debris in the tank but it comes together in a combination of kitsch and wizardry to attract huge crowds at the viewing windows.
The Mezzanine (upstairs viewing area) features an overhead deck that looks down into the Lost City Shark Exhibit, and there is a metal cage there for divers to be submerged into the habitat. A schooling fish display accompanies a jellyfish exhibit in one corner while an all-glass Amazon Aviary (blue-and-yellow macaw, green-winged macaw and military macaw) is small but features only rescued birds. There is a Submarine Simulator ride and at least a dozen small tanks with a variety of tiny, colourful fish in another corner overlooking the restaurant.
Outside the Main Level there is a lengthy touch tank (the 4th touch tank in the facility); a 3,000 gallon Tidal Marsh exhibit that is very long and impressive and contains around 30 different plant and animal species; and a well-designed house called Crab Villa that looks like something found in either Disneyland or Las Vegas. Japanese spider crabs and at least a dozen species of crab, lobster and shrimp have average-sized exhibits in nooks and crannies at the base of the villa while just inside is underwater viewing for California sea lions.
Marine Animal Hospital & Rescue Center:
This area had a juvenile olive ridley sea turtle and a juvenile green sea turtle that are both unreleasable, as well as several colourful tanks of local fish and an insight into the behind-the-scenes operation of the aquarium.
Outdoor Exhibits:
Penguin Pavilion – This 800 sq. ft. exhibit has a deep pool and is home to a colony of African penguins. The enclosure is not very nature as the ruined temple theme is absolute at this establishment, and the penguins do not have a very large land area and even though the viewing opportunities are terrific I am not a huge fan of this habitat. A pair of 15-foot high penguin statues guards the entrance to this area.
Interactive Salt Marsh – This is an area where for an extra fee young children can venture into a two-foot pool that is ringed by tall grassy areas. While in the pool they can touch fiddler crabs, spider crabs, horseshoe crabs, grass shrimp, mud snails or ribbed mussels depending on what animals are placed in there at any one time.
Ray Bay & Shark Reef Lagoon – This is a large touch tank with no one supervising it, and the cownose rays, southern stingrays and white-spotted bamboo sharks were easy to touch and a delight to the crowd gathered around the edge. Adjacent to this pool is an even larger pool called Shark Reef Lagoon and it is only used for paying customers who wish to snorkel with bamboo sharks, stingrays and many other species of fish.
Sea Lion Coliseum – A mini-stadium for the standard sea lion shows.
River Otters – This grassy, 1,500 sq. ft. exhibit is not huge but it is packed with enrichment items and very naturalistic. There is a small crawl-through tunnel for kids and a deep pool for the two animals that inhabit the enclosure.
Japanese Macaques – The 4 monkeys have a very steep enclosure that is filled with mock-rock from floor to ceiling. Vines are really cement carvings on concrete trees, and there are statues of a weird monkey-headed king, lots of stairs and the ruined temple theme looks amazing to many visitors but the monkeys have absolutely nothing natural to smell or touch. A large grassy field with a few boulders would probably be a much more enjoyable habitat for them to romp around in.
Odds n’ Sods – There is a narrow enclosure with a handful of juvenile American alligators; Ancient Reptile Ruins (giant day gecko, spectacled caiman, chameleons, green iguana) with rescue animals; a single exhibit Creatures of the Night nocturnal area (two-toed sloth, coendou, long-nosed bat); Unearthing Atlantis (no animals but a cool history of the famous Lost City); a scenic Koi pond that made its debut in 2007; and a Carnivorous Plant Bog.
Exhibition Center: This is a new addition that was added in 2011 and it is essentially an all-indoor area with lots of butterflies in all directions. It costs $9 extra to enter the building, or $12.50 if one just does this and not the rest of the aquarium and that is an outrageous amount of money that is usually $3 at a regular mainstream zoo. There are plenty of butterflies to see, a flight of steps up to a wooden observation viewing deck, and it is all fine and dandy but to charge people $9 is a major rip-off. A small side room with lorikeets and other energetic, colourful birds (with zero signage anywhere) is far too tiny as it was so packed on my visit that my daughter Kylie and I struggled to free ourselves from the throng of visitors. Birds were landing on people at random but the limited space probably meant that there was nowhere else to perch!
THE WORST:
Pricing – It costs $31.50 for an adult to visit the aquarium and exhibition center, or $22.50 if they choose to skip the birds and the butterflies. As far as I know it is a for-profit, privately-owned aquarium that aims to make money and also have some conservation messages educating the public. There seems to be an attempt to bilk visitors out of money at almost every opportunity, as for example there is the extra fee of $9 just to enter the Exhibition Center. Then the Family Fun Center (essentially an arcade) costs extra to play games; there is a Rock Wall, a Discovery Tower, snorkeling with sharks in the lagoon, diving with sharks in the main Shark Exhibit; a Sea Lion Kiss, holding a macaw or parrot for a few dollars, a submarine simulator ride, a tour boat that takes visitors down the Peconic River, and feeding the rays at the two main touch tanks. Everything on that list is above and beyond the already extremely high fee to enter. Georgia Aquarium is the largest on the planet and it charges $35 per adult and so Long Island might well be the 2nd most expensive aquarium in the United States. I guess if folks can afford to live in the area in the first place then they can afford to spend big bucks at their local aquarium.
OVERALL:
Long Island Aquarium is a much larger, more extensive facility than I had anticipated, as it is not very well known throughout the United States. The Lost City of Atlantis, ruined-temple theme is detailed and thorough, but at times it is bordering on Las Vegas/Disneyland style and some visitors might question if there is a lot of substance behind the glitz and glamour. It is a tough aquarium to review as in all honesty my family had a blast and there is a wide range of animals on view. For the most part all of the exhibits are of a high quality, and there is a hint of SeaWorld ambition in the numerous rides and extra pricing events. While the aquarium is definitely worth seeing, and we spent 3 fun hours at the establishment, the biggest thing going against it is its location as it seems so far away and it is a 4-hour round-trip journey just from Brooklyn. If one is willing to invest the time and money in a visit then I would highly recommend it as the aquatic animal collection is very complete and even with the flaws it is a worthwhile aquarium that has the potential to blossom into something rather marvelous.
Road Trip Review # 18: Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center
Long Island Aquarium’s website:
Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center
Aquarium Map:
http://longislandaquarium.com/images/visitor-map.pdf
Long Island Aquarium is located in Riverhead on 3.2 acres, along the Peconic River, in the state of New York. It is a full 2-hour drive from the Brooklyn or Manhattan zones and thus there are perhaps more local visitors than to be found at some of the WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) facilities. The aquarium is themed around the lost city of Atlantis and it officially opened in 2000 and so everything is still fairly new and shiny. It has over one million gallons of water and what it claims is the largest all-living coral reef display in the Western Hemisphere within a 20,000 gallon tank.
The aquarium was originally named Atlantis Marine World (and in fact bizarrely that name still adorns the outside of the building) but in 2011 it underwent a name change and a $24 million expansion. A Hyatt Place hotel directly next door and a 28,000 sq. ft. ballroom made its debut along with an Exhibition Center (free-flying butterflies and birds). It is a major American aquarium due to having seals, sea lions, sea turtles, large sharks, otters, alligators and even Japanese macaques. Other than whales and dolphins almost all of the big-name, marquee aquatic creatures are represented and the presentation of the exhibits is for the most part very impressive.
We left Stamford, Connecticut, at 8:30 a.m., arrived at New York Aquarium just after opening time of 10:00 and then spent an hour and 45 minutes at the establishment. After we dawdled on the iconic Coney Island boardwalk for a little while we drove east to the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead. That 2 hour drive meant that we arrived there at about 2:30, and then we spent a full 3 hours at our second aquarium of the day and we then drove another 3 hours until finally checking into a motel at 8:30 p.m. to make it the longest day thus far on the road trip. This review can be considered Part II of our July 19th New York City experience. I have now visited New York Aquarium, Long Island Aquarium, Bronx Zoo, Rosamond Gifford Zoo and Central Park Zoo in the state of New York.
THE TOUR:
First Appearances & Indoor Exhibits:
Before entering the aquarium there is an 800 sq. ft. harbor seal/grey seal exhibit outdoors that can be viewed by passersby for free. Upon entry there is a large Ray Bay touch tank with stingrays and small sharks on the left that is set against a sandy beach backdrop. Visitors begin their tour by crossing over a bridge next to Sand Shark Lagoon, with smooth dogfish (sand sharks), crevalle jack, summer flounder and other fish swimming beneath the bridge in a pool that stretches on both sides.
The Main Level is a large room that has intricately designed seahorse statues mounted on the wall like guard soldiers, tall columns made of mock-brick, giant paintings on the walls, and ornate designs in every corner. The first impression is overwhelming as the Lost City of Atlantis theme is continued onwards in every crumbling brick, triton poking out of the water, crown protruding from the murk and each detailed stone carving. Whether one likes such ruined-theme architecture is irrelevant when it comes to the exhibits as many of them are spectacular. Along one wall are 4 spacious tanks with these 4 names: Best Buddies (Clownfish & Anemone); Piranha; Shipwreck Reef and Lake Malawi Cichlids. The tanks are probably about 12 ft. x 12 ft. x 12ft. and packed with fish and aquatic plantings.
Along the opposite wall is a series of tanks with flamboyant cuttlefish, flounders, puffer fish, electric eels and giant Pacific octopus. Seahorses have a tank in a corner of the room and a 20,000 gallon living Coral Reef tank and an Amazon Rainforest tank (with trees protruding from the deep water) are both amazing. Red-tailed catfish, silver arowana and red pacu are in the Amazon habitat and the 30-foot long Coral Reef exhibit has over 800 fish flitting in and around the brightly-coloured reef. Local Rocky Shores displays fish from just off of Long Island in a 2,000 gallon exhibit, and all of the surrounding tanks are excellent with interesting signage. The major exhibit is the awesome Lost City Shark Exhibit with these 9 species in 120,000 gallons of water: White-tip reef shark, sandbar shark, sand tiger shark, nurse shark, loggerhead sea turtle, crevalle jack, green moray eel, scup and Queensland grouper. There are fallen columns, a sunken statue of Poseidon (with a 12-foot high trident) and all sorts of debris in the tank but it comes together in a combination of kitsch and wizardry to attract huge crowds at the viewing windows.
