Pittsburgh Aquarium Fun Facts

• At 42,000 sq. ft. (64% larger than its forerunner the AquaZoo) the new Aquarium is the largest aquarium in Pennsylvania, and one of the largest aquarium facilities in the world.  Not bad for an inland city!
  
  
• Spiny lobster can live up to 100 years
  
  
• The new Aquarium has one of five collections of King Penguins in the country.  
  
  
• A King penguin will incubate a single egg on top of its feet for 52 days.
  
  
• The shark exhibit's acrylic window is 6 inches thick and 24 feet tall, and holds nearly 100,000 gallons of water.  It can be viewed from two different floors and five different viewing angles (sharks scheduled to arrive in late summer).
  
  
• The new Aquarium is the only aquarium or zoo in North America displaying a threatened river dolphin species.  Chuckles, an Amazon River Dolphin, inhabits the Tropical Rainforest Habitat and holds the longevity record for its species.
  
  
• The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is home to the largest coral propagation facility in the continental United States.
  
  
• A life-size mural of a humpback whale allows visitors to compare their own size with the large marine mammal.
  
  
• The world's first rotating aquarium and terrarium tanks are exhibited at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium.
  
  
• Fish tanks have been scattered throughout the zoo since the former Pittsburgh AquaZoo closed its doors in 1998 to make way for the new Aquarium. Many zoo personnel have had fun getting up close and personal with the fish who have shared their offices while waiting for their new home.

 

Update Friday July 14, 2000:

Zoo's Aquarium Curator is Fired
Since it's opening, the new aquarium has had an unfortunate rash of problems. First a slow tap water leak into the stingray tank killed 12 of the 13 stingrays. Now, the Aquarium is conducting a nationwide search for a new director after firing its curator, Jim Prappas, on Tuesday.

 

For more information on the Aquarium, 
visit the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium Web site!

 

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