Aquarium of the Americas
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| Address |
Aquarium of the Americas 111 Iberville StreetNew Orleans
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| Telephone |
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| How to
Find it: |
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| Open: |
Sunday- Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
(Good until Labor Day weekend 2005 when they will revert back to our Winter operating hours as found on our website. |
| Prices: |
Adults, $16.00
Children, $9.50
Seniors, $13.00 |
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Click here for a Link to the Zoo’s own Web Pages
Write a
review of this zoo
This critique last updated:
Feb 2008
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Visitor Reviews This review submitted by Lori Lamb: November 2000
The Aquarium of the Americas is a new feature on the New Orleans waterfront, dating from 1990. As may be surmised from the name, this aquarium concentrates on the waters of North and South America, as illustrated by at least five very different environments. It lies within walking distance from the French Quarter and is connected to the Audubon Zoo by steamboat. There are two floors, and you start on the 1 floor with the walk through a Caribbean coral reef. I have seen several places with walk-throughs illustrating the open sea, with sharks and stingrays and other pelagian fish around you. It is rare to see a tunnel through a coral reef environment. After this section you ascend to the second floor, where you resurface in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. , but the Amazonian section is as much above the water as below, – a veritable green house featuring everything from piranhas to macaws. On the same floor, and close to the Amazonas there is a group of penguins. After this there is a somewhat pedagogical section where you can study different habitats and different fish shapes. The eateries are also placed in the central part of this floor. At the opposite end from the Amazonas you find the Mississippi River section, with swamp and riverbank fauna and flora (even small cypress trees). At first glance it would be more fitting to describe this area as an attempt to mimmick the bayou rather than as a river scenario. But of course, it is the mighty Mississippi that has created the whole swamp scenario, so the name of the section is justified. A couple of white alligators from the Audubon zoo have been installed in a little pond here sometime since the mid nineties. After the Mississippi walk you descend to the lower floor, and here you arrive at the Mexican Gulf exhibit which includes the largest tank of the aquarium (1,6 million litres of salt water filled with sharks and stingrays). There is apparently an oil rig above this tank, and there are some exhibits (including a video) telling about the oil industry at sea. And this ends the tour. The latest addition to the aquarium is a seahorse gallery, but I have not seen this attraction.
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