Museum Name: North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher
Schedule: Open 9-5 daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day
Established: 1976
Address: 900 Loggerhead Rd., Kure Beach (15 miles south of Wilmington NC, on US 421, just past Kure Beach)
Phone Number: Info:  910-458-8257   Program Reservations:  910-458-87468  Toll Free Info:  800-866-301-3476
Fax Number: 910-458-6812
Email: ffmail@ncaquariums.com
Director: Donna Moffitt
Website: www.ncaquariums.com
Sublink: http://www.ncaquariums.com/newsite/ff/ffindex.htm
Focus: Aquatic Life of North Carolina's freshwater, coastal and ocean habitats
Ages: All
Costs: Adults $8; Seniors 62+, $7; Ages 6-17, $6; children 5 and under, free.  Members of NC Aquarium Society, free.
Class trip Programs: Programs for classes include the standard visit -- a 2-hour tour of the aquarium.  Additional, seasonal  programs are available, requiring reservations and a fee.  (Please visit Web site for current calendar and activities listings).
Class Trip Pricing: Registered groups of North Carolina schoolchildren may tour the aquarium without charge.  Call 910-458-7468 for reservations.  Teachers admitted free with registered groups; chaperones, $4.  Additional programs require fees and advance registration.

The Aquarium at Fort Fisher is one of three state-owned public aquariums in North Carolina.  All are dedicated to inspiring appreciation and conservation of the state's aquatic resources.  The Aquarium at Fort Fisher was expanded in 2002, and continues to add new exhibits. Included in general aquarium tour, many  free programs are offered throughout the day.  These may include films, games, live animal presentations; nature talks, dive presentations, and feedings daily at 3 p.m.  Additional programs avialable with advance registration and fees.  The North Carolina Aquarium Society operates an on-site gift shop and outdoor snack bar.  There is an outdoor garden, birding deck and food deck, and, near the parking lot, picnic tables and a fossil pit.  The aquarium and its exhibits are handicap accessible.  Visit our Web site for current listing of education programs available

Major Exhibits:
Freshwater Conservatory showcases major freshwater habitats associated with the Cape Fear River drainage basin, its streams, swamps and waterfalls.  Coastal Waters gallery features saltmarsh habitats, sea turtles, a tidal touch pool; Open Oceans gallery, with a 235,000-gallon saltwater tank containing sharks, stingrays, moray eels, groupers and other animals of the offshore reefs.  Divers give presentations twice daily.  Feedings daily at 3 p.m.

Exhibits of 06:
New Exotic Aquatics gallery features strange and beautiful animals from around the world, including sea snakes, cuttlefish, lionfish and Pacific coral reef animals.