Camden shark bridge free#

“They’ve done a great job embracing and working in the community. “It’s so unique, so successful and so focused on visitor experience,” Kolluri says. “We also host an annual holiday toy drive where we distribute more than 3,000 toys to kids in the community.”Ī portion of admission ticket profits – roughly $85,000 annually – goes back into community organizations, and a project to help clean up the waterfront has resulted in more than 2,000 pounds of trash being removed from the Delaware River.Īdventure Aquarium is an invaluable partner in Camden’s redevelopment, says Kris Kolluri, CEO of Cooper’s Ferry Partnership. “That was a challenge the city was looking to solve, and we think it’s a great initiative,” Nicoletti adds. “Partnering with the city has always been important to us, because we see ourselves as a community institution,” Nicoletti says.Īs part of their commitment to the city and its residents, the aquarium hosts a number of annual events, including a “safe trick-or-treat” event each fall. “Finding ways to deepen that connection to the ocean and shore is part of our bigger picture.”Īdventure Aquarium has long been a close partner of organizations throughout Camden, including Cooper’s Ferry Partnership. “Everyone can connect directly to the ocean where much of our conservation work is done,” Nicoletti says. The aquarium hosts corporate outings, proms, weddings and other special events, where guests experience a unique venue, and get the opportunity to learn about aquatic creatures and habitats, some of which are very nearby. Of course, it’s not just kids who get to experience the amazement of the deep. This is how we’re partnering with parents to build a lifelong love for the underwater world.”

Camden shark bridge free#

“All you need to do is register, and that child can experience the wonder of the aquarium 365 days a year free of charge. To invite them in and feed that enrichment is really important to us,” Nicoletti says. “Kids that age are completely filled with wonder when they’re here.

It’s an education that begins even before kindergarten, which is why this year the Adventure Aquarium has created the Pre-K Pass: a free membership for anyone ages 2 to 5. “It’s our hope that we can inspire families to learn more, care more, and do more for animals and their environment.”

“One of the most important aspects of our purpose is to contribute to the community’s understanding of wildlife and conservation,” Nicoletti says. This popular exhibit is one of the newest initiatives in a wider mission to bring families fun and entertainment – and also education. That 550,000-gallon tank houses a massive collection of hammerhead sharks, sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks as well as less-frightening ocean-dwellers like stingrays and blue tangs. The popular Shark Bridge invites visitors to climb an 81-foot, V-shaped rope suspension bridge across the aquarium’s 21-foot-deep Shark Realm. The Adventure Aquarium is a destination for travelers from near and far who want an up-close experience (from a super unique perspective) with the ocean’s fiercest predators. “And we’re still the only aquarium in the world exhibiting hippopotamuses.” “In the last few years alone, we’ve invested $2 million in a dining experience, opened the Camden waterfront’s first beer garden and introduced a new colony of little blue penguins,” Nicoletti says. More than a million visitors a year flock to the aquarium’s exhibits, which take up more than 200,000 square feet and require more than 2 million gallons of water. In just under 15 years, that growth – in terms of attendance, offerings and guest satisfaction – has increased tremendously. “We’re all about helping people experience wonder, and we’ve grown by investing in world-class exhibits.” “Our commitment to bringing families together is at the core of who we are,” says Vince Nicoletti, Adventure Aquarium’s executive director. Although the company is national, in Camden the aquarium is a local institution. The chance to visit with Button and Genny in Hippo Haven is one of many attractions that keep crowds coming to the premier aquarium, which was acquired in 2007 by Herschend Family Entertainment, owners of Tennessee’s Dollywood theme park and the Harlem Globetrotters. That relationship to the sea is celebrated on the Camden waterfront, where Adventure Aquarium is home to more than 15,000 aquatic species, including the largest collection of sharks on the East Coast.īuilt by the state in 1992 to bring new family-friendly attractions to the city, the aquarium was the first in the world to exhibit hippos. With its miles of coastline and intricate network of rivers and lakes, South Jersey has always been a place closely connected to the aquatic world.