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Aquarium In Fort Fisher
When you visit the Wilmington area, you definitely should plan to see the newly expanded and remodeled North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. Featuring a 235,000-gallon saltwater tank, the theme of the aquarium is “The Waters of the Cape Fear,” which showcases both fresh water and salt water aquatic life in a journey down the Cape Fear River to the Atlantic Ocean.
Situated in Kure Beach on a wooded oceanfront location complete with lovely gardens and wildlife areas, the aquarium features many beautiful and exotic displays beginning with a large tree-filled atrium containing stream, pond and swamp aquatic life, plants and ground cover. Very popular with the kids is the Coquina Outcrop Touch Pool in the Coastal Waters Gallery where the little ones (and the big ones, too) can reach out and touch whelks, sea urchins, horseshoe crabs and other sea critters.
The focal point of the aquarium is the Cape Fear Shoals exhibit. The huge, two-story tank displays a vast array of sea life including moray eels, stingrays, sharks and grouper plus a multitude of other varieties of sea life. At feeding time, divers underwater answer questions from the audience as they feed the fish.
The Open Oceans Gallery features creatures found off our coastline, and there are two tanks displaying jellyfish. Another tank contains the beautiful and fascinating sea horses. Five other tanks display sea snakes, lionfish, cuttlefish, Pacific Reef fish and an octopus. In the Shadows on the Sand exhibit, skates and rays endlessly cruise above the sandy bottom. All told, more than 2,500 sea creatures are on display at the aquarium.