WILDLIFE & CONSERVATION
Key West Aquarium
Monroe County · South Florida & the Keys
A small aquarium at 1 Whitehead Street beside Mallory Square, opened in 1935 as a Works Progress Administration project.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
It was the first open-air aquarium in the United States. Doctor Robert Van Deusen, who ran the Fairmount Park Aquarium in Philadelphia, designed it, and the roof was added later. Admission at the opening was fifteen cents for an adult and five for a child, at a time when the federal government was deliberately turning a bankrupt Key West into a tourist town. Sharks, sea turtles, alligators and jellyfish are held here along with the reef fish of the Keys, and the touch tank takes conchs, sea stars, slate pencil sea urchins, sea cucumbers, hermit crabs and horseshoe crabs, which children are allowed to pick up under supervision. Guided tours run through the day with feedings along the way. A restoration in 2023 added air conditioning and a new entrance without altering the historic character, and the Historic Florida Keys Foundation recognized the work. More than two hundred and fifty animals are held, including four of the five sea turtle species and nurse, sandbar, blacknose and lemon sharks, along with moray eels, barracuda, grouper and jellyfish. Presentations run about every half hour through the day: shark and ray feedings, tarpon feeding and sea turtle talks. Some of the resident turtles wear prosthetic flippers made for them. The number is 305-910-2791
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