Ripley's Aquarium: Our Field Trip to a South Carolina Hot Spot

It's summertime, and the kids are out of school. What better time to take some day trips to your local sea aquarium than on summer vacation? In Georgia, there is the Georgia Aquarium, and in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, there is the Ripley's Aquarium. Wherever you live, there should be a sea aquarium somewhere near you. I've been to the Georgia Aquarium several times and I'm almost transfixed by the beautiful Beluga whales.

A few weeks ago I visited a friend in South Carolina. She is a home school teacher and mother of 4. She invited me to go on a field trip with them to Ripley's Aquarium, and I said I'd love to go-thinking that it would make for a great article. We stood on this moving sidewalk and saw many giant sharks, including bonnet-heads and hammerhead sharks, and many different kinds of sting rays.

We went to different exhibits; one was Rio Amazon, which is a freshwater exhibit. In the Rio Amazon exhibit we saw piranha, sea anemones, sea dragons, a giant octopus, and many other fish that are native to the Amazon rain forest areas. What was amazing to me was that the fish were not trying to eat one another. It was amazing to stand in the clear tunnel and watch the beautiful creatures go about their business. Many of the dolphins were just as curious about us as we were about them. They are so used to seeing people that they must think we are there to entertain them.

Classes for marine education are presented every hour at the Sea-For-Yourself Discovery Center. There is a multimedia playground an interactive activity center. There is a learning center where teachers of traditional schools and home school teachers can get study programs written to satisfy the state educational requirements.

When I visited the Ripley's Aquarium I not only learned about the fish in the tanks, but I also learned about their natural habitat. There are guides at the exhibits that give an introduction of the kinds of sea animals and they give information about their natural habitats.