The Mezzanine (upstairs viewing area) features an overhead deck that looks down into the Lost City Shark Exhibit, and there is a metal cage there for divers to be submerged into the habitat. A schooling fish display accompanies a jellyfish exhibit in one corner while an all-glass Amazon Aviary (blue-and-yellow macaw, green-winged macaw and military macaw) is small but features only rescued birds. There is a Submarine Simulator ride and at least a dozen small tanks with a variety of tiny, colourful fish in another corner overlooking the restaurant.
Outside the Main Level there is a lengthy touch tank (the 4th touch tank in the facility); a 3,000 gallon Tidal Marsh exhibit that is very long and impressive and contains around 30 different plant and animal species; and a well-designed house called Crab Villa that looks like something found in either Disneyland or Las Vegas. Japanese spider crabs and at least a dozen species of crab, lobster and shrimp have average-sized exhibits in nooks and crannies at the base of the villa while just inside is underwater viewing for California sea lions.
Marine Animal Hospital & Rescue Center:
This area had a juvenile olive ridley sea turtle and a juvenile green sea turtle that are both unreleasable, as well as several colourful tanks of local fish and an insight into the behind-the-scenes operation of the aquarium.
Outdoor Exhibits:
Penguin Pavilion – This 800 sq. ft. exhibit has a deep pool and is home to a colony of African penguins. The enclosure is not very nature as the ruined temple theme is absolute at this establishment, and the penguins do not have a very large land area and even though the viewing opportunities are terrific I am not a huge fan of this habitat. A pair of 15-foot high penguin statues guards the entrance to this area.
Interactive Salt Marsh – This is an area where for an extra fee young children can venture into a two-foot pool that is ringed by tall grassy areas. While in the pool they can touch fiddler crabs, spider crabs, horseshoe crabs, grass shrimp, mud snails or ribbed mussels depending on what animals are placed in there at any one time.
Ray Bay & Shark Reef Lagoon – This is a large touch tank with no one supervising it, and the cownose rays, southern stingrays and white-spotted bamboo sharks were easy to touch and a delight to the crowd gathered around the edge. Adjacent to this pool is an even larger pool called Shark Reef Lagoon and it is only used for paying customers who wish to snorkel with bamboo sharks, stingrays and many other species of fish.
Sea Lion Coliseum – A mini-stadium for the standard sea lion shows.
River Otters – This grassy, 1,500 sq. ft. exhibit is not huge but it is packed with enrichment items and very naturalistic. There is a small crawl-through tunnel for kids and a deep pool for the two animals that inhabit the enclosure.
Japanese Macaques – The 4 monkeys have a very steep enclosure that is filled with mock-rock from floor to ceiling. Vines are really cement carvings on concrete trees, and there are statues of a weird monkey-headed king, lots of stairs and the ruined temple theme looks amazing to many visitors but the monkeys have absolutely nothing natural to smell or touch. A large grassy field with a few boulders would probably be a much more enjoyable habitat for them to romp around in.
Odds n’ Sods – There is a narrow enclosure with a handful of juvenile American alligators; Ancient Reptile Ruins (giant day gecko, spectacled caiman, chameleons, green iguana) with rescue animals; a single exhibit Creatures of the Night nocturnal area (two-toed sloth, coendou, long-nosed bat); Unearthing Atlantis (no animals but a cool history of the famous Lost City); a scenic Koi pond that made its debut in 2007; and a Carnivorous Plant Bog.
Exhibition Center: This is a new addition that was added in 2011 and it is essentially an all-indoor area with lots of butterflies in all directions. It costs $9 extra to enter the building, or $12.50 if one just does this and not the rest of the aquarium and that is an outrageous amount of money that is usually $3 at a regular mainstream zoo. There are plenty of butterflies to see, a flight of steps up to a wooden observation viewing deck, and it is all fine and dandy but to charge people $9 is a major rip-off. A small side room with lorikeets and other energetic, colourful birds (with zero signage anywhere) is far too tiny as it was so packed on my visit that my daughter Kylie and I struggled to free ourselves from the throng of visitors. Birds were landing on people at random but the limited space probably meant that there was nowhere else to perch!
THE WORST:
Pricing – It costs $31.50 for an adult to visit the aquarium and exhibition center, or $22.50 if they choose to skip the birds and the butterflies. As far as I know it is a for-profit, privately-owned aquarium that aims to make money and also have some conservation messages educating the public. There seems to be an attempt to bilk visitors out of money at almost every opportunity, as for example there is the extra fee of $9 just to enter the Exhibition Center. Then the Family Fun Center (essentially an arcade) costs extra to play games; there is a Rock Wall, a Discovery Tower, snorkeling with sharks in the lagoon, diving with sharks in the main Shark Exhibit; a Sea Lion Kiss, holding a macaw or parrot for a few dollars, a submarine simulator ride, a tour boat that takes visitors down the Peconic River, and feeding the rays at the two main touch tanks. Everything on that list is above and beyond the already extremely high fee to enter. Georgia Aquarium is the largest on the planet and it charges $35 per adult and so Long Island might well be the 2nd most expensive aquarium in the United States. I guess if folks can afford to live in the area in the first place then they can afford to spend big bucks at their local aquarium.
OVERALL:
Long Island Aquarium is a much larger, more extensive facility than I had anticipated, as it is not very well known throughout the United States. The Lost City of Atlantis, ruined-temple theme is detailed and thorough, but at times it is bordering on Las Vegas/Disneyland style and some visitors might question if there is a lot of substance behind the glitz and glamour. It is a tough aquarium to review as in all honesty my family had a blast and there is a wide range of animals on view. For the most part all of the exhibits are of a high quality, and there is a hint of SeaWorld ambition in the numerous rides and extra pricing events. While the aquarium is definitely worth seeing, and we spent 3 fun hours at the establishment, the biggest thing going against it is its location as it seems so far away and it is a 4-hour round-trip journey just from Brooklyn. If one is willing to invest the time and money in a visit then I would highly recommend it as the aquatic animal collection is very complete and even with the flaws it is a worthwhile aquarium that has the potential to blossom into something rather marvelous.
I'm back after a week-long camping trip! Glad to see everyone's doing well, and I'm glad you liked the Connecticut attractions so much!
Mystic- I'm glad you enjoyed this wonderful aquarium. I think I saw plans on the Internet for a new sea otter exhibit, and in 2009 when they temporarily house dolphins from Shedd, I heard that it was a glimpse into the future because Mystic had plans to bring dolphins back.
Maritime- Maritime is not AZA-accredited.
Beardsley- I was pleasantly shocked of how much you liked Beardsley. The White-Faced Sakis and Black Howlers share the indoor exhibit in colder months, and the howlers are let outside in the summer, and I don't know why the sakis aren't let out as well. Those other animals (besides the rheas) in the New England Farmyard are there as they are sometimes wild animals you might see in rural CT. The whole Predators section (tigers, lynx, empty cages) are disappointing and small. A single Andean Bear used to be able to travel to both of the adjoining cages that are now empty. I saw plans for a new tiger exhibit, but that was back in 2004, and they don't have the funds. They had plans to bring in jaguars and make a new exhibit complex called Andes Adventure, which would give a new home to species such as Andean Bears and Andean Condors, and bring in Giant Anteaters, Jaguars and more. It has been canceled though. Hopefully the Pampas Plains exhibit is just a phase in a larger South American exhibit that will bring Jaguars to Beardsley, and a new Asian section with a bigger better exhibit for tigers will open up. However, the zoo has made big strides since Gregg Dancho became director. One last thing SL, do you think that the giant tortoise yard can be used to house something else when the tortoises go, as I'd hate to see the area unused.
Pampas Plains exhibit:Diageo Donates $30K & 800 Volunteer Hours to Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo | Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
Mystic- I'm glad you enjoyed this wonderful aquarium. I think I saw plans on the Internet for a new sea otter exhibit, and in 2009 when they temporarily house dolphins from Shedd, I heard that it was a glimpse into the future because Mystic had plans to bring dolphins back.
Maritime- Maritime is not AZA-accredited.
Beardsley- I was pleasantly shocked of how much you liked Beardsley. The White-Faced Sakis and Black Howlers share the indoor exhibit in colder months, and the howlers are let outside in the summer, and I don't know why the sakis aren't let out as well. Those other animals (besides the rheas) in the New England Farmyard are there as they are sometimes wild animals you might see in rural CT. The whole Predators section (tigers, lynx, empty cages) are disappointing and small. A single Andean Bear used to be able to travel to both of the adjoining cages that are now empty. I saw plans for a new tiger exhibit, but that was back in 2004, and they don't have the funds. They had plans to bring in jaguars and make a new exhibit complex called Andes Adventure, which would give a new home to species such as Andean Bears and Andean Condors, and bring in Giant Anteaters, Jaguars and more. It has been canceled though. Hopefully the Pampas Plains exhibit is just a phase in a larger South American exhibit that will bring Jaguars to Beardsley, and a new Asian section with a bigger better exhibit for tigers will open up. However, the zoo has made big strides since Gregg Dancho became director. One last thing SL, do you think that the giant tortoise yard can be used to house something else when the tortoises go, as I'd hate to see the area unused.
Pampas Plains exhibit:Diageo Donates $30K & 800 Volunteer Hours to Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo | Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
DAY 19: Friday, July 20th, 2012
Road Trip Review # 19: Jenkinson’s Aquarium
Jenkinson’s Aquarium’s website:
Aquarium | Jenkinson's Boardwalk
Jenkinson’s Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility located in Point Pleasant Beach in the state of New Jersey. It was founded in 1991 and is located on a mile-long boardwalk that bears a strong resemblance to Coney Island in New York City. Other than the aquarium there is also an amusement park, 3 mini golf courses, arcades, batting cages and all types of shops. This vacation destination is jammed all summer long with tourists and in the winter there are barely any visitors as the weather dictates the volume of guests.
We visited during a torrential rainstorm and just from rushing from the minivan to the boardwalk we became soaking wet and I even had to ring out my shorts as the rain was unbelievably powerful. From a sheltered area we watched the ocean crash onto the beach for a few minutes as the waves were enchanting to gaze at, and then we headed into the tiny entrance zone of the aquarium. The facility is fairly small and we saw everything in about 45 minutes, even though there is a large shark tank, penguins, harbor seals and many interesting aquatic creatures packed into two floors of exhibits.
