Explore Chattanooga Spring 2023

T ennessee Aquarium’s newest gallery offers a multi-sensory adventure through Southern Appalachian streams Thanks to its vast, intricate network of creeks and streams twining together as they descend between ridges, Southern Appalachia is home to a stunning array of fishes, crayfishes, mollusks, and amphibi ans. But for many of the millions of people whose lives are spent within sight and earshot of what scientists describe as an “underwater rainfor est,” that aquatic abundance may as well be invisible. Just in time to welcome visitors arriving for spring break, the Tennessee Aquarium will celebrate the grand opening on March 1 of Ridges to Rivers. This all-new gallery was designed, from the ground up, to shine a spotlight on Southern Appalachia’s vibrant aquatic life, which often goes unseen except by the lucky few who have the oppor tunity to dip their heads into a stream. As they explore Ridges to Rivers’ dynamic, multisensory exhibits, guests will see, hear and touch — perhaps for the first time — some of the beautiful, often-charismatic species living in waterways they drive by, swim in, or even live next to. Ridges to Rivers offers guests the ex perience of what it’s like to put your head in a stream and see animals you had no idea were there.” As they enter the gallery, guests first encounter a massive, 22-foot long exhibit recreating the many habitats offered by mountain streams flowing into the Upper Tennessee River. With rapids rushing over and around rocks, along swift runs, and into deeper, placid pools, the exhibit’s diverse geography shows how a single stream can support an incredibly diverse array of species.

This single exhibit — the gallery’s largest — will display two dozen kinds of fish, from tiny, colorful Gilt Darters and Saffron Shiners to larger inhabitants such as Redear Sunfish and Rock Bass. “I’m looking forward to finding ways to encourage the fish to show off things like nest building or brightening up to their breeding col ors,” says Aquarist II Avery Millard. “I think the kinds of things you’ll have a chance to see in Ridges to Rivers will be pretty eye-opening. Those seeking a dry-clothes approximation of lying down in an Appalachian creek can take full advantage of the new gallery’s “pop up” exhibit. From within a hollow cylinder, guests can simulate what it’s like to get a scale-close, snorkelers-eye view of Golden Shiners, Creek Chubs, and shimmering sunfish without the need to strap on a mask. Nearby, a small exhibit packs a big punch with a vivid demonstration of how thunderstorms — a fact of life in the temperate rainforests of Southern Appalachia — impact streams. Thanks to clever, behind-the-scenes engineering, lucky guests at this exhibit may witness simulated squalls every quarter hour.“It’s one of those ‘surprise and delight’ moments,” says Senior Manager of Exhib it Services Jeff Worley, who designed the look and flow of the gallery. The newly renamed Sturgeon Bend exhibit is almost three times the size of the previous touch experience and features a more open design. This updated take on a true Aquarium classic will allow even more guests to make tactile connections with a fish that can live up to 150 years and that looks much as it did in the age of the dinosaurs. Learn more about some of the animals on display in Ridges to Rivers at tnaqua.org/exhibit/ridges-to-rivers

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