We had such a great time on our Small Town Living USA road trip!  Tulsa, OK and surrounding areas was our destination to interview some small businesses for our Behind the Scenes articles.  We met some of the most amazing people and business owners!

Our first stop was not so much a small business, but is definitely a must see if you are ever in the area.  The Oklahoma Aquarium was so much fun and would be perfect for families to visit.  We had a great time and learned so much on our behind the scenes tour!

Michelle was our tour guide and did an amazing job!  Thanks so much Michelle!

Hands down our very favorite part of the aquarium was the Shark Adventure.  The Oklahoma Aquarium is home to the largest Bull Sharks in captivity.  They have one of the world’s largest collection of Bull Sharks.  In the wild Bull Sharks will live approximately 15 years, but in captivity they live about 30 years.  The aquarium has an acrylic walk-through tunnel.  So cool!  Sharks are swimming all around you.  We loved this!

As much fun as this was, it got even better!  We got to go behind the scenes where they feed the sharks and where the divers go into the tank.  I can’t even describe this to you.  You are up on top of this massive tank looking down into the water at the sharks.  They can see and hear you, so they were very eager to come to the top of the water to see what was going on.  Michelle explained that they are very curious by nature.  This alone was worth the trip!  We found out that Bull Sharks eat seafood.  On the menu the day we were there was tuna and salmon!

If something a little less scary is your thing, then Sea Turtle Island is for you.  This exhibit also is so neat!  The tank for the sea turtles is 56,000 gallons.  It is surrounded by a boardwalk.  There are 3 viewing levels.  There is even a little viewing area for children where they can see under the water into the tank.  The tank contains two 300 pound Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Reef Sharks and many tropical fish.  The area is so vibrant and full of color.  We learned that sea turtles can live to be 100 years old!

Along with massive amounts of different types of fish, you will find beavers, otters, sharks, electric eels, piranhas, sting rays, turtles, octopus and more at the Oklahoma Aquarium.  We even got to meet a Ball Python up close and personal!  If you love learning about aquatic plants and coral reef, you can do that here at the aquarium also.

The Oklahoma Aquarium opened in May 2003.  They have around 50 employees.  They offer many educational programs throughout the year.  This summer they are offering a Marine Biology program for 12-16 year olds.  How much fun! 🙂  School children come to the aquarium on school trips, as well.  April and May are super busy with school aged children at the aquarium.  They average around 1,000 children a day that come on school trips during the week.  Whew, glad we came on the weekend!  🙂

A really popular offering the Oklahoma Aquarium has is the touch and feed areas.  There are turtle and fish feeding times at the aquarium and stingray and shark touch tank times.  Children and adults both were enjoying feeding and touching at the designated areas.

The Oklahoma Aquarium is located at 300 S Aquarium Dr, Jenks, OK  74037.  If you are ever in Oklahoma, this is a must stop to add to your itinerary!  Even if you don’t have any children or grandchildren, you really need to check it out.  It is a lot of fun even if you are an adult!

Have an amazing day!