Back at the Camden Adventure Aquarium for another season, Shark Summer will be in full swing from July 17 to Aug. 20. The annual event gives visitors the opportunity to learn more about the apex predators, and also, participate in some unique activities.
One event has been brought back by popular demand—and it involves a scuba fairy. As the release states, on average, sharks lose about 35,000 teeth in their lifetime, and as “the proud home to the largest collection of sharks in the Northeast,” the Adventure Aquarium’s Scuba Tooth Fairy will be searching for some of those gems in the venue’s 550,000-gallon Ocean Realm exhibit.
The fairy will be diving daily throughout the activation at 11:45 a.m., 12:45 p.m., and 2:45 p.m, and this activity is included with admission.
The CAA houses a variety of sharks that Philadelphians can see as well, including a critically endangered great hammerhead shark, sand tiger sharks, endangered sandbar sharks, and vulnerable Pacific blacktip reef sharks, nurse sharks, silky sharks, white-spotted bamboo sharks, brown-banded bamboo sharks, and epaulet sharks.
“The depiction of sharks in pop culture has given them a bad rap with the public,” said Adventure Aquarium General Curator Nikki Grandinetti in a statement. “At Adventure Aquarium, our goal is to teach guests about sharks so that we can change their minds about these incredible creatures. A win for us is seeing an educational experience inspire someone who once feared sharks to revere them.”
Guests who head to Shark Summer can also join in on the Shark & Ray encounter. Through this event, swimmers are led by guides into the shark exhibit with wetsuits and masks to a 5 to 6-foot wall acting as a barrier between them and the many species of sharks that live in the CAA. After hanging with the sharks for about 15 minutes, guests then have the opportunity to hang out with stingrays in an adjacent exhibit where guests can swim and feed the rays. This particular activation is available to book online for anyone 12 years old+, and is limited to Fridays at 1 p.m. and Saturdays/Sundays at 10 a.m. or 1 p.m.
Another activity available for purchase during this summertime activation is the Top of the Shark Realm Tours. While on the tour, visitors can get a behind-the-scenes aerial view of Adventure Aquarium’s Shark Realm exhibit and its dozens of aquatic creatures (including the sandbar and sand tiger sharks mentioned before.) Tours are available to purchase online only for $20 and include a commemorative photo to keep.
The Aquarium in general also offers different and one-of-a-kind views of the apex predators through its shark tunnel underneath the 21-foot exhibit or across its shark bridge—which happens to be the largest of its kind in the country.
Other activities for family fun during Shark Summer included with admission span different hands-on activities like a Shark Activity sheet or ways to get creative and color your own eco-friendly shark hat. And as a release states, the Adventure Aquarium will also offer chances to chat with a Shark Expert to learn more about “the ocean’s most misunderstood creatures,” test your shark knowledge during a Shark-centric edition of the Walk the Plank game show, or catch shark-themed lights at the top of each hour in the Aquarium’s expansive Rotunda.
Tickets for Shark Summer at the Camden Adventure Aquarium (1 Riverside Drive, Camden, New Jersey) are available for purchase now at AdventureAquarium.com.
