"Considering our location on the Strip, I think we are a destination unto ourselves."
Adrienne Rowland is talking about the Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef Aquarium, which celebrates both its 10-year anniversary and its 10 millionth visitor this month. As the reef's director, Rowland oversees the nation's only aquarium based in a casino.
In March 2003, the aquarium became the first animal care facility in Nevada to be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
"We bring a lot to the city of Las Vegas," said Rowland, whose reef has more than 2,000 species of aquatic life. "We are a part of many people's visits when they come to Vegas. And we do have people that come specifically to see the Shark Reef. We get visitors from all over the world. We've welcomed more than 150,000 local schoolchildren through formal education programs."
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the reef recently added a bowmouth guitarfish, better known as a shark ray. One of fewer than a dozen such animals in aquariums throughout the country, the female shark ray was acquired from the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium after it outgrew that facility. Little is known about the 5-foot, 90-pound shark ray, which is listed as a vulnerable species.
"Shark Reef Aquarium's mission is to display unique predators from ocean environments across the world in order to educate the public about the wonders of the sea and the dangers some of its wonderful inhabitants face," Jack Jewell, the aquarium's general curator, said in a statement. "The shark ray, with so few of its kind and its mesmerizing prehistoric appearance, is a perfect fit for our aquarium."
Getting tanked in Vegas
About $60 million was pumped into creating the facility, and 10 years later the Shark Reef is one of the city's most prized possessions, from both cultural and tourism perspectives.
"Most people are pleasantly surprised when they visit; they didn't know that we were a full-fledged aquarium with so many species of animal life," Rowland said. "We're not as big as other aquariums, but we have the same level of animal care and education and offer the same level of public outreach as destination aquariums like Monterey Bay [in Monterey, Calif.] and Aquarium of the Pacific [Long Beach, Calif.]. We make our own salt water, and we're responsible for the life support for all animals."
Endangered species housed at the Shark Reef include the Komodo dragon, sawfish and green sea turtles. Threatened species include the arapaima. It also has species rarely exhibited at zoos and aquariums, such as black piranha, the southern fiddler ray, the Galapagos shark and gray reef shark. Animals born in the aquarium include southern stingrays, Motoro rays, bamboo sharks, bonnethead sharks, blacktip reef sharks, California round rays and pupfish.
Exhibits include a 12,000-gallon freshwater exhibit featuring a golden crocodile; a Komodo dragon refuge; a 700-gallon exhibit housing cichlids; a 960-gallon freshwater exhibit for the Asian water monitor (the second-largest lizard in the world); a 30,000-gallon freshwater habitat for Amazon predators; a 44,000-gallon saltwater exhibit featuring tropical fish; a 144,000-gallon saltwater exhibit for Indo-Pacific marine life; a 2,500-gallon saltwater touch pool with stingrays and horseshoe crabs; a 2,500-gallon saltwater tank with venomous fish like the lionfish; a 2,500-gallon saltwater home for moon jellyfish; a 30,000-gallon saltwater refuge for shark species and rays; Pacific octopus in a 2,500-gallon saltwater display; piranhas in a 2,000-gallon freshwater exhibit; and a shipwreck exhibit.
Herbivores beware
The reef is North America's only predator-based aquarium and exhibit (there are 15 species of sharks).
Over the years, reef officials have added species as well as a variety of programming to educate and entertain guests. Last year, Shark Reef launched Dive With Sharks for scuba-certified guests staying at Mandalay Bay or TheHotel at Mandalay Bay.
"We haven't really advertised the program at all, but now almost every experience is booked. The program runs four days a week with two divers per experience," Rowland said. As for new species, "we do large-scale introductions once a year or every other year, depending on the availability of species. We added the Komodo dragon two years ago."
Further testament to its popularity, Rowland said guests have asked for tours to be conducted in dozens of languages. "We offer tours in English, Spanish and Japanese. Every day we get asked to offer tours in other languages.
"The reef was designed to mimic the Indo-Pacific region. Over the years, we've added an Amazon exhibit, octopus and Caribbean reef exhibits and a shipwreck exhibit."
The second of the aquarium's two birthday celebrations takes place Aug. 21 (the first was on July 17).
Party guests will enjoy an array of special prices and activities, including $10 admission for adults and $5 for children (children ages 4 and under are free); 10% off merchandise; a $10 meal deal at Burgers & Dogs; and complimentary cookies, face-painting, balloon animals, birthday "fin" crowns and special appearances by "Sharky" the Shark.
Shark Reef offers a comprehensive educational program for students of all ages. Two sessions are conducted Mondays though Fridays. The program includes a one-hour guided tour of the aquarium as well as a one-hour classroom session.
The Shark Reef Aquarium is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets are $16.95 for adults and $10.95 for children ages 5 through 12; children 4 and younger enter for free.
For more information, log on to www.mandalaybay.com or www.sharkreef.com, or call (702) 632-4555.
This report appeared in the Aug. 9 issue of Travel Weekly.