FIRST FLOOR:
The African penguin habitat is apparently brand new as it says “now open” on the aquarium’s website and it is not the largest in the world but since those black-and-white birds are superstars the crowds flocked to see them in their underwater glory. There is a large ship in the center of the room that would not look out of place in Pirates of the Caribbean, and around it are turtles and freshwater fish as well as a variety of terrariums. A Live Coral reef exhibit is directly across from the entrance; a Local Fish tank has many critters from off the Jersey coastline; Coral Reef is a beautiful tank with a gorgeous series of specimens; Pacific Sharks is bare but it contains these 7 species: leopard shark, brown-banded bamboo shark, white-spotted bamboo shark, horn shark, honeycomb eel, garibaldi and shovelnose guitarfish; and there is an underwater viewing area for harbor seals. Sharks & Rays is the main tank and it has many species of rays and some huge sharks like the sandbar shark in its 58,000 gallon habitat. Other exhibits include: red-bellied piranha, striped bass, poison dart frogs, freshwater crayfish, African clawed frog, leopard gecko, axolotl, pancake tortoise, blue-tongued skink, South American lungfish and Burmese python.
The large shark tank is quite impressive for a small-town aquarium, the penguins are naturally a major hit, and the large ship in the center of the room surrounded by exhibits is a clever idea. However, there are many tanks that are extremely basic, and almost the entire upstairs area is devoted to standard terrariums that simply present the animals to the public rather than any creative habitat where visitors actually have to search for the inhabitants.
SECOND FLOOR:
The harbor seals can be seen above water in their tiled, extremely basic exhibit, and all 3 of the seals are older than 20 years of age and so they are not the speediest pinnipeds that I’ve ever seen. There is also above water viewing of the large shark/ray tank, and a central Touch Tank with the typical crabs, small rays and sea urchins. There is a Marmosets exhibit with one saddleback tamarin and two pygmy marmosets; and a Parrots glass-fronted enclosure with these 3 species: Moluccan cockatoo, scarlet macaw and blue-and-gold macaw. Other exhibits include: Cuban tree frog, Vietnamese mossy frog, American lobster and moon jellyfish.
The Pine Barrens zone, featuring local reptiles and amphibians, has pet-store sized terrariums with these species: northern pine snake, red-spotted newt, eastern box turtle, southern leopard frog, corn snake, northern gray treefrog, spotted turtle, eastern tiger salamander, eastern spadefoot toad and northern diamondback terrapin.
OVERALL:
Jenkinson’s Aquarium is not an establishment that would normally be seen as a separate entity but it fits into the larger scheme of things by presenting aquatic life to tourists who are visiting the popular boardwalk each summer. There are just enough enticing marquee creatures to view (sharks, turtles, seals, penguins) to keep families entertained and the price of $10 per adult is modest in comparison to many of America’s major aquariums. The facility serves as a diversion from the chaos and heat of the beach, and I was told by an employee that many tourists use the aquarium as a cool respite from the powerful sunshine that usually strikes during July and August. Many families spend a few days in the area and buy a year-long membership to Jenkinson’s because then they can drop in and out at will while they are on vacation.
Road Trip Review # 19: Jenkinson’s Aquarium
Jenkinson’s Aquarium’s website:
Aquarium | Jenkinson's Boardwalk
Jenkinson’s Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility located in Point Pleasant Beach in the state of New Jersey. It was founded in 1991 and is located on a mile-long boardwalk that bears a strong resemblance to Coney Island in New York City. Other than the aquarium there is also an amusement park, 3 mini golf courses, arcades, batting cages and all types of shops. This vacation destination is jammed all summer long with tourists and in the winter there are barely any visitors as the weather dictates the volume of guests.
We visited during a torrential rainstorm and just from rushing from the minivan to the boardwalk we became soaking wet and I even had to ring out my shorts as the rain was unbelievably powerful. From a sheltered area we watched the ocean crash onto the beach for a few minutes as the waves were enchanting to gaze at, and then we headed into the tiny entrance zone of the aquarium. The facility is fairly small and we saw everything in about 45 minutes, even though there is a large shark tank, penguins, harbor seals and many interesting aquatic creatures packed into two floors of exhibits.
FIRST FLOOR:
The African penguin habitat is apparently brand new as it says “now open” on the aquarium’s website and it is not the largest in the world but since those black-and-white birds are superstars the crowds flocked to see them in their underwater glory. There is a large ship in the center of the room that would not look out of place in Pirates of the Caribbean, and around it are turtles and freshwater fish as well as a variety of terrariums. A Live Coral reef exhibit is directly across from the entrance; a Local Fish tank has many critters from off the Jersey coastline; Coral Reef is a beautiful tank with a gorgeous series of specimens; Pacific Sharks is bare but it contains these 7 species: leopard shark, brown-banded bamboo shark, white-spotted bamboo shark, horn shark, honeycomb eel, garibaldi and shovelnose guitarfish; and there is an underwater viewing area for harbor seals. Sharks & Rays is the main tank and it has many species of rays and some huge sharks like the sandbar shark in its 58,000 gallon habitat. Other exhibits include: red-bellied piranha, striped bass, poison dart frogs, freshwater crayfish, African clawed frog, leopard gecko, axolotl, pancake tortoise, blue-tongued skink, South American lungfish and Burmese python.
The large shark tank is quite impressive for a small-town aquarium, the penguins are naturally a major hit, and the large ship in the center of the room surrounded by exhibits is a clever idea. However, there are many tanks that are extremely basic, and almost the entire upstairs area is devoted to standard terrariums that simply present the animals to the public rather than any creative habitat where visitors actually have to search for the inhabitants.
SECOND FLOOR:
The harbor seals can be seen above water in their tiled, extremely basic exhibit, and all 3 of the seals are older than 20 years of age and so they are not the speediest pinnipeds that I’ve ever seen. There is also above water viewing of the large shark/ray tank, and a central Touch Tank with the typical crabs, small rays and sea urchins. There is a Marmosets exhibit with one saddleback tamarin and two pygmy marmosets; and a Parrots glass-fronted enclosure with these 3 species: Moluccan cockatoo, scarlet macaw and blue-and-gold macaw. Other exhibits include: Cuban tree frog, Vietnamese mossy frog, American lobster and moon jellyfish.
The Pine Barrens zone, featuring local reptiles and amphibians, has pet-store sized terrariums with these species: northern pine snake, red-spotted newt, eastern box turtle, southern leopard frog, corn snake, northern gray treefrog, spotted turtle, eastern tiger salamander, eastern spadefoot toad and northern diamondback terrapin.
OVERALL:
Jenkinson’s Aquarium is not an establishment that would normally be seen as a separate entity but it fits into the larger scheme of things by presenting aquatic life to tourists who are visiting the popular boardwalk each summer. There are just enough enticing marquee creatures to view (sharks, turtles, seals, penguins) to keep families entertained and the price of $10 per adult is modest in comparison to many of America’s major aquariums. The facility serves as a diversion from the chaos and heat of the beach, and I was told by an employee that many tourists use the aquarium as a cool respite from the powerful sunshine that usually strikes during July and August. Many families spend a few days in the area and buy a year-long membership to Jenkinson’s because then they can drop in and out at will while they are on vacation.
DAY 20: Saturday, July 21st, 2012
Road Trip Review # 20: Adventure Aquarium
Adventure Aquarium’s website:
Adventure Aquarium - New Jersey Aquarium - Camden, NJ
Aquarium Map:
http://www.adventureaquarium.com/portals/0/pdf/visitormap.pdf
Adventure Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility that is located in Camden, New Jersey, and it opened in 1992 as New Jersey State Aquarium before being renamed as Adventure Aquarium in 2005. There is an interesting story here, as the original aquarium cost $52 million and opened to much fanfare and 1.6 million visitors during its first year back in ‘92. However, apparently the exhibits were lousy, it had grey concrete walls as the dominant theme, and in its second year attendance plummeted to only 400,000. An eventual change of ownership, an overhaul of the site, and a new name all caused a radical upswing as now the aquarium averages over 1 million visitors per year. Currently there is over 2 million gallons of water, 200,000 square feet of space, and 8,500 animals.
It advertises itself as the 5th largest aquarium in the United States on its website, and it is quite proud of having Nile hippos and great hammerhead sharks as no other American aquarium showcases those species. The brand-new KidZone is a huge section of the aquarium (a minimum of 25% of the total area) and other than the outdoor section there is literally nothing to complain about in terms of species selection and the quality of the exhibits. There is nothing average about this aquarium as most of it is excellent and the only downside is the outdoor area.
THE BEST:
Shark Realm – This 550,000 gallon tank has a 40-foot long tunnel attached to it and massive viewing windows into an exhibit that is fantastic and one of the best shark tanks I’ve ever seen. Sandbar sharks, sand tiger sharks, nurse sharks and green sawfish are the 4 largest species in the tank and there are plenty of them swimming in all directions. In fact there are 16 species of shark at this aquarium and 70 sharks in total, which is more than any other aquarium along the eastern coast of the United States. The viewing windows are enormous and for once overshadow the walk-through tunnel, and there can be no disparaging comments from anyone about this stellar exhibit that opened in 2005.
KidZone – This is one of the biggest and best children’s areas of any aquarium, and it opened in 2012. It was unveiled in March and it represents the aquarium’s largest addition/renovation in 7 years. KidZone takes up the entire second floor and it seems to go on forever as there are plenty of things for young children to do. It was specifically designed for kids 6 years and younger and there are 4 aquarium mascots that are colourful, fun and already beloved by many youngsters. Gill the shark, Lizzie the hippo, Bobbi the penguin and Shelldon the sea turtle are the AquaPals, and within KidZone there is a small maze, musical instruments, a river boat, a large puzzle, a large Creature Feature touch tank, pop-up bubbles in a Coral Reef tank, and terrariums set 6 inches lower than normal so that adults have to bend down to see the inhabitants. The entire thing is awesome for young kids and probably a waste of time for anyone single or with an adult partner. Considering that families probably made up 95% of the demographics during our visit then KidZone has already proven to be a roaring success.
Species list in KidZone includes: dwarf caiman, Amazon milk frog, Vietnamese mossy frog, tomato frog, Argentine horned frog, dyeing poison dart frog, blue poison dart frog, green-and-black poison dart frog, waxy monkey frog, axolotl, cardinal tetra, discus, upside-down jellyfish, harlequin tuskfish, lunare wrasse, flashlight fish, shrimpfish, carpet anemone, false percula clownfish, pink skunk clownfish, ritteri anemone and golden damselfish.
