Oregon Coast Aquarium, Public aquarium in Newport, Oregon, USA
The Oregon Coast Aquarium is an aquarium in Newport, Oregon, on 23 acres along Yaquina Bay. Its main building holds Sandy Coast, Rocky Coast, Connected Coast, a Jelly Gallery and a changing exhibit area, ending in a kelp forest. Outside are the largest seabird aviary in North America, sea otter and harbor seal pools, and a coastal cave for a Giant Pacific octopus.
Newport business leaders proposed an aquarium in the early 1980s, raising $11 million by 1991; the Oregon Coast Aquarium opened on May 23, 1992, with about 5,500 visitors. Keiko, the orca from the film Free Willy, arrived on January 7, 1996, in a UPS C-130 cargo plane after schoolchildren and environmentalists raised funds for a $7.8 million habitat. He was moved to Iceland on September 9, 1998, for a return-to-the-wild attempt.
The aquarium's opening theme followed a raindrop from the Oregon Coast Range to the Pacific, and exhibits are arranged in that order: Sandy Coast, Rocky Coast, then Connected Coast. A tidepool lets visitors touch sea stars and sea anemones. The outdoor aviary, the largest seabird aviary in North America, houses tufted puffins, common murres, rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots and black oystercatchers.
The 23-acre site along Yaquina Bay holds indoor halls and outdoor exhibits, including a nature trail overlooking the estuary. Passages of the Deep is a walk-through tunnel of acrylic tubes, so allow time to move through it slowly. The outdoor aviary and marine mammal areas are reached on foot from the main building.
The Passages of the Deep exhibit features underwater tunnels where visitors walk beneath swimming sharks, rays, and many fish species. The transparent tubes offer a full view of the water overhead and on all sides.
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