There's something fishy in the air...
By Lindsay Goodier

The Oklahoma Aquarium, located across the Arkansas River on 96th Street in Jenks, had its preview opening on March 1. This more than $20 million project has been a work in progress for over a decade and is expected to increase tourism in the Tulsa area.

The Oklahoma Aquarium is a project of breakthroughs. It is the largest aquarium in Oklahoma and one of the only aquariums in the world that is located in a land-locked area.

It is also home to the only seamless domed shark tank in the world. Two tunnels lead visitors into the dome-shaped tank, which offers a 360-degree view of the sharks. The 480,000-gallon tank is home to four lemon sharks and four bull sharks, one of which is the largest bull shark in captivity.

The Oklahoma Aquarium also includes the world's largest collection of antique fishing tackle-Karl and Beverly White's Antique Fishing Tackle Museum. Heather Foster, an intern for the aquarium, said this is designed to attract recreational fisherman. "It's one of the first aquarium that's going hand-in-hand with recreational fishermen," Foster said.

Aquariums near the ocean use salt water, but the Oklahoma Aquarium uses a form of glorified salt water. It is in this water that two king crabs successfully shed their shells at the Aquarium, perhaps the first successful molting in man-modified water, said aquarium officials.

The Oklahoma Aquarium is revolutionary in creating a biologically sound environment. It is one of the only aquariums in which the biologists themselves either built or helped build all of the life support systems. Another cutting edge process it has been involved in is lowering salinities for new fish, a technique that most other aquariums have not yet started. The Aquarium is also the first to discover an unidentified eel disease, which was recently found in one of its moray eels.

While the Oklahoma Aquarium is home to fish from the Caribbean, the Pacific and Alaska, it is also committed to educating people about Oklahoma water creatures. These include Oklahoma snapping turtles, which can grow to be up to 200 pounds, and the unique Oklahoma paddlefish.

The Aquarium will open in the month of March for members only and continue to add animals and exhibits as they approach their summer grand opening. The preview opening price is $9.95 for adults, while the full opening price will be $12.95. Students can also receive a full-year membership to the Aquarium for $35.

This multi-million dollar project is already preparing the small, suburban town of Jenks for tourism. Restaurants are slowly finding south Riverside Drive to be a fine place to do business. It will soon be the home of Tulsa's third Outback Steakhouse, the state's first Red Robin Gourmet Hamburgers and the 16th Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy store in Tulsa.

"The entire community of Jenks is going to pretty much be rocked," Foster said. Besides offering ORU students an interesting entertainment alternative, the Oklahoma Aquarium also provides job options.

"[There are] excellent opportunities for ORU students to do internships, not only in biology, but also in business, multimedia and computer science. We currently have one alumnus working there full time and three students as interns," said Dr. John Korstad of the Biology Department at ORU.

Finals Schedule