A West Coast sea nettle propels itself with pulsing contractions. If so, a visit to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga may be in order. The world's largest freshwater aquarium traces the path of a drop of water as it journeys from the headwaters of the Tennessee River to the Gulf of Mexico. Visitors begin their journey above water, in the Appalachian Cove Forest exhibit. At the top of the building, under a tall, pyramidal skylight, bobwhites and bluebirds call to each other above the crash of a waterfall.
Cardinals nest among leafy branches.
It's hot and humid here in July, but come December, ice will form on the falls. Two river otters tussle as if it's morning or doze as if it's afternoon. But few fish are in evidence until visitors pass through a revolving door to the aquarium's spiraling central ramp, flanked by tanks. The first, the Mountain Sink exhibit, shows the waterfall from beneath. Bubbles from the falls stab downward into deep, cold water, where rainbow and brook trout circle and feed.