Despite a $4.5 million renovation, the A.C. Aquarium’s second-floor fish tanks don’t have fish (yet)
The aquarium is charging half-price for now.
ATLANTIC CITY — When it comes to evaluating a visit to the A.C. Aquarium, at least for now, it may depend on whether you’re a glass half-full or a glass half-empty person.
Because, despite a $4.5 million renovation and a March reopening after a five-year closure, the aquarium remains only half-open.
“It’s gonna be awesome when it’s done,” said Laura Lee, a biologist visiting from Wisconsin, as she left the Aquarium. “I do hope they get more signage. I’m a little worried about the turtle.”
Groman, the 225-pound loggerhead sea turtle, is indeed back. As is his sidekick posse of giant permit and drum fish in the Fish of the Mid-Atlantic tank, a first-floor touch tank with cute little sharks, horseshoe crabs, moon jellies, and seahorses.
“I think it’s a good beginning,” said Mark, a man in his 70s from Havertown, who wanted to be identified only by his first name for privacy reasons. “It’s been a long wait.”
He noted the absence of fish in the tanks on the handsomely renovated second floor, a situation that has prompted city officials to charge half-price admission ($6 for adults, $4 for children 3-12).
“We’re looking forward to it opening up,” he said. “It took so long.”
Still, his grandchildren, ages 3 and 5, had a fine time, he said.
As did Jodi Newcomb’s 7-year-old granddaughter. “I thought it was great,” said the Port Norris resident. “I can’t wait for it to be fully open. I’ll be back.”
And when visitors are done with the Aquarium, they’re still in one of A.C.’s best and sometimes overlooked places: Gardner’s Basin, home of Gilchrist (blueberry hotcakes and grilled bologna and eggs famous) and Back Bay Ale House (home of Mason jar drinks, jerk shrimp, and sunsets).
There are also working clam boats nearby, a human sun dial, hydrangea trail, and a children’s garden. North Beach mini-golf is just across from Gardner’s Basin on the Boardwalk. Free concerts will return to the Basin on June 21 and June 28.
Sarita DuCote-Stroud, the city’s aquarist, said she didn’t have an estimated time of arrival for the additional sharks, rays, sea urchins, and sea stars that will enliven the second floor. She and other staff members spend a lot of time explaining this to visitors.
The city is relying on a supplier, she said. “If they don’t have it, then they would go out and catch it, right?” DuCote-Stroud said.
“When we do get the animals, they’ll be flown in, and then our husbandry department will have to go to Philadelphia or New York to pick them up, and then they’ll be quarantined for a time. We just can’t introduce them into our regular population.”
She said the animals can’t be caught in the winter, and officials were hopeful they would arrive sometime this summer, most likely from Florida. There are about a dozen more fish almost ready to be introduced into Groman’s tank, including a snapper, she said.
She said signage would be increased after all the fish for the second floor had arrived, because there could be some rearranging.
Was it frustrating to have the second floor empty of fish?
“A little bit,” she said. “We have to take it one day at a time. We’ll get there. There’s fish in there. They’re healthy. The public loves them. More will come. I love sitting here, just watching them,” she said.
During a visit on a recent Sunday and again midweek, the Aquarium was indeed buzzing with adults and little kids. Groman was mostly pushing up against a side wall of the 25,000 gallon tank, or huddled in a corner, but the other fish swam close to the glass front to give kids a little fish-eyed thrill. Groman was livelier when Adam Joseph of 6ABC visited recently.
There were cute little seahorses, a tank of colorful tropical fish with a live coral reef, Fu Manchu lionfish, and unicorn tang; an “Off the Dock” exhibit with moon jellies, lobsters, and blue crabs; and some horseshoe crabs to touch in an alcove.
There were some small sharks in a first-floor touch tank, and a staff guide who cautioned not to get too chummy. “Just a gentle touch to their back. We’re not going to pet them.” Sensory thrills could be had. “We’re only going to touch the ones that are laying flat at the bottom,” the guide said.
Upstairs, there was the promise of the “Under the Sea” coloring nook with fresh murals and an underwater feel, amid the empty tanks. And on the third floor, panoramic views of the back bay and sea wall, where, a bit ironically, fishermen lined the wall and caught the local wildlife.
A new hurricane simulator charges $3, which one adult dismissed as “like a nice A.C.,” but nonetheless welcome due to it being a little warm in the Aquarium. But others, kids especially, thought it was cool.
Outside, there are new murals and a new colorful sculpture with the current mayor’s signature line, “Can we say great day!”
Once upon a time, like the $14 million Surf Stadium that once hosted a professional minor league team with a fine mascot (hey Splash!) and regular fireworks but now only hosts high school and other nonprofessional teams, the Atlantic City Aquarium opened with big aspirations. It still has them.
Alas, poor Groman swam by himself for years during and after the pandemic, cared for by a husbandry company, until the Aquarium finally reopened to the public after multiple delays.