Great Lakes Aquarium Reopens

This season the aquarium celebrates its 20th anniversary

DULUTH, Minn. – The Great Lakes Aquarium has reopened for the first time since March.

“Everybody that I’ve seen come in this building, it just brings a big smile to my face,” said executive director Jay Walker. “It just feels like getting back to some level of normalcy.”

Guests are asked to ‘follow the flow’ and give themselves around the aquarium moving in the same direction as the arrows placed on the floor.

Families move through the displays featuring fish and other animals in the Lake Superior watershed.

“We did a little fishing on the lake yesterday, so we thought it would be fun to see everything it has to offer with seeing the fish in here,” said Renee Westphal who visited the aquarium with her family.

Most of the attraction is back open with only small sections unavailable to help promote social distancing.

“Some of our interactive displays and our touch pools are currently closed, though the touch pools, you can still see the animals that would be in them, we’re just not doing the touching experience,” explained Walker.

This summer is the aquarium’s 20th anniversary. Some planned exhibits have been scaled back, but staff are excited to show off two displays.

“We have a Virginia opossum and we have two striped skunks,” said Walker. “The striped skunks we’ve had here but they’ve been mostly a program animal, but now we have them on exhibit.”

Admission is now offered at a discounted rate, giving guests a great chance to see the diverse animals at a premium cost.

“Animals are awesome and you can see animals from far away that you’ve never seen before,” said aquarium-goer Aubriella Rehfuss.

This summer, the aquarium is holding a summer camp in a box program for kids to have a learning experience from the comfort of their homes.

“Parents can get a box and they get all the materials they need for camp for a week,” explained Walker.

The Great Lakes Aquarium is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.