National Aquarium Announces Public Tours of Animal Care and Rescue Center
Tours provide a behind-the-scenes look into the Aquarium's state-of-the-art animal care facility.
The National Aquarium is pleased to announce that guided tours of the Animal Care and Rescue Center are now available for booking. The one-of-a-kind tour allows guests to experience the Aquarium's off-site animal care facility where they can discover the unique journeys of animals being cared for by National Aquarium staff.
Guests now have the opportunity to visit the 60,000-square-foot rescue center located in historic Jonestown, where staff care for the National Aquarium's newly admitted animals, animals that are off exhibit and rescued animals. Guests will learn how the National Aquarium's dedicated staff provides the best care possible to these animals, discover how National Aquarium Animal Health and Rescue teams care for sick and injured marine animals before returning them to their ocean home and peek into the exhibit fabrication shop where animal habitat elements, like the coral in the Aquarium's Blacktip Reef exhibit, are created.
"We are excited to welcome inquiring minds behind the scenes of the Animal Care and Rescue Center," said Curator Ashleigh Clews. "This tour allows participants to experience the National Aquarium in a new way and sheds light on the critical work we do—caring for the world's aquatic treasures and inspiring others to do the same."
Tour participants have the chance to see some of the Aquarium's most famous animals, including Kai, a green sea turtle being fitted for a prosthetic shell to help with buoyancy, Funzo, a beloved pig-nosed turtle, and Duncan, a spirited map pufferfish. The location also houses innovative rehabilitation suites for rescued seals, like current seal patient Louis Armstrong.
The Animal Care and Rescue Center is located at 901 E. Fayette Street in Baltimore. For more information, visit our Animal Care and Rescue Center Tour page. Members can book this tour online.