| Author | Message | ||
     Diana R. Dubbeld (Diana) |
The Belle Isle Aquarium is North America's oldest continuously operating public aquarium. It was opened in 1904 and is located on Belle Isle, the Detroit River's beautiful 1,000-acre park. The Aquarium currently displays 60 exhibits with a total capacity of 32,000 gallons of water. It is also home to 1,500 individual animals of 146 species. Of these species, 18 are officially listed as endangered, threatened, or already extinct in the wild. There are approximately 10,000 gallons of refrigerated fresh water featuring many native Detroit River species such as trout, bass, pike, perch and walleye. The remaining exhibits are tropical freshwater and marine displays, including coral reef fish. Endangered or very rare species exhibited include Charco La Palma pupfish, desert pupfish, green goodeids, blue-tailed goodeids, golden skiffia and Lake Victoria mouthbrooders. The Aquarium is best known for successfully breeding and rearing freshwater stingrays including the dwarf, checkerboard and occelated species. The most notable success is with the occelated stingray which has been raised through three generations. Offspring of dwarf stingrays have been distributed to more than twelve institutions across the United States. Two of those institutions have also produced captive-born offspring using the Belle Isle Aquarium's technique. In fact, the Aquarium has earned the prestigious Zoo and Aquarium Bean Award in 1976, 1980 and 1985 for its success. Perhaps the most popular stop at the Aquarium is the electric eel exhibit. This unique display dramatizes the discharges of the eel in visual and audible demonstrations. Today Belle Isle is ranked fifth among major urban parks in America, after Golden Gate in San Francisco, Central Park in New York, Balboa Park in San Diego, and Oglebay Park in Wheeling, W.Va. | ||
| Stephen Goodfellow |
Thanks Diana, I've placed the information here: http://belleisleaquarium.com/aquarium_tour.htm If anyone else has relevent information, I'll place it on the site. | ||
| Rob K |
A part of the history here should note that the Belle Isle Aquarium was designed by the legendary Detroit architect Albert Kahn. Kahn is mostly noted for his industrial architecture, designing many of the auto factories here as well as homes for the auto barons. Credit him also with the Fisher Building, General Motors World Headquaters (now Cadillac Place), and half of the buildings on the campus of the University of Michigan. Back on Belle Isle, Kahn designed the Scripps Conservitory and the Casnio Building. | ||
| Anonymous |
Mr. Kahn also designed the Universty Club Building on Jefferson. People might like Wright, for myself I love Kahn. | ||
| Stephen Goodfellow (Admin) Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 1 Registered: 1-2005 |
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