World‘s Largest Aquarium Opens

For those interested in getting a taste of the sea without getting wet, the American city of Atlanta recently opened the world's largest aquarium. The Georgia Aquarium features more than 100,000 animals in 30 million liters of water. The aquarium also features a viewing window over 20 feet tall.

The Georgia Aquarium, which opened Nov. 23 was made possible by the generosity of one man. Bernie Marcus, a co-founder of the American company Home Depot, donated $200 million of his personal wealth to make the aquarium a reality. "It's going to be the most unique aquarium in the world," Marcus said.

The aquarium's main attractions are a pair of white sharks. They were imported to the aquarium from Taiwan in June. Two sharks, named "Ralph" and "Norton," traveled to America on a Boeing 747 cargo plane equipped especially for them. The two giant fish are the only whale sharks in captivity outside of Asia. They are young sharks and could grow to more than 12 meters long. Everyday, the two sharks are fed 7.6 kilograms of plankton and tiny fish.

The tickets for the aquarium are expensive. For a single adult, a one-day pass is $22.75, while a child's pass costs $17. The cost of an individual annual pass is $250. No family passes are available. The cost has not stopped people from going, however. Some 40,000 annual passes have been sold, including 8,000 on the first day they were on sale.