Yes, it’s called Shark Reef. No, those aren’t lawyers swimming toward you. Their suits would shrink. (Just joshing, ye noble esquires—we know you can take a joke.) Rather, these are the sharks with fins and toothy grins. Don’t worry—you won’t need a bigger boat. Or any boat.
Just step lively into the world under the waves at Shark Reef Aquarium, a sensory immersion into 14 exhibits (since this is Vegas, should we nickname it Oceans 14?) that has been a must-see since its opening in 2000. Winding through a jungle environment, it widens into a 1.3-million-gallon sunken shipwreck (one of the largest tanks in North America), where you can ogle 2,000 sea citizens (yup—2,000) from tropical waters.
Adding to the mystique is the scenery of an ancient temple that is, as the aquarium describes it, “slowly being claimed by the sea.” Visitors stroll through an acrylic tunnel affording a swivel-headed, 360-degree view of more than 100 species of ocean dwellers.
Surely some of the fearsome predators are the aforementioned sharks—15 species, among them the sandbar, sandtiger, sawfish, whitetip and blacktip variety—but the keepers of the creatures insist that they are not the most dangerous in residence at Shark Reef. That honor goes to an 8-foot-long, Indonesian Komodo dragon—known as the world’s largest living lizard sporting the added charm of being venomous—with the crocodiles nipping at its heel (as it were).
And in case you thought you were the only species that splurges here in Vegas, know that the staff at Shark Reef fixes daily meals for their little (and not-so-little) water pals with a menu that includes chicken, lettuce, nuts, berries, mackerel, jumbo prawn and specialty cakes brimming with proteins. (Granted, the dishes aren’t prepared by Wolfgang Puck.)
Additionally, a touch pool invites the sort of one-on-one relatability you wouldn’t necessarily want with the dragon and crocs, rather allowing visitors to pet an array of fish, rays and horseshoe crabs. And that includes some of the, shall we say, nicer sharks—though that may seem like an oxymoron.
New to Shark Reef is the Polar Journey, an interactive attraction that reveals the Earth’s polar regions and the animals that claim it as home. Guests can see informational films, play games, take quizzes, interact with wall projections, see 3-D images, virtually feed the animals and take a motion ride that simulates a submarine trip. By journey’s end, you’ll know more about the ice caps, global warming, underwater polar creatures and the Arctic region.
Special to Shark Reef (through September 6) is the National Geographic Photo Ark, designed to raise awareness and promote protection of wildlife and their habitats. Highlighting the work of photographer Joel Sartore, the exhibit documents every species in the world’s zoos and wildlife sanctuaries through 40 countries. Portraits span approximately 12,000 species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
Spend enough time at Shark Reef and you’ll come away feeling you’ve met, more or less, nearly every creature that could slither, crawl and swim from the watery depths to greet us here in the Nevada desert.
You will not, however, meet “Bruce,” the infamous great white shark from Jaws. If you did … well then, yes, you would need a bigger boat.
10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., last entry one hour prior to close, $20, $14 children 4-12, free children 3 and younger, Nevada residents with proper ID receive a discount; Polar Journey $15 for exhibition only, $5 with Shark Reef Aquarium ticket. 702.632.4555