West African River Experience (Hippos) – A large room has a single exhibit in it, and quite incredibly it features two young female Nile hippos as the only ones in any aquarium on the planet. There are also a number of birds flying overhead (piping hornbill, black-cheeked lovebird, Abdim stork, snowy-headed robin chat, Taveta golden weaver, cattle egret and hammerkop) as well as a couple of African crested porcupines. The birds were very active on our visit, launching above us and perching in the tall, fake trees. I felt at first that I was viewing the indoor holding quarters of the Nile hippos as there is not a tremendous amount of land space, but the underwater viewing area is simply awesome. There are windows along the side of the pool and the hippos playfully knocked on the glass and jostled with each other. The main theater-style viewing windows feature a bewildering array of cichlids that are beautiful, and the pool is about 10-feet deep and seeing the lumbering grey beasts underwater is spectacular. I know that in reality hippos need a lot of land space and a large herd to replicate their natural living conditions, but whenever I see them underwater it is mind-blowing and crowds line up from near and far to see the animals conduct their graceful aquatic ballet. Is it fair to keep such enormous mammals in an all-indoor environment? That is a debate for another day, but they certainly bring in the crowds and they are a massive hit with the public.
Ocean Realm – This is a 760,000 gallon tank that contains two great hammerhead sharks, advertised as the only ones in captivity in the United States. There are zebra sharks, silky sharks, black-nose sharks, southern stingrays, roughtail stingrays, permits, Atlantic needlefish and many other species in this gargantuan tank. Two enormous viewing areas (one with stadium-seating in a movie theater setting) are splendid but I would have appreciated a closer look at the tank with multiple viewing angles such as a tunnel or a curved section of acrylic.
Caribbean Currents – There is a 30-foot high tropical waterfall tank that serves as the introduction to this area, and the exhibit is called Irazu River Falls and features catfish, freshwater stingrays and arapaima. Along a narrow, winding pathway there are another dozen or more exhibits for these species: four-eyed fish, northern diamondback terrapin, horseshoe crab, spiny lobster, regal slipper lobster, pipefish, lined seahorse, barracuda, several species of colourful tropical fish and other Caribbean critters. This area suffers from crowd congestion and it is not very large, but what is there is quite well done in terms of exhibitry.
Jules Verne Gallery – This is a short section that connects the West African River Experience with the Shark Realm tank. There are moon jellyfish, spotted lagoon jellyfish, wolf eels, weedy sea dragons and giant Pacific octopus in brightly lit exhibits that are a contrast to the dark corridor where they are located.
Stingray Beach Club & Touch-A-Shark – These are two very large touch tanks that give visitors the opportunity to pet different species of stingrays and sharks, and combined with the Creature Feature pool in KidZone this aquarium certainly has a lot of places where people can handle aquatic animals. Species list for the two touch tanks: brown-banded bamboo shark, white-spotted bamboo shark, cownose ray, southern stingray, yellow stingray and leopard whipray.
Megalodon: The Largest Shark that Ever Lived – This is a temporary gallery that is a 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit based on the enormous prehistoric shark named Megalodon. Visitors can see teeth, replica jaws and other delights until September when it departs for deeper oceans.
THE WORST:
Penguin Island – African penguins have a 17,000 gallon pool but the land area is disappointing and the exhibit seems dated and tiny compared to the other penguin exhibits that I’ve been touring on a daily basis. It seems as if every day I see a new penguin enclosure (and that is not far from the truth) and for such a great aquarium the penguin habitat is mediocre at best.
Seal Shores – This boring pool contained a single harbor seal on my visit, and the exhibit is nowhere to be found on the aquarium map or in the list of exhibits/animals on the side of the map. Is the aquarium planning to phase it out or is Seal Shores simply an afterthought?
OVERALL:
Adventure Aquarium is certainly one of the premier aquariums in the United States and it would almost certainly make my top dozen in the nation. Shark Realm, Ocean Realm, West African River Experience and KidZone are all superb, and in terms of children’s facilities it is outstanding and if it was not so overwhelmingly busy on a jam-packed Saturday then we would have probably stayed at least another hour just in the kiddie section. The outdoor zone is terrible in comparison to aquariums with superb marine mammal outdoor areas (Mystic, Vancouver, New York, etc.) and one issue that Adventure Aquarium has is that there is simply not enough to see. After 2.5 hours it is easy enough to view it all, and the individuals without young children would probably walk through KidZone in less than 10-15 minutes. We met one family of 4 that consisted of a dad, mom and two kids about 10 years in age. They spent $84 in entrance fees, $12 for the 4-D show, and then $32 on lunch for a grand total of $128 and they were done in less than 3 hours. That is an expensive few hours for a family, particularly in these tough economic times. For those that live in the area Adventure Aquarium is a great deal in terms of purchasing a yearly membership as without a doubt it is one of the better aquatic facilities in the nation.
Road Trip Review # 20: Adventure Aquarium
Adventure Aquarium’s website:
Adventure Aquarium - New Jersey Aquarium - Camden, NJ
Aquarium Map:
http://www.adventureaquarium.com/portals/0/pdf/visitormap.pdf
Adventure Aquarium is an AZA-accredited facility that is located in Camden, New Jersey, and it opened in 1992 as New Jersey State Aquarium before being renamed as Adventure Aquarium in 2005. There is an interesting story here, as the original aquarium cost $52 million and opened to much fanfare and 1.6 million visitors during its first year back in ‘92. However, apparently the exhibits were lousy, it had grey concrete walls as the dominant theme, and in its second year attendance plummeted to only 400,000. An eventual change of ownership, an overhaul of the site, and a new name all caused a radical upswing as now the aquarium averages over 1 million visitors per year. Currently there is over 2 million gallons of water, 200,000 square feet of space, and 8,500 animals.
It advertises itself as the 5th largest aquarium in the United States on its website, and it is quite proud of having Nile hippos and great hammerhead sharks as no other American aquarium showcases those species. The brand-new KidZone is a huge section of the aquarium (a minimum of 25% of the total area) and other than the outdoor section there is literally nothing to complain about in terms of species selection and the quality of the exhibits. There is nothing average about this aquarium as most of it is excellent and the only downside is the outdoor area.
THE BEST:
Shark Realm – This 550,000 gallon tank has a 40-foot long tunnel attached to it and massive viewing windows into an exhibit that is fantastic and one of the best shark tanks I’ve ever seen. Sandbar sharks, sand tiger sharks, nurse sharks and green sawfish are the 4 largest species in the tank and there are plenty of them swimming in all directions. In fact there are 16 species of shark at this aquarium and 70 sharks in total, which is more than any other aquarium along the eastern coast of the United States. The viewing windows are enormous and for once overshadow the walk-through tunnel, and there can be no disparaging comments from anyone about this stellar exhibit that opened in 2005.
KidZone – This is one of the biggest and best children’s areas of any aquarium, and it opened in 2012. It was unveiled in March and it represents the aquarium’s largest addition/renovation in 7 years. KidZone takes up the entire second floor and it seems to go on forever as there are plenty of things for young children to do. It was specifically designed for kids 6 years and younger and there are 4 aquarium mascots that are colourful, fun and already beloved by many youngsters. Gill the shark, Lizzie the hippo, Bobbi the penguin and Shelldon the sea turtle are the AquaPals, and within KidZone there is a small maze, musical instruments, a river boat, a large puzzle, a large Creature Feature touch tank, pop-up bubbles in a Coral Reef tank, and terrariums set 6 inches lower than normal so that adults have to bend down to see the inhabitants. The entire thing is awesome for young kids and probably a waste of time for anyone single or with an adult partner. Considering that families probably made up 95% of the demographics during our visit then KidZone has already proven to be a roaring success.
Species list in KidZone includes: dwarf caiman, Amazon milk frog, Vietnamese mossy frog, tomato frog, Argentine horned frog, dyeing poison dart frog, blue poison dart frog, green-and-black poison dart frog, waxy monkey frog, axolotl, cardinal tetra, discus, upside-down jellyfish, harlequin tuskfish, lunare wrasse, flashlight fish, shrimpfish, carpet anemone, false percula clownfish, pink skunk clownfish, ritteri anemone and golden damselfish.
West African River Experience (Hippos) – A large room has a single exhibit in it, and quite incredibly it features two young female Nile hippos as the only ones in any aquarium on the planet. There are also a number of birds flying overhead (piping hornbill, black-cheeked lovebird, Abdim stork, snowy-headed robin chat, Taveta golden weaver, cattle egret and hammerkop) as well as a couple of African crested porcupines. The birds were very active on our visit, launching above us and perching in the tall, fake trees. I felt at first that I was viewing the indoor holding quarters of the Nile hippos as there is not a tremendous amount of land space, but the underwater viewing area is simply awesome. There are windows along the side of the pool and the hippos playfully knocked on the glass and jostled with each other. The main theater-style viewing windows feature a bewildering array of cichlids that are beautiful, and the pool is about 10-feet deep and seeing the lumbering grey beasts underwater is spectacular. I know that in reality hippos need a lot of land space and a large herd to replicate their natural living conditions, but whenever I see them underwater it is mind-blowing and crowds line up from near and far to see the animals conduct their graceful aquatic ballet. Is it fair to keep such enormous mammals in an all-indoor environment? That is a debate for another day, but they certainly bring in the crowds and they are a massive hit with the public.
Ocean Realm – This is a 760,000 gallon tank that contains two great hammerhead sharks, advertised as the only ones in captivity in the United States. There are zebra sharks, silky sharks, black-nose sharks, southern stingrays, roughtail stingrays, permits, Atlantic needlefish and many other species in this gargantuan tank. Two enormous viewing areas (one with stadium-seating in a movie theater setting) are splendid but I would have appreciated a closer look at the tank with multiple viewing angles such as a tunnel or a curved section of acrylic.
Caribbean Currents – There is a 30-foot high tropical waterfall tank that serves as the introduction to this area, and the exhibit is called Irazu River Falls and features catfish, freshwater stingrays and arapaima. Along a narrow, winding pathway there are another dozen or more exhibits for these species: four-eyed fish, northern diamondback terrapin, horseshoe crab, spiny lobster, regal slipper lobster, pipefish, lined seahorse, barracuda, several species of colourful tropical fish and other Caribbean critters. This area suffers from crowd congestion and it is not very large, but what is there is quite well done in terms of exhibitry.
