South Carolina Aquarium

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South Carolina Aquarium


Date opened	May 19, 2000
Location	Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Number of Animals	10,000+ ^[1]
Accreditations/ Memberships	AZA
Website

The South Carolina Aquarium, located in Charleston, South Carolina, opened in May of 2000 on the historic Charleston Harbor. It is home to over 10,000 plants and animals including river otters, loggerhead sea turtles, alligators, Venus flytraps, great blue herons, hawks, owls, sea horses, jellyfish, pufferfish, moray eels, horseshoe crabs, starfish, pythons, sea dragons and sharks.^[2] The largest exhibit in the Aquarium is The Great Ocean Tank, which extends from the first to the third floor of the Aquarium; it holds over 385,000 gallons of water and contains over 300 animals. The Aquarium also features a Discovery Lab, where patrons are able to touch horseshoe crabs, starfish, and other marine animals.

1 Exhibits
2 Sea Turtle Rescue Program
3 Staffing and Funding
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Exhibits

The layout of the two-story aquarium was designed to educate visitors about plant and animal life from the South Carolina mountains to the coastal plain. More than 60 exhibits focus on five major regions: Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain, Coast, and Ocean.

[edit] Sea Turtle Rescue Program

In addition to extensive education efforts in support of a healthy Loggerhead Sea Turtle habitat, the S.C. Aquarium utilizes its facilities to operate a Sea Turtle Hospital. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources transports injured or stranded sea turtles to the hospital, after which aquarium staff and volunteers nurture the animal back to health. A staff veterinarian can perform surgery, administer x-rays, IVs, and even provide blood transfusions to turtles that are severely anemic.

Rehabilitated turtles are brought to a local beach and allowed to return to the ocean. The average turnaround time for an injured turtle is 7-8 months. ^[3]

[edit] Staffing and Funding

The aquarium has more than 80 paid staff, with a complement of more than 300 volunteers. Present staffing levels are significantly lower than in the first year of operations, mostly due to annual revenue falling far short of original projections. Therefore, the volunteer program has become a model in the community due to such a heavy reliance on this workforce.

The S.C. Aquarium is a non-profit education and conservation organization, funded by a combination of ticket, concession and souvenir sales, and corporate, government, and private donations.