Virginia Aquarium Virginia Aquarium

4 Loggerhead Sea Turtle hatchlings are now on exhibit in the Sea Turtle Nursery.
I also thought that it'd be interesting to note that this aquarium houses at least one Osprey, a species rarely found in captivity.
 
Yesterday, Jude, our female Komodo dragon, underwent emergency surgery. Doctors needed to remove her reproductive organs due to ruptured follicles and yolk coelomitis, a condition that can be fatal in reptiles. Thankfully, she made it through the surgery successfully, and we're cautiously optimistic about her recovery. We're not out of the woods yet, but we're so happy that she's recuperating here with our team. #GetWellJude
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Aquarium's Facebook.
 
It's never easy to share this type of news. For the past two months, we have been caring for Jude around the clock. She made it through surgery, but was not out of the woods yet. We knew it would be a tough road, but Jude was a tough Komodo. Unfortunately, it was just too much. Late yesterday, Jude was humanely euthanized. We were so hopeful for her recovery, but despite our team's best efforts, complications from her original condition, egg yolk coelomitis, caused her health to continue to decline, and we had to say goodbye to sweet Jude.
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Aquarium's Facebook.
 
The Virginia Aquarium's South Building is undergoing a major renovation, resulting in its closure and reopening in 2021.

Blog ~ Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center

I copied and pasted this excerpt from the link below:

When the South Building reopens in 2021, here's what you can expect:

  • Explore the Jelly Gallery sponsored by the Dreyfus Family featuring dramatic displays of live jellies from around the world.
  • Investigate the unique adaptations of marine creatures in the Undersea Super Powers Gallery sponsored by the Brock Family, which will feature a giant Pacific octopus aquarium and an Indo-Pacific invertebrate touch pool.
  • Take your toddler to a new Toddler Play Area featuring favorite age-appropriate activities themed around the ocean, science, and nature.
  • Watch the otters frolicking in their pool while enjoying lunch or a snack in a new Café.
  • Go outside to explore the Watershed Exhibit sponsored by Jane Batten, a hands-on area with water experiments, pollution solution activities, and marine scientist role play and to play in the Otter Den, where you can try the otter slide and climb into a den to peek inside the otter habitat.


In addition, we are adding a new Vet Center connected to the South Building that will house the staff and facilities needed to care for our animals. You'll get a glimpse into our behind-the-scenes work here in the Windows into Conservation Gallery. In this gallery, observe vet staff examining animals in a treatment room, watch our chemists at work in the water quality lab, and see some of the animals that we raise as part of conservation research projects. For our young guests, there will be a space to role play as a wildlife vet and a field biologist.

It's going to be an exciting few years, and we hope you'll continue to join us on this journey!
 
geomorph said:
How timely, just when I'm starting to look at a possible trip to that area to see it for the first time, they close one of their buildings! I hope its a good project.
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I think the South building barely have any animals. Just otters, a few raptors, reptiles, and fish.
 
drill said:
I think the South building barely have any animals. Just otters, a few raptors, reptiles, and fish.
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Here is my review (from 2012) of the South Building and adjacent aviary:

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.
 
snowleopard said:
Here is my review (from 2012) of the South Building and adjacent aviary:

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.
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Hurricane Sandy destroyed the aviary.
 
I'm looking forward to the marsh pavilion opening. The seal and sea lion exhibit sounds interesting. Right now you can visit the seals without entering the aquarium, which I love; it's enough to make me wish I lived there, so I could visit them often.
 
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