We took our son to Branson for his 2nd birthday. We were so excited to be hosted by the Aquarium at the Boardwalk. It is the most beautiful aquarium that we have ever visited and I cannot wait for you guys to see these beautiful photos!
About the Aquarium
The aquarium was opened on November 23, 2020. It is owned by Kuvera Partners and Steve Bitter is the Director of Husbandry. He leads a team of 16 aquarists and life support specialists who are responsible for the wellbeing of the animals and the proper maintenance of their habitat. The largest exhibit is the Grand Aquarium with over 100 species all living together.
The Aquarium houses a total of 400,000 gallons of saltwater, which currently supports over 7,500 individual animals. The total food intake of the animals can be as much as 25 pounds of restaurant-quality seafood in a day, along with a number of specialty foods like dried algae for our herbivores or live brine shrimp for our jellies. Some animals, such as sharks, eat three to four times a week, but others, such as the corals and seahorses eat five to six times a day. They built a full-size kitchen, complete with a walk-in freezer and refrigerator, to keep the food supply going! Just a fun fact: The single species in the largest number in the aquarium is the Greenback Sardine. They have 2,100 of them in the Mermaid Palace.
Key Features
• More than 250 different animal species in 400,000 gallons of saltwater
• Sharks, seahorses, stingrays, lionfish, octopuses, eels, and much more!
• An original 5D submarine adventure to the bottom of the sea
• More than 7,200 individual sea animals
• Photo ops including seahorse carousel, mermaid tail, and trident & high-tech diving suit
• Two mirrored art installations giving the sense of infinite ocean life
• A 24-foot Kelp Forest climbing structure for kids
• A gorgeous 16-foot view of a coral reef
Our Experience
The kids were so excited before even entering the building thanks to the 55-foot tall stainless steel Octopus sculpture wrapped around the front of the building.
Before you explore the aquarium, you get to pose for a photo with Aquarius the Octopus. I can’t believe that all of us were actually looking in the photo. This made a super cute keepsake!
The kids loved looking through the big glass at all the beautiful fish, sharks, and other species. Valor did not want to leave this spot, and I completely understand why. It was so beautiful and peaceful.
I think the favorite room for all of us was the Jellyfish exhibit. They were in beautiful clear tubes inside a mirrored room. Guinn thought it was so cool that you could change the color of the tanks.
There were several crawl spaces that allowed the kids to get closer to the exhibits. Guinn loved these! You can see an example on the Reel I posted to Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CXzTtXIB_ks/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Everything was just so beautiful. You can tell there was a lot of thought put into every bit of this aquarium. The touch tanks were a lot of fun, too! We cannot wait to go back soon.
The Mermaid Room 
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