Newport Aquarium
39°05′40″N 84°29′51″W / 39.0943725°N 84.4975877°W / 39.0943725; -84.4975877
Date openedMay 1, 1999[1]
LocationNewport, Kentucky, U.S.
No. of animals20,000
No. of species90+
Total volume of tanks1,000,000 US gal (3,800,000 L)
MembershipsAZA[2]
Major exhibits12
OwnerHerschend Family Entertainment
Public transit accessBus interchange TANK
Websitewww.newportaquarium.com

The Newport Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Newport, Kentucky, United States at Newport on the Levee. It has 70 exhibits and 14 galleries, 1,000,000 US gal (3,800,000 L) of water, including five acrylic tunnels totaling over 200 ft (61 metres) in length. It is the first aquarium to have had success in breeding shark rays.[3] It also has a collection of alligators, including albino alligators.

Newport Aquarium is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.[4] The Newport Aquarium is part of Herschend Family Entertainment, a for-profit company.[5]

Exhibits

The underwater tunnel

Gator Alley is home to a pair of albino American alligator, among other reptiles.

Amazon includes arapaima, pacu, redtail catfish, silver arowana, black arowana, long-tailed river stingray, and perch.

Shark Central lets visitors pet species of sharks including lesser guitarfish, pyjama shark, Port Jackson shark, leopard shark, small-spotted catshark, crested bullhead shark, spotted gully shark (sharptooth houndshark).

Kroger Penguin Palooza includes king penguin, Inca tern, chinstrap penguin, gentoo penguin, macaroni penguin and rockhopper penguin.

Ring of Fire is a gallery which focuses on certain species that inhabit the Ring of Fire region in the Pacific Ocean. This gallery features giant pacific octopus, Japanese spider crab, moon jellyfish, longspine snipefish, and pinecone fish.

Frog Bog includes green tree frog, American bullfrog, African clawed frog, red-eyed tree frog, gray tree frog, cane toad, tomato frog, and other frog and toad species.

Dangerous and Deadly includes Gila monster, red lionfish, pinecone fish, electric eel, Gaboon viper, spotted wobbegong, stonefish, redeye piranha, whitespotted bamboo shark, tentacled snake, white-blotched river stingray and a cottonmouth (water moccasin).

Seahorses: Unbridled Fun includes six-line wrasse, splendid garden eel, spotted garden-eel, Barbour's seahorse, many-banded pipefish, trumpetfish, whitespotted surgeonfish, opossum pipefish, longspine snipefish, big-bellied seahorse, ribboned sea dragon, razorfish, dwarf seahorse, flame angelfish, Hawaiian reef lobster, and a group of paddlefish.

Surrounded by Sharks includes bowmouth guitarfish (shark ray), sand tiger shark, sandbar shark, scalloped hammerhead shark, whitetip reef shark, blacktip reef shark, nurse shark, zebra shark, southern stingray, Nassau grouper, giant grouper, reticulate whipray also known as the honeycomb stingray, and Denver the loggerhead sea turtle.

Coral Reef includes honeycomb moray, unicorn fish, cownose ray, blue tang, powderblue tang, yellow tang, humphead wrasse and bonnethead.

Shark Ray breeding program

The shark ray breeding program is one of the first of its kind, with two sharks having produced offspring.[3] However, the process is difficult due to the tendency of shark rays to engage in rough copulation, which previously resulted in the death of one of the females.[6] Currently, the aquarium has four adult shark rays on exhibit.

Outreach programs

Mobile Shark Cart is a mobile cart that is taken offsite to bring awareness to shark conservation.[7]

WAVE program is a program that promotes the importance of ocean conservation, leadership, and STEM to youth. Individuals can go behind the scenes with a staff member and see how the aquarium works and learn about the conservation programs and species at the aquarium.[8]

Seasonal events

Mermaid's Cove is an interactive event in which guests see and talk to mermaids about ocean conservation in the Shark Ray Bay Theater and Coral Reef tank. This event is normally scheduled during September.[9]

Scuba Santa appears between the end of November through January 1 each year, excluding Christmas Day. He can be seen in the shark tank with his elves.[10]

Albino alligators

Albino alligators, Snowflake and Snowball, returned to Newport in 2014. They are about six feet long and weigh between 65 and 85 pounds. There are fewer than 100 albino alligators known in the world today.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "The making of an aquarium". enquirer.com. The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved December 26, 2006.
  2. ↑ "Currently Accredited Zoos and Aquariums". aza.org. AZA. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Aww: Newport Aquarium has shark ray pups". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  4. ↑ "Newport Aquarium". Retrieved December 26, 2006.
  5. ↑ "Our Businesses". www.hfecorp.com. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  6. ↑ "Mating injury kills Kentucky aquarium's shark ray". USA Today. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  7. ↑ Charlson, Christine (2016-09-17). "Can't get to Newport? The aquarium will now bring its sharks to you". WCPO. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
  8. ↑ "About Us". Aquarium Works. 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  9. ↑ Staff, WLWT Digital (2018-09-19). "Mermaids swim their way back to Newport Aquarium". WLWT. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
  10. ↑ "Scuba Santa back at Newport Aquarium". WLWT. 2012-11-17. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
  11. ↑ "Albino alligators return to Newport Aquarium". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
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