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| Date opened | May 28, 2003[1] |
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| Location | Jenks Oklahoma, United States |
| Land area | 72,000 sq ft (6,700 m2) |
| Website | www.okaquarium.org |
The Oklahoma Aquarium is located on a 66-acre (27 ha) campus along the banks of the Arkansas River in Jenks , a southern suburb of Tulsa. The 72,000-square-foot (6,700 m2) facility was built in 2002 with the expectation to bring nearly 500,000 visitors to the Tulsa metropolitan area annually. The Oklahoma Aquarium opened on May 28, 2003.
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On display is an ever growing array of exotic marine life, as well as fish and freshwater environments native to Oklahoma. The aquarium's showcase attraction is Shark Adventure, a 500,000-US-gallon (1,900,000 l) shark tank, complete with a shark tunnel that allows visitors to walk 'through' the shark environment. Near the middle of the tunnel is a 12-foot (3.7 m) high, 20-foot (6.1 m) wide all-acrylic observation dome designed to give unobstructed, 360-degree views of the entire tank and its Bull shark, Lemon shark, Nurse shark, and Sand Tiger Shark inhabitants.
In July 2003, Discovery Channel's naturalist and filmmaker Nigel Marven (along with crew) documented four bull sharks at home in the architecturally innovative half-million gallon tank. The resulting shots and commentary were featured in the 2003 edition of Discovery Channel's Shark Week series.
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