The Georgia Aquarium opened in 2005. It is located in down town Atlanta at 225 Baker St NW, Atlanta, GA 30313. It was named the world’s largest aquarium in the Guinness Book of World Records. It has more than eight million gallons of fresh and marine waters. The aquarium offers a variety of different attractions such as: a dolphin show (will be changing on March 31st to reflect an At&t celebration), a 3D theater that features a special film, venues for special events, and many different exhibits. The exhibits that are featured are: “River Scout, an exhibit of freshwater species from around the world; Cold Water Quest, featuring a variety of marine mammals, including five beluga whales; Ocean Voyager, which mimics the vastness of the open ocean; and Tropical Diver, which houses a living coral reef.”

The virtual tour provided by the aquarium is very helpful because it allows the viewer to experience an actual tour of the aquarium as if they were there, something that a video would not be able to fully capture. Since the beginning the website fully emerges the viewer into the aquarium. It is very interactive so to enter any area of the aquarium you must click on it. The tour leads you through the whole experience, with starting you off by buying your ticket.

Once you pass the ticket booth you enter the atrium where the entrances o all the exhibits in the aquarium is located. Before entering any of  exhibits it is important to become familiar with all of the features. Along the bottom descriptions of each section and what services it provides is given, also a brief description about the animals is provided. The descriptions also tell you the list of next possible places you can go to once you have explored that area. At the top right there is a button labeled “Where Am I”, when clicked this button provides a map of the whole aquarium. The person taking the virtual is represented by a red dot. You can click on any part of the map and you will be taken there or you can exit and continue your tour at the atrium. On the upper left of the screen there is a button that reads “panorama”, by clicking this the view of the atrium becomes more life-like, instead of just viewing a plain image you can circulate around the whole atrium as you would if you were really at the aquarium. The atrium provides an entrance to many different exhibits so there are a lot of different routes your tour can take.

Once you enter a section there are also subsections included in each exhibit. When exploring

the exhibits you do not really get to see the animals, but a brief description of all of them is given of them at the bottom. There is also a special section for events and receptions to be hold in almost every exhibit. The locations where these events are held can be clicked on or zoomed into to get a better few of a potential venue.

The tour concludes with a quick pass through the aquarium gift shop. Once in the gift shop you can choose to either exit the aquarium or turn around and continue touring. Once you exit the you see an image of the aquarium from the outside and you can start the process all over again, if you wish.

On the side tab there are also a couple of sections that could be useful to tourist looking to visit the Georgia Aquarium and also people looking to host an event at Georgia Aquarium in the future. The “local area map” provides an overview of the surrounding hotels, and businesses that surround the aquarium. The hotel icons link to the hotel’s page for more detailed information. There is also a mapped out version of the Ocean’s Ballroom, which makes it visually easier to see how the rom is divided. The “meeting capacities” tab shows all the available venues and the amount of people that can be accommodated according to the event style chosen. Then there are additional tabs so you can purchase tickets, contact aquarium personnel, send in a proposal, or print out a brochure.

 

 

 

 

 

Brown, Jeff L. “Georgia Aquarium Incorporates Numerous Habitats.” Civil Engineering (08857024) 76.2 (2006): 13-15. Business Source Complete. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.