The Georgia Aquarium: A Look Inside Ocean Voyager

I feel that most people, who have taken a serious interest in The Hobby, have compiled a list of people they must meet, or places they must go before their time on Earth is up and they are returned to the big reef in the sky. Visiting the largest aquarium in the world was definitely in my top 5. Many a night have I lain awake, dreaming of what it would be like to look at not one, or two, or even three, but four whale sharks through two feet of acrylic! Needless to say, when an opportunity to go to Atlanta arose, I was on board.

The Georgia Aquarium is well known for being the world’s largest aquarium. Those who stay current in the happenings of The Hobby already know that as of the end of 2012 The Georgia Aquarium is actually the second largest aquarium in the world behind the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore. That notwithstanding, the Georgia Aquarium boasts a capacity of over 8 million gallons of sea water, four whale sharks and hundreds of other skates and rays, and that is the Ocean Voyager Exhibit alone.

I was delighted to hear that we would not only be seeing Ocean Voyager from the public side, but also from behind the scenes. And by behind the scenes, I mean no holds barred. We were given carte blanche on any and all pictures and videos, and boy was there a lot to photograph. Our Behind the scenes tour began in a vast room containing most of Ocean Voyager’s support systems…

Pump after pump, twenty-four in total, each the size of a small car lined the immense concrete hallway. The sounds coming from the pumps were almost deafening, their vibrations shaking us to the core. We later found out that what we actually saw was only a third of the seventy total pumps used to circulate water in Ocean Voyager. So there we are, behind the scenes of one of the largest aquariums ever created, trying to take in the enormity of the facility surrounding us and struggling to find the words to verbalize our feelings, when Matt (Co-Creator of AquaticEnvy.com) leans over to say something above the sound of the pumps running all around us.

“Majestic Plumbing,” he yelled into my ear, leaning away with a smile.

“Indeed it is!” I replied with a bashful look on my face.

Majestic Plumbing had been the name printed on the back of a local Atlanta plumber’s truck that we had been behind in traffic, on our way from the airport to the Georgia Aquarium. I had found it to be somewhat of an oxymoron, and had made the comment that I could not imagine a scenario in which the word “majestic” could be used to describe plumbing. And yet, there I was, standing in the life support room for Ocean Voyager, surrounded by miles and miles of majestically run pipes of all different sizes, eating my words.

At the end of the room we came upon one of these massive skimmers that Ocean Voyager uses to remove organic wastes. It was well over 10 feet tall and the skimmer’s collection cup looked like it COULD hold at least 50 gallons, though it appeared to be fitted with an auto cleaning feature.

I was also intrigued to find that water changes are not a part of Ocean Voyager’s maintenance regime. The water is purified by a system of 72 sand filters, each the size of a minivan. After the sand filters, it is run through a series of heat exchangers, which bring it back to tank temperature, at which point a portion of the water is diverted to a series of Sulfur Denitrification Units (SDU). The water is then passed through twelve Ozone Contact Towers where it is mixed with ozone to kill any potentially harmful organisms. At this point the ozone needs to be removed from the water before it can be returned to the display, so it is run through what is known as a Deaeration Tower (DAT). The DAT serves a dual purpose, as it not only removes the dissolved ozone gas from the previously filtered water, but also provides a large surface area for bacterial colonization. Sand filters are automatically backwashed periodically throughout the day; however, not even the waste water from the backwash is discarded. Water from the backwashes is cleaned and stored as top off for the next backwash cycle in a clean basin. By using this method of filtration water changes on Ocean Voyager are almost completely obsolete, though they still must be performed occasionally.

After being utterly shocked at the size of the support facility, we came across an equally impressive food prep kitchen that shone everywhere with the color of stainless steel. The prep area was as large as any restaurant kitchen, but had a cold, clean, feel, as opposed to the warm, greasy feel of most commercial kitchens. A quick picture and it was on to the top side of Ocean Voyager.

The top side of Ocean Voyager was two stories above the life support systems room that we were previously touring, and is where the maintenance and animal care teams access the aquarium. The top of the aquarium stretched a football field in length (minus the end zones) and was well over 20 yards wide with a smaller holding tank to its left. Along the wall to our left were hung hundreds of wetsuits of varying sizes, oxygen tanks, SCUBA apparatus, and even a half dozen inflatable 2 person rafts. Over top of the Ocean Voyager, I noticed a large crane, like one you would see in a steel plant, or boat yard. Hung from it was a large blue sling that they had used to raise the whale sharks and some of the larger rays up and into the display tank through the large garage door that had been placed in the floor between the smaller support pool and the left wall.

What came next was one of the most enchanting moments I have ever personally witnessed. A member of the animal care team came up and showed us a large tub. Inside it was what appeared to be around fifty pounds of krill, squid, and a green vegetable cube. Each whale shark had their own tub of food that they were fed twice a day. Seeing all that food was interesting, but what came next was what we had all hoped for.

As feeding time approached, the ventilation fans used to agitate the surface of the water in the middle of Ocean Voyager were turned off. We were told that the whale sharks were actually able to recognize this as an indication of an approaching feast. Our excitement built as we noticed that several animal care members were mounting the small inflatable rafts we had seen earlier with long feeding poles in hand. Suddenly it became readily apparent what the long ropes stretched lengthwise across the aquarium top were for. I was amazed to hear that each whale shark is trained to go to a specific rope during feeding time, to ensure that everyone is properly fed. With the food loaded into their boats, and feeding poles in hand, the workers began slowly pulling themselves down the length of the pool with one hand, and

feeding the whale sharks with the pole in their other hand. At one point one of the whale sharks came so close to us we could have reached a hand over the edge and gave it a pet, it was a huge animal, stretching the length of a short school bus, it’s grey, shiny skin mottled with small white spots. A truly amazing creature and it was feeding just feet away from us.

After the feeding had concluded, we were shown the other displays and their support systems, then turned loose to finish our tour of the aquarium as every other guest would have, from the equally stunning public side of the Georgia Aquarium. Even thinking about it now as I sit in my warm office, writing this article, I get goose bumps thinking of the awesomeness that is the Georgia Aquarium. If one thing is for certain, it is that I will definitely be visiting the Georgia Aquarium again, and next time… maybe I will pay to SCUBA with the whale sharks (you can totally do it).

A Special Thank you to Bailey, the Georgia Aquarium, and everyone else for taking time out of their day to enlighten and excite us all!!!