Georgia Aquarium

America is a country that enjoys superlatives. There’s hardly a town that doesn’t contain the biggest something. It’s only fitting then that Atlanta, being a major city, should boast the world’s biggest aquarium. Opened in 2005, there are some eight million gallons of water swilling round the Georgia aquarium, home to half a million species and already an expansion is underway to make room for dolphins. The aquarium is divided into five habitats, with the crowd favourite likely to be ‘Ocean Voyager’, with its giant whale sharks and manta ray, the only one ever housed in an American aquarium. In the cold water section are the striking white beluga whales and in the tropical section is what seems like miles of beautifully arranged coral reef. The aquarium has already been a staggering success, attracting over a million visitors within the first four months. Astonishingly, the founder of Home Depot paid most of the cost of building the aquarium himself with a gift of $250 million; the land was donated by another prominent local company, Coca-Cola. See www.georgiaaquarium.org.