Ripley’s Aquarium TOronto

For decades, parents trying to edu-tain their tots have had to choose between the same old standbys: the AGO, the ROM, the Science Centre. This summer, though, there will be a new option—Ripley’s Aquarium, a 135,000-square-foot, $130-million fish tank at the foot of the CN Tower. Over 15,000 species from all over the world will be on display. Budding Cousteaus will be drawn to the extensive education programs (including overnight aquarium camps that teach about biodiversity, conservation and the difference between kelp forests and coral reefs). People who just want to see something really cool—which, presumably, will be most of the two million anticipated annual visitors—will head for the Shark Lagoon. In a giant, 2.84-million-litre tank, a dozen sand tiger sharks (each about as long as a Mini Cooper) will swim among sea turtles, manta rays and sawfish (which look like a splice between a stingray and a chainsaw). The best part will be the view. Rather than top down or from the side—the way you might look in at, say, Marineland—visitors will feel fully immersed as they glide along a 96-metre, acrylic-domed moving sidewalk, looking up and around at menacing fins and rows of teeth as the sharks float past.

For the rest of this story, please see the June 2013 issue of Toronto Life magazine.