National Aquarium

About

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is one of the most visited aquariums in the United States and a defining institution on the city's Inner Harbor. Its dramatic glass and steel pyramid building rises directly from Pier 3 and Pier 4 on Pratt Street, making the aquarium one of the most architecturally distinctive waterfront attractions on the East Coast. The aquarium houses more than 20,000 individual animals across approximately 750 species, organized into immersive multi-level habitats that guide visitors from the cold Atlantic waters off Maryland's coast upward through tropical reefs, Indo-Pacific environments, and a four-story rain forest ecosystem at the building's peak. The Atlantic Coral Reef tank — a 335,000-gallon circular habitat surrounded on all sides by glass — is one of the largest reef displays in the country. The aquarium's dolphin facility presents bottlenose dolphins in a behavioral presentation designed to educate visitors about cetacean biology, cognition, and conservation. The ray touch pool and shark exhibit extend visitor engagement to hands-on encounters with marine life. As an AZA-accredited institution, the National Aquarium participates in rigorous standards for animal care and conservation science. Its conservation programs extend to field research in the Chesapeake Bay and beyond, connecting the inner-harbor facility to the broader ecological reality of the mid-Atlantic coastal environment.

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