Australia – the largest of islands in the world, and the smallest of the continents. When you wish to visit Australia, you may plan of meeting the kangaroos first, won’t you? Again, the main attractions of Australia are consistent of the Lotus Temple, Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park, Port Arthur, and so on. But apart from these majesties, what goes unseen by the tourists is the Sydney Aquarium. It is a public aquarium located in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern side of Darling Harbor to the north of Pyrmont Bridge.

Australia is known for its marine life. The Sydney Aquarium contains a large variety of Australian aquatic life. It has on display, more than 650 species that comprise more than 6,000 individual fish and other creature from most of Australia’s sea and habitats. Key features of this aquarium are the series of underwater, see-through, acrylic glass tunnels where sharks swim over the visitors. There is a recreated Great Barrier Reef coral environment.

The Building

During Australia’s bicentenary celebrations, the Sydney Aquarium was opened in 1988. It is one of the largest aquariums in the world and regarded as Sydney’s premier tourist attractions. But only 55% of the visitors coming from overseas to Australia every year visit this place. The rest approximate half misses it out. Sydney Wildlife World had opened in 2006, next to the aquarium. It is owned by the same Sydney Attractions Group. A crocodile exhibition was recently added to the plan of the aquarium in 2008.

The Sydney Aquarium exhibits the following areas in which it is divided, for convenience of tourists and maintenance.

• Southern Rivers – Platypus and Murray-Darling river habitats
• Northern Rivers – Saltwater Crocodiles and Barramundi

• Mermaid Lagoon – Dugong exhibit

• Southern Ocean – Little Penguins, Sydney Harbor and Open Oceanarium habitat
• Northern Ocean – Great Barrier Reef Oceanarium

A brief about the aquatic life

The critters, potentially capable of causing some damage, sharks and the crocs are on the top list of the aquatic world of Australia. The large Arthur, the three meter salt water crocodile, is one of the first residents you can meet if you visit the Sydney Aquarium. It is ancient and slightly menacing, lolling from just above the waterline with eyes watching you. Port Jackson sharks are significantly less dangerous and look like giant fih tank cat fish. Their skin is soft, dappling camouflage of tan, green and grey. And the most unique thing about them is their eggs, which are screw shaped. They come close to the top of the of the critters’ list. The enactment here of the Great Barrier Reef of Australia shows vast variety of graceful sting rays, manta rays, and sharks, coasting above in the glass tunnels, under which you walk. You’ll experience the view of a diver’s eye, just without getting wet with the swim suit on. Can’t this be appropriately called Virtual Diving? You can also find a couple of poor fish here in the tank, which seem as if taken nibbles out of them. So if you crave the opportunity of having an actual dive and feed the fish, not to worry. You get an all-in-one experience in this majestic collection of Australia’s marine life, the Sydney Aquarium.