Jules Verne Gallery – This is a short section that connects the West African River Experience with the Shark Realm tank. There are moon jellyfish, spotted lagoon jellyfish, wolf eels, weedy sea dragons and giant Pacific octopus in brightly lit exhibits that are a contrast to the dark corridor where they are located.
Stingray Beach Club & Touch-A-Shark – These are two very large touch tanks that give visitors the opportunity to pet different species of stingrays and sharks, and combined with the Creature Feature pool in KidZone this aquarium certainly has a lot of places where people can handle aquatic animals. Species list for the two touch tanks: brown-banded bamboo shark, white-spotted bamboo shark, cownose ray, southern stingray, yellow stingray and leopard whipray.
Megalodon: The Largest Shark that Ever Lived – This is a temporary gallery that is a 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit based on the enormous prehistoric shark named Megalodon. Visitors can see teeth, replica jaws and other delights until September when it departs for deeper oceans.
THE WORST:
Penguin Island – African penguins have a 17,000 gallon pool but the land area is disappointing and the exhibit seems dated and tiny compared to the other penguin exhibits that I’ve been touring on a daily basis. It seems as if every day I see a new penguin enclosure (and that is not far from the truth) and for such a great aquarium the penguin habitat is mediocre at best.
Seal Shores – This boring pool contained a single harbor seal on my visit, and the exhibit is nowhere to be found on the aquarium map or in the list of exhibits/animals on the side of the map. Is the aquarium planning to phase it out or is Seal Shores simply an afterthought?
OVERALL:
Adventure Aquarium is certainly one of the premier aquariums in the United States and it would almost certainly make my top dozen in the nation. Shark Realm, Ocean Realm, West African River Experience and KidZone are all superb, and in terms of children’s facilities it is outstanding and if it was not so overwhelmingly busy on a jam-packed Saturday then we would have probably stayed at least another hour just in the kiddie section. The outdoor zone is terrible in comparison to aquariums with superb marine mammal outdoor areas (Mystic, Vancouver, New York, etc.) and one issue that Adventure Aquarium has is that there is simply not enough to see. After 2.5 hours it is easy enough to view it all, and the individuals without young children would probably walk through KidZone in less than 10-15 minutes. We met one family of 4 that consisted of a dad, mom and two kids about 10 years in age. They spent $84 in entrance fees, $12 for the 4-D show, and then $32 on lunch for a grand total of $128 and they were done in less than 3 hours. That is an expensive few hours for a family, particularly in these tough economic times. For those that live in the area Adventure Aquarium is a great deal in terms of purchasing a yearly membership as without a doubt it is one of the better aquatic facilities in the nation.
Looks like they'll probably renovate the exhibits for penguins and seals in the future.
mweb08
Well-Known Member
This is one reason why I prefer zoos to aquariums. Just about every good aquarium I have been to has cost $20+ and can be seen within 3 hours.
DAY 21: Sunday, July 22nd, 2012
Road Trip Review # 21: Virginia Aquarium
Virginia Aquarium’s website:
Home ~ Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center
Aquarium Map:
http://www.virginiaaquarium.com/plan-your-visit/Documents/Virginia Aquarium Guest Guide.pdf
Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center is an AZA-accredited facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and it opened in 1986. There are 800,000 gallons of water at the aquarium, over 12,000 animals of 700 species, and the annual attendance is 650,000. There are two pavilions and rather curiously they are connected via a one-third mile Nature Trail that has many scenic outlooks into the neighbouring wetlands. The Bay & Ocean Pavilion is the larger, superior building and to be honest it was a pain having to walk to the Nature Trail on such a hot, humid day dealing with two little children along the way. Overall I was thoroughly impressed with Virginia Aquarium and we ended up spending 2.5 hours at the establishment. I’ll review it by placing the Bay & Ocean Pavilion in my “best” category and the Marsh Pavilion in my “average” category rather than dissecting the establishment into bits and pieces.
We spent 2.5 hours at Virginia Aquarium and then drove for about 30 minutes to spend a further 3 hours at Virginia Zoo in the afternoon. This review can be considered Part I of our Virginia experience.
THE BEST:
BAY & OCEAN PAVILION: (in order of a typical tour)
Harbor Seals – The aquarium has 5 male harbor seals that are located in an exhibit outside the front entrance, and after New England and Long Island this makes the 3rd facility that I’ve toured within a week that has harbor seals that can be viewed for free. I’m actually rather curious how the seals are monitored during the closed hours of the aquarium, as it seems to me that there is absolutely nothing stopping some drunken fools from tossing foreign objects into the pool.
Upland River – This is the first indoor exhibit that visitors view and it consists of a bullfrog tank and then a large marsh pool with tiered seating in a c-shape around it. There are 6 species of turtles in this exhibit (spotted, wood, musk, red-eared slider, eastern painted and eastern spiny softshell) plus 13 species of fish such as yellow perch, common shiner, green sunfish, white crappie, golden redhorse and bluespot sunfish. A small walk-through, forested aviary has these species: dark-eyed junco, yellow-rumped warbler, northern bobwhite quail, northern cardinal, gray catbird, Carolina wren, American goldfinch, American robin and tufted titmouse. This area serves as a pleasant introduction to the aquarium and it is serene and features fairly wide pathways.
Coastal River – An average-sized tank has minnow, darter, shiner and stoneroller while a very impressive, large tank that is perhaps 7 feet high and 25 feet long has Atlantic sturgeon, longnose gar, black crappie, white perch, bowfin and diamondback terrapins among other species. Chesapeake Bay Exhibits around the corner is sort of museum-like in its presentation as there is analysis of water quality, sediment quantity and other fascinating facts about the Chesapeake Bay area. There is also a Scenic Overlook at this point that allows visitors to take a short stroll outdoors to view the forest and wetlands.
Restless Planet – This area opened in 2009 and was a $25 million addition to what was already a very good aquarium. The stars of the show here (and in fact the entire facility) are two Komodo dragons in side-by-side habitats that are spacious and full of naturalistic elements. The enclosure for the male lizard has a series of glass windows at the rear of the exhibit so the lizard actually has a spectacular view of the nearby water and forested region. Indonesian finches (7 species) flit above the heads of the huge dragons and there is a pop-up bubble that is enormously popular with visitors. There are actually 3 Komodo dragons and one of them is always off-exhibit while two others rotate through the pair of habitats.
The rest of the Restless Planet area has a short walk-through tunnel with brightly-painted coral in the Red Sea habitat that has zebra sharks and spotted eagle rays (rarely exhibited animals) as the largest inhabitants; a Coral Reef tank that is smaller but no less densely packed with colourful fish; a tank with short-snouted seahorses, long-snouted seahorses and pipefish; fat-tailed scorpions that glow green in the dark; Algerian hedgehogs; an Egyptian cobra; common cuttlefish and another tropical fish tank. A nicely-darkened tomistoma habitat is spacious for the large crocodilian inside and a delight to view; a rarely exhibited Macklott’s water python has a small terrarium; snakehead fish are in a mid-sized tank; and a Malaysian giant pond turtle is surrounded by freshwater fish in its own pool.
Science Shack Zulu, Conservation Station and Science Shack Alpha are 3 rooms that jut out from the main pathway and there are zero animals in the Science Shacks and only 3 terrariums in the Conservation Station with these species: tokay gecko, Malaysian stick insect and Egyptian uromastyx. These rooms have many rocks, minerals, hands-on interactive zones for kids and other odds n’ sods.
Ocean & Sea Turtle Exhibits – A long, narrow Wave Tank is a massive hit with kids as if you push a button a machine churns the water into a wave-like motion; a large tank has Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead and green sea turtles as well as lookdown fish, goliath grouper, cobia, permit, Atlantic spadefish and tripletail. A large portion of this section of the aquarium has skeletons, fossils, diagrams, graphics and a variety of information presented in a museum-like fashion with very little in the way of living animal habitats. The “Science Center” part of the Virginia Aquarium name is more than relevant in this zone of the facility.
Just beyond the Ocean & Sea Turtle Exhibits are tanks for these species: moon jellyfish, stinging nettle, American lobster, Jonah crab, rock crab, star coral, lionfish, Atlantic octopus, chain dogfish and deep sea isopods.
Sharks – Naturally a massive shark tank is required and yet again I came across sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, blacktip sharks and a variety of smaller fish in a huge tank. Tiered layers lead down to the exhibit, a submersible submarine is awesome for kids as there are loads of buttons and gadgets to operate, and the darkened environment makes the looming sharks appear to glide menacingly out of the blackness.
Chesapeake Bay – A touch tank is at the end of this long, narrow exhibit and there is a large number of fish that are found directly off the Virginia coastline. At first glance it seems as if the long, dark visitor tunnel goes past a series of tanks but in actuality it is one mammoth habitat with quite a variety of fish. Around the corner is another touch tank, and it is a much larger one with stingrays to pet.
THE AVERAGE:
MARSH PAVILION:
River Otters – A single young otter had a large pool all to itself and there are massive viewing windows and carpeted, tiered seating that comes in handy after the 3-block walk from the Bay & Ocean Pavilion to the Marsh Pavilion. Near to the otter habitat are a series of stuffed mammals in cases, a Native American Exhibits section, and a Bird Exhibits area with taxidermy specimens and a diorama of a Decoy Carving shop.
Walk-Through Aviary – This is a half-acre habitat that has a wooden boardwalk that winds through a heavily shaded area. Cattle egrets were out in droves but it was difficult to spot many other birds in what seemed like a large, half-empty aviary. A woodpecker had a cage to itself, as did a great horned owl, but overall this aviary has a lot of unfulfilled potential. Apparently there are over 70 birds of 30 different species (according to the aquarium’s website) but I saw probably 20 egrets so I’m not confident in those quoted numbers.
Marsh Exhibits – The rest of this pavilion is filled with exhibits for smaller creatures, and the list of species includes: blue crab, Atlantic silverside, striped killifish, mummichog (those 4 all in one exhibit); skilletfish, feather blenny and striped blenny together; lined seahorse, northern pipefish, oyster toadfish, common snapping turtle, northern water snake, northern diamondback terrapin, red-jointed fiddler crab, sand fiddler crab, mud fiddler crab and horseshoe crab.
