The Georgia Aquarium is the only institution outside of <span style="color: #0645ad">Asia</span> to house whale sharks.<span style="color: #0645ad"> </span>The sharks are kept in a 6.3-million-US-gallon (24,000 m3) tank, and the aquarium was actually designed around the whale shark exhibit.<span style="color: #0645ad"> </span>The importation of the whale sharks from Taiwan, which was overseen by Jeff Swanagan and staff biologists, was "top secret" and had never been attempted previously.<span style="color: #0645ad"> </span>The move required the use of large aircraft, trucks and boats to ship the massive aquatic animals to Atlanta.<span style="color: #0645ad"> </span>The four whale sharks were taken from Taiwan's annual fishing kill <span style="color: #0645ad">quota</span>, which the country has since abolished. Under the quota, the whale sharks would have been killed and eaten if they had not been purchased by the Georgia Aquarium.
The aquarium is currently one of only two aquariums in the United States to exhibit <span style="color: #0645ad">Great Hammerhead</span> sharks
The Georgia Aquarium is now just one of four facilities worldwide with a manta ray on display, and the only one in the United States. And lucky for visitors, Nandi is something of a show-off.
Continuing its drive to display marine animals rarely seen in the United States, the aquarium acquired a <span style="color: #0645ad">manta ray</span> from an aquarium facility in <span style="color: #0645ad">Durban, South Africa</span>. Named "Nandi," the manta was caught by accident in nets meant to protect the coast from sharks. Officials at the Durban facility determined that the manta had outgrown its home, and offered the manta to the much-larger Georgia Aquarium. Nandi first went on display in the Ocean Voyager exhibit on August 25, 2008 as the first <span style="color: #0645ad">manta ray</span> on display in the country, and making the aquarium one of only four in the world to display one.<span style="color: #0645ad"> </span>A second manta ray named Tallulah was added to the collection in September 2009.<span style="color: #0645ad"> </span>On July 19, 2010, the Georgia Aquarium announced that it had acquired yet another manta ray, an 8-foot (2.4 m) female named Billi, which was found off the coast of Florida.<span style="color: #0645ad"> </span>The aquarium recently added a fourth manta ray to Ocean Voyager. The newest ray is the first male added to the exhibit. He measures almost 9 feet (2.7 m) across, weighs approximately 265 pounds (120 kg) and was also found off the coast of <span style="color: #0645ad">Florida</span>
The aquarium is one of six U.S. aquariums with belugas in their collections
According to aquarium founder Bernard Marcus, the aquarium's conservation and environmental mission is just as important as its status as an attraction. Long before opening, the aquarium was already working with <span style="color: #0645ad">Georgia Tech</span> and <span style="color: #0645ad">Georgia State University</span> in Atlanta and the <span style="color: #0645ad">University of Georgia</span> in <span style="color: #0645ad">Athens</span> to help save <span style="color: #0645ad">endangered species</span> through education and research programs.
The acquisition of the male beluga whales, previously suffering in an inadequate environment, was hailed by Marcus as a prime example of the type of conservation activities the Aquarium should be involved with. Approximately 100 <span style="color: #0645ad">tarpon</span> stranded in a tidal pool at <span style="color: #0645ad">Skidaway Island</span>, off the Georgia coast, were rescued for the collection. <span style="color: #0645ad">Coral</span> used in exhibits at the Aquarium is manmade in a collaboration between Georgia Tech and the <span style="color: #0645ad">University of the South Pacific</span>, produced by suspending blocks of <span style="color: #0645ad">pumice</span> over a reef near the village of Tagaqe, <span style="color: #0645ad">Fiji</span> for eight months so that <span style="color: #0645ad">seaweeds</span> and <span style="color: #0645ad">reef</span> <span style="color: #0645ad">invertebrates</span> could establish colonies.
The Aquarium is involved in several research initiatives that focus on <span style="color: #0645ad">whale sharks</span> in the Yucatán Peninsula, beluga whales in Alaska, penguins in South Africa, manatees in <span style="color: #0645ad">Quintana Roo</span>, Mexico, <span style="color: #0645ad">loggerhead sea turtles</span> on the Georgia coast, and <span style="color: #0645ad">spotted eagle rays</span> in Sarasota, Florida.
Its newest research project centers on <span style="color: #0645ad">bottlenose dolphins</span> in the <span style="color: #0645ad">Indian River Lagoon</span>. These animals serve as indicators of environmental health because they are permanent residents of the lagoon and are at the top of the <span style="color: #0645ad">food chain</span>. The aquarium is partnering with <span style="color: #0645ad">Florida Atlantic University</span> and the federal government to monitor the health of these animals as well as identify potential threats from pollution and emerging infectious diseases.
