North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores

Feel the spray of a mountain waterfall. Watch river otters play. Touch a stingray. Look a shark in the eye. Explore shipwrecks – without getting wet. See a rare white sea turtle and let your spirits soar as raptors and waterbirds fly overhead. Thousands of aquatic animals take you on a journey from the state’s grand peaks to the open Atlantic, much as a raindrop makes its way to the ocean. The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores originally opened in 1976. It closed at the end of 2003 for a major renovation that tripled its size, and reopened in May 2006. In all, more than 11 million people have visited in the 34 years the Aquarium has championed its mission, “inspiring appreciation and conservation of North Carolina’s aquatic environments.”  The North Carolina Aquariums Division, under the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, operates the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and also the North Carolina Aquariums at Fort Fisher and on Roanoke Island, and Jennette's Pier.