Fresh Fish Theater…  


The Pier Aquarium occupies four locations at the St. Petersburg Pier, one of West Florida’s most popular destinations attracting 1.5 million visitors annually. More than 88,500 people visit the Aquarium and an additional 24,000 attend our educational programs.

At the base of the approach to The Pier is the Roy G. Harrell, Jr.  Education Station, a hands-on, fully functional outdoor marine lab on Spa Beach. Halfway up The Pier and on both sides is "Water Walk,” an interpretive teaching display about Tampa Bay, a unique estuary that also is the largest in Florida.

Inside The Pier, our "Fresh Fish Theater,” comprised of interactive and live animal exhibits, is housed on the first and second floors of The Pier.

Let Our Fish Entertain You!

On the first floor three cylinder tanks rise to the second level. In the smallest tank are killifish and puffers, saltwater tidal zone fish from Tampa Bay. The 400-gallon fresh water aquarium houses cichlids and koi, native to Africa and South America. The 1,000-gallon saltwater tank is home to colorful tropical fish from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The second floor has 14 different aquariums featuring fish from oceans from around the world, educational exhibits and a museum store. We offer a Daily Touch Tank Experience from 1-4pm daily and fish feeding at 3pm. Touch Tank sessions have been enhanced with the addition of a variety of learning tools such as handheld lighted microscopes, magnifying viewing boxes, biofacts (actual shells, molts, spines) and even life-like plastic replicas of some of our more popular animals, like hermit crabs, sea stars and horseshoe crabs.

 

We will soon offer a "Deaf Docent" guide as part of this entertaining educational experience! Assisted by students and staff from the Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf in Clearwater, FL and technical partners at SRI St. Petersburg, we've developed a state-of-the-art multimedia guide  that combines high resolution digital images with information about our Touch Tank cirtters.

 

The "Deaf Docent" guide, in a streaming video format, will be available on handheld, portable media devices (PlayStations for kids and media tablets for adults). The guide presents scripted information in American Sign Language (ALS) about the animals such as the Florida spiny lobsters and adult and baby coral catsharks. Any visitor can check out a guide for free with a valid driver's license, passport or other photo identification.

 

The "Deaf Docent" guide has already been recognized with a 2009 State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and VSA arts of Florida Inclusvie Culture Award for Best Practices in Access.

You can get a behind-the-scenes look at The Pier Aquarium from our MySpace blog (http://www.myspace.com/pieraquarium)written written by staff and volunteers. You can also join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/Pieraquarium. Be sure to add your comments!

 

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