Georgia Aquarium

In November 2001, Bernard Marcus announced his vision of presenting Atlanta with an aquarium that would encourage both education and economic growth. After visiting 56 aquariums in 13 countries with his wife, Billi Marcus, he donated $250 million toward what was to become Georgia Aquarium. Corporate contributions totaling an additional $40 million allowed the aquarium to open debt-free.

Founding president and executive director of the aquarium, Jeff Swanagan, was brought in as the aquarium's first employee in 2002 and served until 2008. He is largely credited with the creation of the aquarium, from the design of the structure to the procurement of animals for the exhibits.

The aquarium is in Downtown Atlanta on land donated by The Coca-Cola Company, adjacent to Atlantic Station and just north of Centennial Olympic Park. It has a blue metal-and-glass exterior. The world's largest when it opened in November 2005, the aquarium originally encompassed 550,000 square feet (5.1 ha; 13 acres) of covered space, and its exhibits held 8 million US gallons (30,000,000 L) of fresh and saltwater. Subsequent additions to the collection and redesigns of some habitats have increased the total water held to 11 million US gallons (42,000,000 L). 20,000 pounds (9,100 kilograms) of frozen food for the animals on exhibit is kept hidden from visitors in a stainless steel commissary at −20 °F (−29 °C).

After 27 months of construction, the aquarium opened with 60 animal habitats. Though the non-profit aquarium's admission charges are among the highest in the United States, attendance has far exceeded expectations, with 1 million visitors in the first 100 days, 3 million by August 2006, 5 million by May 2007, and 10 million by June 2009. The Aquarium is part of the Smithsonian Affiliations program and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

In 2019, the show The Aquarium premiered on Animal Planet, documenting animal care and conservation work at the Georgia Aquarium. The show spotlighted various aquarium residents including a whale shark named Yushan, a sea turtle named Tank, and a penguin named Charlie. After the show ended following a two-season, twenty-episode run, Discovery+ began streaming the series, and the Georgia Aquarium subsequently partnered with the service to produce more content about animal experiences and conservation.

Research and conservation

According to founder Bernard Marcus, the aquarium's conservation and environmental mission are equal in importance to its role as an attraction. Before opening, the aquarium was already working with Georgia Tech and Georgia State University in Atlanta and the University of Georgia in Athens to help save endangered species through education and research programs.

The acquisition of the male beluga whales, previously suffering in an inadequate environment, was hailed by Marcus as a prime example of the type of conservation activities the aquarium should be involved with. Roughly 100 tarpons stranded in a tidal pool at Skidaway Island, off the Georgia coast, were rescued for the collection. Coral used in exhibits at the Aquarium is grown in a collaboration between Georgia Tech and the University of the South Pacific, produced by suspending blocks of pumice over a reef near the village of Tagaqe, Fiji for eight months to allow seaweeds and reef invertebrates to establish colonies.

As of 2016, the Georgia Aquarium stated that it would not be taking whales or dolphins that have been caught in the wild.

In 2019, the Georgia Aquarium began participating in a coral project in conjunction with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and other AZA-accredited facilities. In an effort to save coral from a coral-bleaching disease in the Florida Keys, Georgia Aquarium is housing multiple species of coral at their facility. During the same year, the aquarium temporarily provided housing for the sea turtles of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, which were evacuated ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

Incidents

Suicide

In February 2015, the new vice president José Luis Barbero died by suicide after a campaign alleging mistreatment of dolphins during his service as trainer in Marineland Mallorca.

Attempted import

In 2015, the aquarium applied to import 18 belugas from Russia; it had previously placed an order for their capture and planned to send them on breeding loans to partnered parks such as Shedd Aquarium and SeaWorld, though SeaWorld ultimately opted out of the agreement. However, the permit was denied by the National Marine Fisheries Service, prompting Georgia Aquarium to sue. In September 2015, a federal district court ruled that "Georgia Aquarium failed to demonstrate that its permit would not result in the taking of additional animals beyond those authorized by the permit", and that the denial would stand.