Stono the river otter—or is it Ace?—entertains visitors in the aquarium's Upcountry exhibit.
Standing three stories high and filled with 385,000 gallons of sparkling blue seawater, The Great Ocean Tank at the South Carolina Aquarium has a hypnotic beauty that often causes visitors to fall into a hushed silence.
Inside the floor-to-ceiling display swim more than 50 ocean species— ranging from colorful reef fish to sea turtles, stingrays and sharks—all seemingly oblivious to the mesmerized guests gathered on the other side of the thick glass. Complete with a craggy reef at its center, the exhibit offers a glimpse at the diversity of marine life inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean just offshore from the aquarium’s location on the edge of Charleston Harbor.
The Great Ocean Tank has been the signature exhibit of the aquarium since it opened in 2000, but it’s just one of five multisensory galleries that explore the watery connections between South Carolina’s major ecosystems and the variety of creatures that inhabit them.
“We try to mirror the topography,” says Public Relations Manager Kate Dittloff. “People are surprised that we have terrestrial creatures and not just aquatic ones, but we mirror the whole ecosystem.”
Like water flowing to the sea, a visit to the aquarium starts in The Mountain Forest. The gallery simulates a trek through the cool humidity of an Upcountry ravine lined with laurels and rhododendron. Brook trout swim beneath a small waterfall as a turkey peers down from a ledge, but the stars are the river otters, Stono and Ace, who delight children with their underwater acrobatics.
Next, enter The Piedmont. The air warms and two Eastern screech owls engage in a stare down over their mouse breakfast. One of the gallery’s signature exhibits tells the curious story of the Robust Redhorse, a freshwater fish species once thought extinct until biologists rediscovered them in South Carolina in the 1980s. In The Coastal Plain, the Blackwater Swamp display features Alabaster, a rare albino alligator, one of only 50 in the world. Approaching the coast, an outdoor aviary in the The Salt marsh gallery teems with brown pelicans and herons, while stingrays, diamondback terrapins and puffer fish inhabit the underwater exhibits.
The trail of galleries ends at the Great Ocean Tank, but there’s more to explore inside the 93,000 square-foot facility, including a touch tank, where kids of all ages can get hands-on with marine life, and the 4-D theater. At the end of the day, guests walk away with a better understanding of the beauty and complexity of the Palmetto State environment, says aquarium President Kevin Mills. “Most people are surprised to discover that while South Carolina is one of the smallest states in the union, we rank near the top in biodiversity.”
In addition to the permanent exhibits on the ecology and wildlife of South Carolina, the aquarium also features temporary displays with a global environmental focus. Coming this May is Madagascar Journey, a zoo of an exhibit complete with ring-tailed lemurs, geckos, chameleons and, yes, hissing cockroaches.
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Get There
The South Carolina Aquarium is located at 100 Aquarium Wharf, in downtown Charleston.
Hours: From March to August, the aquarium is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. From September to February, it’s open daily 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $12.95 for children ages 2 to 11; $19.95 for adults; $18.95 for seniors. Tickets to the 4-D theater are an additional $5 per person.
Details: (843) 720-1990