501 E. Pratt St. 410-576-3800.<\/em> aqua.org<\/em><\/p>\n There’s something fishy about the numbers. Last year, 1.3 million people visited the National Aquarium, eager to see the sharks, dolphins and other critters that call it home. In August, the venue logged its 60 millionth guest as one of America’s foremost displays of marine exhibits \u2014 from the barramundi, an Asian sea bass that changes sex as it grows, to the Australian lungfish, whose ancestral DNA harks back more than 400 million years.<\/p>\n Here, visitors with otherwise short attention spans may gaze at the watery offerings for hours, giggling at the antics of Atlantic puffins, gasping at the sight of blacktip reef sharks and basking in the biodiversity of the 13,000 organisms that have captivated crowds for 44 years.<\/p>\n “We’re always wiping nose prints and fingerprints off the glass, and not just from kids,” said Emma Wesoloski, the Aquarium’s vice president of marketing. “That speaks to the power of water, and to the animals that live there. People use [their visit] as a time to slow down, to not be on their phones. They have ‘zen moments’ here.”<\/p>\n Routinely, Wesoloski said, the aquarium draws out-of-towners, in Baltimore on business, seeking respites from their work.<\/p>\n “They take time away from the hustle and bustle of their everyday lives,” she said. 80% of visitors hail from outside the Baltimore area, and their habitats are as far-reaching as those of the animals and plants themselves.<\/p>\n A favorite attraction is the jellyfish exhibit, a hands-on display of nine alien-like jellies swimming in a touch pool, along with sting rays and horseshoe crabs.<\/p>\n “People come and fall in love with our animals,” Wesoloski said. Also, with each other. Couples hold engagement parties at the aquarium where, in a tank at the Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit, amid the eels, sharks and turtles, a diver will tap on the glass and hold up a sign from the groom-to-be asking, “Will you marry me?”<\/em><\/p>\n Have a news tip? Contact Mike Klingaman at jklingaman@baltsun.com and 410-332-6456.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20240711events_MemberEvening-0102.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1\")