Visiting the Biggest Aquarium in the Us: Ultimate Guide, Insider Tips, and Must-Sees
By James H. Sterling
Ocean Voyager serves as the visual and educational anchor of the entire complex. Built specifically to house filter-feeding giants, the single habitat contains 6.3 million gallons of saltwater. Its primary acrylic viewing window measures 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and spans two feet in thickness, engineered to hold back immense hydrostatic pressure without warping the view.
The star residents are the whale sharks (*Rhincodon typus*). These individuals feed via ladle-training protocols, where marine biologists board surface skiffs and dispense custom-formulated seafood slurries directly along specific surface lanes. Watching a school of cow-nosed rays, zebra sharks, and giant manta rays trail closely behind these spotted behemoths gives visitors a rare sense of open-ocean biological hierarchy.
A 100-foot acrylic underwater tunnel cuts straight through the tank floor. Step onto the moving walkway and look up: green sea turtles and enormous blacktip reef sharks pass overhead just inches away. To absorb the scene without bumping elbows with tour groups, skip the middle section of the tunnel and head straight to the stadium-style viewing theater at the far end, where tiered carpeted seating allows for quiet, unhurried observation.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