Many of the Marsh exhibits are typical terrariums that are found in many zoos and aquariums, and additional species that I saw include: green treefrog, barking treefrog, gray treefrog, squirrel treefrog and fowler’s toad all together in a tall exhibit; copperhead snake, eastern cottonmouth, canebrake rattlesnake, broad-headed skink, five-lined skink, hispid cotton rat, eastern garter snake, eastern rat snake and eastern box turtle. There is a Macro-Marsh area that features giant-sized marsh inhabitants that primarily appeal to children, and a desk with all types of skeletons and bones on it for visitors to touch.
THE WORST:
Layout – The 3-block Nature Trail that divides the two pavilions sounds pretty cool in theory, but on a scorching hot, humid day it was not pleasant with two young children and a wife who had visited 21 different zoos and aquariums in 21 days. Several other aquariums have different sections to them, but never so far apart! We never bring a stroller into the aquarium and thus it meant one of us carrying a tired two-year-old and the other having a sleeping one-year-old in a baby carrier and by the time we reached the next pavilion our arms had fallen asleep and sweat was beginning to pile up on our brows. In hindsight we should have driven to the next pavilion but that would have meant going out to the car, getting the kids all buckled into their car seats, then driving for 2 minutes and unbuckling them and hauling them back inside where there is air-conditioning. The 3-block walk in the woods (including an observation tower that I climbed) is great for a cool day or for adults without kids but it was a major challenge with our children. In the end I walked back alone and drove the vehicle to the second pavilion to pick up the family.
Also, in the Bay & Ocean Pavilion once visitors see the sharks they have to back-track past several different areas, along the long corridor with the wave machine, and around the stingray touch tank and back in the same direction that has already been journeyed. Doing this invariably means that visitors are going in both directions and crowd congestion becomes an issue.
OVERALL:
Virginia Aquarium is well worth visiting, and even with its layout issues and over-reliance on museum-style exhibits (which I enjoyed but many folks completely skipped in their search for living animals) it is an enjoyable, mid-sized aquarium that is worth spending 2.5 hours at. The Bay & Ocean Pavilion is for the most part superb, with scarcely a poor enclosure to be seen, but the Nature Trail builds up the suspense for an ultimately smaller, less impressive Marsh Building structure that fails to live up to expectations. Once the otters and birds are viewed then there is essentially one large room full of exhibits and that building takes much less time to see. I would sum up Virginia Aquarium by stating that it is a very good aquarium but still a far cry from being a truly great establishment.
Road Trip Review # 21: Virginia Aquarium
Virginia Aquarium’s website:
Home ~ Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center
Aquarium Map:
http://www.virginiaaquarium.com/plan-your-visit/Documents/Virginia Aquarium Guest Guide.pdf
Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center is an AZA-accredited facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and it opened in 1986. There are 800,000 gallons of water at the aquarium, over 12,000 animals of 700 species, and the annual attendance is 650,000. There are two pavilions and rather curiously they are connected via a one-third mile Nature Trail that has many scenic outlooks into the neighbouring wetlands. The Bay & Ocean Pavilion is the larger, superior building and to be honest it was a pain having to walk to the Nature Trail on such a hot, humid day dealing with two little children along the way. Overall I was thoroughly impressed with Virginia Aquarium and we ended up spending 2.5 hours at the establishment. I’ll review it by placing the Bay & Ocean Pavilion in my “best” category and the Marsh Pavilion in my “average” category rather than dissecting the establishment into bits and pieces.
We spent 2.5 hours at Virginia Aquarium and then drove for about 30 minutes to spend a further 3 hours at Virginia Zoo in the afternoon. This review can be considered Part I of our Virginia experience.
THE BEST:
BAY & OCEAN PAVILION: (in order of a typical tour)
Harbor Seals – The aquarium has 5 male harbor seals that are located in an exhibit outside the front entrance, and after New England and Long Island this makes the 3rd facility that I’ve toured within a week that has harbor seals that can be viewed for free. I’m actually rather curious how the seals are monitored during the closed hours of the aquarium, as it seems to me that there is absolutely nothing stopping some drunken fools from tossing foreign objects into the pool.
Upland River – This is the first indoor exhibit that visitors view and it consists of a bullfrog tank and then a large marsh pool with tiered seating in a c-shape around it. There are 6 species of turtles in this exhibit (spotted, wood, musk, red-eared slider, eastern painted and eastern spiny softshell) plus 13 species of fish such as yellow perch, common shiner, green sunfish, white crappie, golden redhorse and bluespot sunfish. A small walk-through, forested aviary has these species: dark-eyed junco, yellow-rumped warbler, northern bobwhite quail, northern cardinal, gray catbird, Carolina wren, American goldfinch, American robin and tufted titmouse. This area serves as a pleasant introduction to the aquarium and it is serene and features fairly wide pathways.
Coastal River – An average-sized tank has minnow, darter, shiner and stoneroller while a very impressive, large tank that is perhaps 7 feet high and 25 feet long has Atlantic sturgeon, longnose gar, black crappie, white perch, bowfin and diamondback terrapins among other species. Chesapeake Bay Exhibits around the corner is sort of museum-like in its presentation as there is analysis of water quality, sediment quantity and other fascinating facts about the Chesapeake Bay area. There is also a Scenic Overlook at this point that allows visitors to take a short stroll outdoors to view the forest and wetlands.
Restless Planet – This area opened in 2009 and was a $25 million addition to what was already a very good aquarium. The stars of the show here (and in fact the entire facility) are two Komodo dragons in side-by-side habitats that are spacious and full of naturalistic elements. The enclosure for the male lizard has a series of glass windows at the rear of the exhibit so the lizard actually has a spectacular view of the nearby water and forested region. Indonesian finches (7 species) flit above the heads of the huge dragons and there is a pop-up bubble that is enormously popular with visitors. There are actually 3 Komodo dragons and one of them is always off-exhibit while two others rotate through the pair of habitats.
The rest of the Restless Planet area has a short walk-through tunnel with brightly-painted coral in the Red Sea habitat that has zebra sharks and spotted eagle rays (rarely exhibited animals) as the largest inhabitants; a Coral Reef tank that is smaller but no less densely packed with colourful fish; a tank with short-snouted seahorses, long-snouted seahorses and pipefish; fat-tailed scorpions that glow green in the dark; Algerian hedgehogs; an Egyptian cobra; common cuttlefish and another tropical fish tank. A nicely-darkened tomistoma habitat is spacious for the large crocodilian inside and a delight to view; a rarely exhibited Macklott’s water python has a small terrarium; snakehead fish are in a mid-sized tank; and a Malaysian giant pond turtle is surrounded by freshwater fish in its own pool.
Science Shack Zulu, Conservation Station and Science Shack Alpha are 3 rooms that jut out from the main pathway and there are zero animals in the Science Shacks and only 3 terrariums in the Conservation Station with these species: tokay gecko, Malaysian stick insect and Egyptian uromastyx. These rooms have many rocks, minerals, hands-on interactive zones for kids and other odds n’ sods.
Ocean & Sea Turtle Exhibits – A long, narrow Wave Tank is a massive hit with kids as if you push a button a machine churns the water into a wave-like motion; a large tank has Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead and green sea turtles as well as lookdown fish, goliath grouper, cobia, permit, Atlantic spadefish and tripletail. A large portion of this section of the aquarium has skeletons, fossils, diagrams, graphics and a variety of information presented in a museum-like fashion with very little in the way of living animal habitats. The “Science Center” part of the Virginia Aquarium name is more than relevant in this zone of the facility.
Just beyond the Ocean & Sea Turtle Exhibits are tanks for these species: moon jellyfish, stinging nettle, American lobster, Jonah crab, rock crab, star coral, lionfish, Atlantic octopus, chain dogfish and deep sea isopods.
Sharks – Naturally a massive shark tank is required and yet again I came across sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, blacktip sharks and a variety of smaller fish in a huge tank. Tiered layers lead down to the exhibit, a submersible submarine is awesome for kids as there are loads of buttons and gadgets to operate, and the darkened environment makes the looming sharks appear to glide menacingly out of the blackness.
Chesapeake Bay – A touch tank is at the end of this long, narrow exhibit and there is a large number of fish that are found directly off the Virginia coastline. At first glance it seems as if the long, dark visitor tunnel goes past a series of tanks but in actuality it is one mammoth habitat with quite a variety of fish. Around the corner is another touch tank, and it is a much larger one with stingrays to pet.
THE AVERAGE:
MARSH PAVILION:
River Otters – A single young otter had a large pool all to itself and there are massive viewing windows and carpeted, tiered seating that comes in handy after the 3-block walk from the Bay & Ocean Pavilion to the Marsh Pavilion. Near to the otter habitat are a series of stuffed mammals in cases, a Native American Exhibits section, and a Bird Exhibits area with taxidermy specimens and a diorama of a Decoy Carving shop.
Walk-Through Aviary – This is a half-acre habitat that has a wooden boardwalk that winds through a heavily shaded area. Cattle egrets were out in droves but it was difficult to spot many other birds in what seemed like a large, half-empty aviary. A woodpecker had a cage to itself, as did a great horned owl, but overall this aviary has a lot of unfulfilled potential. Apparently there are over 70 birds of 30 different species (according to the aquarium’s website) but I saw probably 20 egrets so I’m not confident in those quoted numbers.
Marsh Exhibits – The rest of this pavilion is filled with exhibits for smaller creatures, and the list of species includes: blue crab, Atlantic silverside, striped killifish, mummichog (those 4 all in one exhibit); skilletfish, feather blenny and striped blenny together; lined seahorse, northern pipefish, oyster toadfish, common snapping turtle, northern water snake, northern diamondback terrapin, red-jointed fiddler crab, sand fiddler crab, mud fiddler crab and horseshoe crab.
Many of the Marsh exhibits are typical terrariums that are found in many zoos and aquariums, and additional species that I saw include: green treefrog, barking treefrog, gray treefrog, squirrel treefrog and fowler’s toad all together in a tall exhibit; copperhead snake, eastern cottonmouth, canebrake rattlesnake, broad-headed skink, five-lined skink, hispid cotton rat, eastern garter snake, eastern rat snake and eastern box turtle. There is a Macro-Marsh area that features giant-sized marsh inhabitants that primarily appeal to children, and a desk with all types of skeletons and bones on it for visitors to touch.
