North Carolina Aquarium - Fort Fisher - NC Aquarium

Join our instructors for a personalized exploration of the recently expanded North Carolina Aquarium. Now 84,000 square feet of "Waters of the Cape Fear Coast. We will journey from fresh water rivers and swamps to saltwater marshes and onto barrier islands to reefs and the open waters of the Atlantic. View and discuss the 200,000-gallon Ocean Aquarium that will include two-story, multi-level viewing of large sharks, groupers, barracudas, and loggerhead turtles swimming around re-created Cape Fear rock ledges.

In our journey through the North Carolina Aquarium we will discuss the Freshwater Rivers and Swamps Habitats, a tree-filled atrium populated with cypress and hardwood trees. Streams, ponds and swamps will be home to frogs, snakes, turtles, bass, catfish and perch. An Alligator Habitat will showcase the large American Alligators which are native to North Carolina.

A wave tank, which simulates the surf meeting the shore, will be the highlight of the Sandy Surf Zone. The exhibit will demonstrate how the creatures of the surf and shore adapt to the constant surges.

The North Carolina Aquarium Rocky Outcrop Touch Pool will give visitors a hands-on opportunity to learn about sea urchins, horseshoe crabs, whelks and other creatures of the sea.

The centerpiece of the North Carolina Aquarium, the 200,000 gallon Ocean Habitat, will include a two-story tank offering multi-level views of large sharks, groupers, barracuda and loggerhead turtles swimming around re-created Cape Fear rock ledges. In the nearby Marine Life Gallery, smaller tanks will highlight the sea creatures that are found living around jetties and sunken vessels and among the offshore sargassum weeds. A whale exhibit, featuring a life-size model of a humpback whale and her calf, and a skate and ray exhibit will complete our aquarium adventure.