National Aquarium In Baltimore

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is a public aquarium located at 501 E Pratt St. in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was opened in 1981 and was constructed during Baltimores urban renewal period. The aquarium has an annual attendance of 1.6 million to see its collection of 16,500 specimens of 660 different species. Particular attractions include the dolphin display, rooftop rainforest, and central ray (batoidea) pool, and multiple-story shark tank. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is widely considered to be one of the best in the United States, if not the world. Coastal Living (Coastal Living (magazine)) named it the #1 aquarium in the U.S. in 2006.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is not to be confused with the National Aquarium in Washington, D.C.; however, the National Aquarium in Washington D.C. has been operated by the National Aquarium in Baltimore since 2003. As of 2005, the National Aquarium was the largest tourist attraction in the state of Maryland.

In November 2006, the National Aquarium won a Best of Baltimore award for "Best Over Priced Destination for Families."

The National Aquarium?s initial conceptual design, architecture and exhibit design (opened in 1981) was led by Peter Chermayeff of Peter Chermayeff LLC while at Cambridge Seven Associates, and the expansion?s conceptual design, architecture and exhibit design (opened in 2005) was led by Bobby C. Poole while at Chermayeff, Sollogub & Poole. The aquarium is currently divided into three buildings: Pier 3 Pavilion, which contains most of the main exhibits; Pier 4 Pavilion, which houses the dolphinarium, and the Glass Pavilion, which contains the new exhibit Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes. Each building has at least one gift shop and a cafe.