THE WORST:
Layout – The 3-block Nature Trail that divides the two pavilions sounds pretty cool in theory, but on a scorching hot, humid day it was not pleasant with two young children and a wife who had visited 21 different zoos and aquariums in 21 days. Several other aquariums have different sections to them, but never so far apart! We never bring a stroller into the aquarium and thus it meant one of us carrying a tired two-year-old and the other having a sleeping one-year-old in a baby carrier and by the time we reached the next pavilion our arms had fallen asleep and sweat was beginning to pile up on our brows. In hindsight we should have driven to the next pavilion but that would have meant going out to the car, getting the kids all buckled into their car seats, then driving for 2 minutes and unbuckling them and hauling them back inside where there is air-conditioning. The 3-block walk in the woods (including an observation tower that I climbed) is great for a cool day or for adults without kids but it was a major challenge with our children. In the end I walked back alone and drove the vehicle to the second pavilion to pick up the family.
Also, in the Bay & Ocean Pavilion once visitors see the sharks they have to back-track past several different areas, along the long corridor with the wave machine, and around the stingray touch tank and back in the same direction that has already been journeyed. Doing this invariably means that visitors are going in both directions and crowd congestion becomes an issue.
OVERALL:
Virginia Aquarium is well worth visiting, and even with its layout issues and over-reliance on museum-style exhibits (which I enjoyed but many folks completely skipped in their search for living animals) it is an enjoyable, mid-sized aquarium that is worth spending 2.5 hours at. The Bay & Ocean Pavilion is for the most part superb, with scarcely a poor enclosure to be seen, but the Nature Trail builds up the suspense for an ultimately smaller, less impressive Marsh Building structure that fails to live up to expectations. Once the otters and birds are viewed then there is essentially one large room full of exhibits and that building takes much less time to see. I would sum up Virginia Aquarium by stating that it is a very good aquarium but still a far cry from being a truly great establishment.
DAY 21: Sunday, July 22nd, 2012
Road Trip Review # 22: Virginia Zoo
Virginia Zoo’s website:
Virginia Zoo in Norfolk
Zoo Map:
http://www.virginiazoo.org/documents/20110913GateMap.pdf
Virginia Zoo is an AZA-accredited facility in Norwalk, Virginia, and it was founded in 1900 (when it was known as Lafayette Zoological Park). The zoo was first accredited in 1974 and is 53 acres in size. There are more than 400 animals of 115 species, and the annual attendance is around 450,000. There are 3 main areas with large spaces between them so there is not much to see as one strolls from the Asian zone to the African zone, and then back towards the entrance and the North America/Reptile House/Barnyard zone.
I was very impressed with Virginia Zoo as the new Asian section is superb, the African zone is also excellent, and the rest of the zoo features an extensive Small Mammals building (mainly a Reptile House) and a family barnyard/farm area. We spent a full 3 hours at the zoo on a blazing hot day and this is definitely a smaller zoo that is on the cusp of becoming a larger, great zoo. It joins establishments like Rosamond Gifford, The Living Desert and El Paso as establishments that are viewed as small but pack a lot of punch in the overall quality of their exhibits.
We spent 2.5 hours at Virginia Aquarium and then drove for about 30 minutes to spend a further 3 hours at Virginia Zoo in the afternoon. This review can be considered Part II of our Virginia experience.
THE BEST:
Asia: Trail of the Tiger – This area opened in 2011 and it is exceptional. Other than a few birds it is one large mammal after another in mainly top-quality habitats. The theme of the complex is excellent as there are 12 pagodas (the highest being 9 stories) and a tiger statue that graces the entrance. Siamangs have a fairly basic island but they are a great first exhibit simply for their energy levels. Orangutans have elementary climbing structures in a lush environment as well as viewing into their indoor area via a cave-like zone. One major downside to the orangutan exhibit is that there is one Bornean and one Sumatran ape and so the two will never be bred. Also, they apparently rarely go outside due to this being their very first outdoor exhibit that they’ve ever seen as they were each born in a zoo with no access to the outside. On the day before my visit it was a historic occasion as they both tentatively emerged from their indoor area for a few minutes. It seems a shame to have a large, grassy outdoor habitat with lots of climbing opportunities (as well as 46-feet of viewing windows for the public) sit unused for much of the time.
Sun bears are new arrivals in a grassy yard that is strewn with logs and looked down upon by visitors. The bears are from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and they were sent to Virginia because there is a theory that sun bears will not breed in captivity in cold climates. That was contained in the press release from the Seattle zoo, and since only San Diego has managed to breed sun bears in the United States then perhaps the warm weather is a factor. The red panda exhibit is magnificent simply because it gives the raccoon-like animals access to an enormous tree with plenty of long branches for climbing and sleeping. On my visit a red panda was perhaps 6 feet above my head and slumbering on a tree branch and one could make the case that it is just about the best red panda exhibit in any American zoo. They share their enclosure with Demoiselle cranes, and there is a Sarus crane exhibit directly across the wooden boardwalk that is looked down into from the boardwalk. The future binturong exhibit in the area also has a massive tree in it, and the red panda/binturong enclosures are similar to what Detroit Zoo has on offer for its animals as there is nothing stopping the mammals from reaching the highest branches of huge trees.
A pair of rhinoceros hornbills has a long, tall exhibit that must be one of the largest hornbill enclosures in any American zoo; the two Malayan tapirs also have a long, narrow yard that allows for close-up viewing and gives the giant mammals space to roam. Asiatic black bears (almost extinct in American zoos) have a solid yet unspectacular grassy yard with wooden climbing frames; Malayan tiger brothers have a superb habitat with a waterfall and a trickling stream as well as underwater viewing; and a white-cheeked gibbon/small-clawed otter exhibit has huge windows for underwater viewing and for visitors to watch the animals interact with each other on land. Having two species of gibbon, two species of bear, orangutans, tigers, otters, tapirs, red pandas and very soon binturongs makes this area a delight for a mammal lover, and hugely popular with every visitor that I saw during my tour. For the most part the exhibits are spacious and well-designed, and the red panda and binturong enclosures have enormous, full-grown trees that the animals have full access to. Virginia Zoo now has one of the best Asian sections of any zoo in the nation.
The 10 bird species found in Asia – Trail of the Tiger: rhinoceros hornbill, azure-winged magpie, crowned pigeon, chestnut-breasted malcoha, pied-imperial pigeon, bleeding heart dove, finch-billed bulbul, crested wood partridge, fairy blue bird and nicobar pigeon.
Africa: Okavango Delta – This 8-acre area opened in 2002 and is for the most part excellent. Many large, marquee mammals are included (elephants, rhinos, giraffes, lions) and the quality of exhibits is high. The entrance is a café and marketplace, with scenic vistas of a white rhinoceros/Grant’s zebra paddock. Visitors pass a number of differently-designed huts along the trail as red river hogs and mandrills enjoy naturalistic habitats. A huge bongo/African crowned crane yard is viewed from a high wooden boardwalk, and the tour leads around a Masai giraffe/ostrich/southern ground hornbill enclosure that is spacious and grassy. There is a blue-bellied roller aviary on the deck and then the boardwalk leads directly through a huge barn with hoofstock indoor viewing on the left and giraffe indoor viewing on the right.
Outside the African elephant yard is seen as one exits the barn, and there are two females that reside in a yard that is too small in the modern world of elephant habitats. I chatted with a worker and according to him the zoo is intent on maintaining African elephants and they obviously need to obtain another female to go along with the two that they currently have (both between 39 and 43 years of age) if the zoo wishes to remain AZA-accredited. The enclosure is not very large but it could possibly accommodate a third elephant as there are actually 4 stalls in the barn but the zoo has plans for only three elephants as they like to have a flex stall to shift the pachyderms around.
A grassy lion exhibit is another highlight of the Okavango Delta area, and the lions have a large set of rocks to lounge upon that must give them nice views of the surrounding savanna. A kopje zone has a number of smaller exhibits set into rockwork that have these species: pancake tortoise, blue-bellied roller, Taveta golden weaver, fennec fox, Oustalet’s chameleon, white-throated monitor, rock hyrax and meerkat. An Aldabra tortoise paddock finishes the tour.
Red Panda Paradise – This exhibit just opened in 2007 and is another terrific enclosure for red pandas to go with the outstanding one in the Asian zone. There is a little ladder that extends into two full-grown trees and the pandas have access to everything in sight.
THE AVERAGE:
Small Mammals Building/Reptile House – This structure begins with a Stanley crane/blue duiker yard that has a short glass wall about 3 feet high and the rest is open-topped viewing. A baby blue duiker was there on my visit and it was unbelievably cute and tiny. Squirrel monkeys and Goeldi’s monkeys have glass-fronted exhibits across from the cranes and duikers, before visitors enter a pair of doors and are plunged into a darkened environment that is part nocturnal house and mainly reptile house. Almost all of the terrariums are of average size and quality but the nocturnal section is quite well designed and extremely dark.
Species list (44 species): ocelot, armadillo, northern tree shrew (two exhibits), pygmy hedgehog tenrec, coendou, two-toed sloth, douroucouli, black tufted-ear marmoset, callimico monkey (Goeldi’s), timber rattlesnake, eastern cottonmouth, bamboo rat snake, northern pine snake, copperhead, Madagascan giant hognose snake, green tree python, carpet python, Angolan python, Arizona mountain kingsnake, eastern kingsnake, Madagascan tree boa, emerald tree boa, common boa constrictor, rough green snake, Standing’s day gecko, New Caledonian crested gecko, beaded lizard, emerald skink, eastern blue-tongue skink, Chinese crocodile lizard, Fiji banded iguana, eastern box turtle, axolotl, Rio Cauca caecilian, green-and-black poison dart frog, blue poison dart frog, splashback poison dart frog, milky tree frog, green tree frog, tomato frog, horned frog, southern toad, goliath bird-eating spider and Brazilian red-and-white tarantula.
North America – A small prairie dog exhibit is decent and it opened in 2004; and a large bison paddock and an open-topped bald eagle enclosure comprise this small section of the zoo. A kangaroo/emu yard (that opened in 2009) is north of this area but all alone and amongst ornamental gardens in a corner of the grounds.
Farm – The typical barnyard/farm area with pigs, goats, and everything else in between; no better or worse than most other farmyard zones in other zoos.
THE WORST:
There is nothing awful about this improving zoological park.
