Georgia Aquarium - Collection

Collection

The Georgia Aquarium contains between 100,000 and 120,000 fish and other sea creatures, representing more than five hundred species. On June 14, 2005, the total number of specimens was unveiled after having previously being reported as "over 55,000". Marcus was quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying: "I have been saying that we would have more than 55,000 fish; I just never said how many more." The fish were transported from Taiwan to the aquarium by UPS in 42 tanks aboard an MD-11 airplane. UPS donated the cost of the shipping, estimated at over $200,000.

The aquarium's most famous specimens were four young whale sharks from Taiwan named Ralph, Norton, Alice and Trixie, after the primary characters from The Honeymooners. Ralph died from peritonitis on January 11, 2007, and Norton, after he stopped eating and began swimming erratically, was euthanized on June 13. Ralph and Norton were with the Georgia Aquarium at its opening; Alice and Trixie joined the aquarium June 3, 2006.

The Georgia Aquarium is the only institution outside of Asia to house whale sharks. 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. 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. The move required the use of large aircraft, trucks and boats to ship the massive aquatic animals to Atlanta. The four whale sharks were taken from Taiwan's annual fishing kill quota, 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.

On May 25, 2007, Taiwan's Fisheries Agency announced the Aquarium had been approved to receive two more whale sharks before the country's institution of a ban on the animals' capture in 2008. The two new whale sharks arrived at the aquarium on June 1, 2007 . The two sharks, caught earlier in 2007, are named Taroko, commemorating Taroko Gorge National Park, and Yushan after Taiwan's Jade Mountain.

The aquarium was one of only two aquariums in the United States to exhibit Great Hammerhead sharks; the other is the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey. The aquarium has also been home to as many as five 11 foot (3 m) long beluga whales at once. Two males named Nico and Gasper were acquired from a Mexico City amusement park where they lived under a roller coaster. Prior to the opening of the aquarium, they were joined by three females on breeding loan from the New York Aquarium: Marina, Natasha, and her daughter, Maris. Because of insufficient weight, skin lesions, and a bone disease, Gasper was euthanized on January 2, 2007. Marina died on December 1, 2007 of what may have been natural causes (she was 30 years old). The belugas were transferred to SeaWorld San Antonio where Nico died unexpectedly on October 31, 2009. On March 2, 2010, Maris and a new male, Beethoven, were returned to the Georgia Aquarium for the public to enjoy while Natasha was paired with a potential mate and remains in San Antonio. Two juvenile belugas, Grayson (male) and Qinu (female), also from San Antonio, were added in November 2010. The aquarium is one of six U.S. aquariums with belugas in their collections.

Continuing its drive to display marine animals rarely seen in the United States, the aquarium acquired a manta ray from an aquarium facility in Durban, South Africa. 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 manta ray on display in the country, and making the aquarium one of only four in the world to display one. A second manta ray named Tallulah was added to the collection in September 2009. 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. 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 Florida.