Amazon River Forest, the first new permanent exhibit for the Aquarium in nine years, gives visitors an extraordinary view of this highly specialized and critically endangered habitat of South America. Visitors travel along a 57-foot stretch of an Amazon tributary, caught in the moment of time before it floods into the surrounding forest. In this rare glimpse into a still largely unknown world, travelers discover the amazing diversity of life that has adapted to this seasonally changing environment. Using three major displays and interactive computer stations, Amazon River Forest illustrates the dramatic difference between the rainy and the dry seasons in the same section of the forest. When the Amazon River and the rivers that feed it swell to create flooded forests, lakes, and floating meadows, water levels may rise 30 feet or more for an average of five to seven months.
Water spreads for miles into the trees, giving fish as much forest access as birds.
Once they have experienced the sights and sounds of the flooded forest, visitors can head for high ground and learn more about the rain forest and the need to protect it in the Aquarium's South American Rain Forest, home to many species of free-roaming birds, reptiles, and amphibians, and the adjacent Hidden Life Exhibit, which showcases an extensive collection of rare poison dart frogs. Along with the new Amazon River Forest, these exhibits comprise one of the most comprehensive rainforest experiences in the country.