OVERALL:
Virginia Zoo took a massive step forward with the opening of 2011’s Asia – Trail of the Tiger and the zoo is now infinitely bigger and better than it was prior to the debut of the new precinct. With an amazing pair of continental complexes (Asia and Africa) that are for the most part top-notch, what is left of the zoo appears to be disappointing to many visitors. An Australian yard is hidden away from view, a North American section has only 3 exhibits, and the Small Mammals/Reptile House barely creeps into my “average” category as it comes across as being sterile and outdated in places. The zoo will hopefully maintain what it currently has and maybe in a couple of years focus on raising funds for a wonderful North or South American zone, as at the moment Virginia Zoo is one of the better small zoos in the United States and there is a lot of space for the addition of new habitats in the future.
Road Trip Review # 22: Virginia Zoo
Virginia Zoo’s website:
Virginia Zoo in Norfolk
Zoo Map:
http://www.virginiazoo.org/documents/20110913GateMap.pdf
Virginia Zoo is an AZA-accredited facility in Norwalk, Virginia, and it was founded in 1900 (when it was known as Lafayette Zoological Park). The zoo was first accredited in 1974 and is 53 acres in size. There are more than 400 animals of 115 species, and the annual attendance is around 450,000. There are 3 main areas with large spaces between them so there is not much to see as one strolls from the Asian zone to the African zone, and then back towards the entrance and the North America/Reptile House/Barnyard zone.
I was very impressed with Virginia Zoo as the new Asian section is superb, the African zone is also excellent, and the rest of the zoo features an extensive Small Mammals building (mainly a Reptile House) and a family barnyard/farm area. We spent a full 3 hours at the zoo on a blazing hot day and this is definitely a smaller zoo that is on the cusp of becoming a larger, great zoo. It joins establishments like Rosamond Gifford, The Living Desert and El Paso as establishments that are viewed as small but pack a lot of punch in the overall quality of their exhibits.
We spent 2.5 hours at Virginia Aquarium and then drove for about 30 minutes to spend a further 3 hours at Virginia Zoo in the afternoon. This review can be considered Part II of our Virginia experience.
THE BEST:
Asia: Trail of the Tiger – This area opened in 2011 and it is exceptional. Other than a few birds it is one large mammal after another in mainly top-quality habitats. The theme of the complex is excellent as there are 12 pagodas (the highest being 9 stories) and a tiger statue that graces the entrance. Siamangs have a fairly basic island but they are a great first exhibit simply for their energy levels. Orangutans have elementary climbing structures in a lush environment as well as viewing into their indoor area via a cave-like zone. One major downside to the orangutan exhibit is that there is one Bornean and one Sumatran ape and so the two will never be bred. Also, they apparently rarely go outside due to this being their very first outdoor exhibit that they’ve ever seen as they were each born in a zoo with no access to the outside. On the day before my visit it was a historic occasion as they both tentatively emerged from their indoor area for a few minutes. It seems a shame to have a large, grassy outdoor habitat with lots of climbing opportunities (as well as 46-feet of viewing windows for the public) sit unused for much of the time.
Sun bears are new arrivals in a grassy yard that is strewn with logs and looked down upon by visitors. The bears are from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and they were sent to Virginia because there is a theory that sun bears will not breed in captivity in cold climates. That was contained in the press release from the Seattle zoo, and since only San Diego has managed to breed sun bears in the United States then perhaps the warm weather is a factor. The red panda exhibit is magnificent simply because it gives the raccoon-like animals access to an enormous tree with plenty of long branches for climbing and sleeping. On my visit a red panda was perhaps 6 feet above my head and slumbering on a tree branch and one could make the case that it is just about the best red panda exhibit in any American zoo. They share their enclosure with Demoiselle cranes, and there is a Sarus crane exhibit directly across the wooden boardwalk that is looked down into from the boardwalk. The future binturong exhibit in the area also has a massive tree in it, and the red panda/binturong enclosures are similar to what Detroit Zoo has on offer for its animals as there is nothing stopping the mammals from reaching the highest branches of huge trees.
A pair of rhinoceros hornbills has a long, tall exhibit that must be one of the largest hornbill enclosures in any American zoo; the two Malayan tapirs also have a long, narrow yard that allows for close-up viewing and gives the giant mammals space to roam. Asiatic black bears (almost extinct in American zoos) have a solid yet unspectacular grassy yard with wooden climbing frames; Malayan tiger brothers have a superb habitat with a waterfall and a trickling stream as well as underwater viewing; and a white-cheeked gibbon/small-clawed otter exhibit has huge windows for underwater viewing and for visitors to watch the animals interact with each other on land. Having two species of gibbon, two species of bear, orangutans, tigers, otters, tapirs, red pandas and very soon binturongs makes this area a delight for a mammal lover, and hugely popular with every visitor that I saw during my tour. For the most part the exhibits are spacious and well-designed, and the red panda and binturong enclosures have enormous, full-grown trees that the animals have full access to. Virginia Zoo now has one of the best Asian sections of any zoo in the nation.
The 10 bird species found in Asia – Trail of the Tiger: rhinoceros hornbill, azure-winged magpie, crowned pigeon, chestnut-breasted malcoha, pied-imperial pigeon, bleeding heart dove, finch-billed bulbul, crested wood partridge, fairy blue bird and nicobar pigeon.
Africa: Okavango Delta – This 8-acre area opened in 2002 and is for the most part excellent. Many large, marquee mammals are included (elephants, rhinos, giraffes, lions) and the quality of exhibits is high. The entrance is a café and marketplace, with scenic vistas of a white rhinoceros/Grant’s zebra paddock. Visitors pass a number of differently-designed huts along the trail as red river hogs and mandrills enjoy naturalistic habitats. A huge bongo/African crowned crane yard is viewed from a high wooden boardwalk, and the tour leads around a Masai giraffe/ostrich/southern ground hornbill enclosure that is spacious and grassy. There is a blue-bellied roller aviary on the deck and then the boardwalk leads directly through a huge barn with hoofstock indoor viewing on the left and giraffe indoor viewing on the right.
Outside the African elephant yard is seen as one exits the barn, and there are two females that reside in a yard that is too small in the modern world of elephant habitats. I chatted with a worker and according to him the zoo is intent on maintaining African elephants and they obviously need to obtain another female to go along with the two that they currently have (both between 39 and 43 years of age) if the zoo wishes to remain AZA-accredited. The enclosure is not very large but it could possibly accommodate a third elephant as there are actually 4 stalls in the barn but the zoo has plans for only three elephants as they like to have a flex stall to shift the pachyderms around.
A grassy lion exhibit is another highlight of the Okavango Delta area, and the lions have a large set of rocks to lounge upon that must give them nice views of the surrounding savanna. A kopje zone has a number of smaller exhibits set into rockwork that have these species: pancake tortoise, blue-bellied roller, Taveta golden weaver, fennec fox, Oustalet’s chameleon, white-throated monitor, rock hyrax and meerkat. An Aldabra tortoise paddock finishes the tour.
Red Panda Paradise – This exhibit just opened in 2007 and is another terrific enclosure for red pandas to go with the outstanding one in the Asian zone. There is a little ladder that extends into two full-grown trees and the pandas have access to everything in sight.
THE AVERAGE:
Small Mammals Building/Reptile House – This structure begins with a Stanley crane/blue duiker yard that has a short glass wall about 3 feet high and the rest is open-topped viewing. A baby blue duiker was there on my visit and it was unbelievably cute and tiny. Squirrel monkeys and Goeldi’s monkeys have glass-fronted exhibits across from the cranes and duikers, before visitors enter a pair of doors and are plunged into a darkened environment that is part nocturnal house and mainly reptile house. Almost all of the terrariums are of average size and quality but the nocturnal section is quite well designed and extremely dark.
Species list (44 species): ocelot, armadillo, northern tree shrew (two exhibits), pygmy hedgehog tenrec, coendou, two-toed sloth, douroucouli, black tufted-ear marmoset, callimico monkey (Goeldi’s), timber rattlesnake, eastern cottonmouth, bamboo rat snake, northern pine snake, copperhead, Madagascan giant hognose snake, green tree python, carpet python, Angolan python, Arizona mountain kingsnake, eastern kingsnake, Madagascan tree boa, emerald tree boa, common boa constrictor, rough green snake, Standing’s day gecko, New Caledonian crested gecko, beaded lizard, emerald skink, eastern blue-tongue skink, Chinese crocodile lizard, Fiji banded iguana, eastern box turtle, axolotl, Rio Cauca caecilian, green-and-black poison dart frog, blue poison dart frog, splashback poison dart frog, milky tree frog, green tree frog, tomato frog, horned frog, southern toad, goliath bird-eating spider and Brazilian red-and-white tarantula.
North America – A small prairie dog exhibit is decent and it opened in 2004; and a large bison paddock and an open-topped bald eagle enclosure comprise this small section of the zoo. A kangaroo/emu yard (that opened in 2009) is north of this area but all alone and amongst ornamental gardens in a corner of the grounds.
Farm – The typical barnyard/farm area with pigs, goats, and everything else in between; no better or worse than most other farmyard zones in other zoos.
THE WORST:
There is nothing awful about this improving zoological park.
OVERALL:
Virginia Zoo took a massive step forward with the opening of 2011’s Asia – Trail of the Tiger and the zoo is now infinitely bigger and better than it was prior to the debut of the new precinct. With an amazing pair of continental complexes (Asia and Africa) that are for the most part top-notch, what is left of the zoo appears to be disappointing to many visitors. An Australian yard is hidden away from view, a North American section has only 3 exhibits, and the Small Mammals/Reptile House barely creeps into my “average” category as it comes across as being sterile and outdated in places. The zoo will hopefully maintain what it currently has and maybe in a couple of years focus on raising funds for a wonderful North or South American zone, as at the moment Virginia Zoo is one of the better small zoos in the United States and there is a lot of space for the addition of new habitats in the future.
mweb08
Well-Known Member
I agree that the VA Zoo is quite good as it has 2 very good exhibit complexes. I'm surprised, though that you didn't critique some elements of Trail of the Tiger more such as the chain link fences and the children's play set in the otter exhibit if it's still in there.
Do they still have the small black cages in between the Australia exhibits and N. America exhibits? I expected to see them in your worst section.
Do they still have the small black cages in between the Australia exhibits and N. America exhibits? I expected to see them in your worst section.