What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1072716
JANUARY 20-26, 2019 WHAT'S UP! 9 FAQ Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium WHEN — Currently 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday & Sunday; 9 a.m.-8p.m. Saturday; see website for full schedule. WHERE — 500 W Sunshine St., Spring- field, Mo. COST — Adults: $14.95- $39.95; kids 4-11: $9.95-23.95 INFO — 888-222-6060, wondersof wildlife. org, info@wondersof wildlife.org BONUS — Though we didn't participate, a sweet touch for families and little ones was the interactive "exhibit" where guests can design and color their own creatures with provided mate- rials and then watch them come to life on a screen made to look like a real exhibit. your chin as you descend into the underwater cage already in the exhibit. The safety diver in the cage with us helped us lower to our knees (you don't really want to stay standing with that helmet on for 20 minutes, even under water) and there we were — literally face- to-face with reef fish, several-hundred- pound Atlantic goliath grouper, barracuda, a brown shark and three sand tiger sharks. A few of the smaller reef fish were curious about the new additions to their home and swam right up to the bars to get a good look at us. Most of the exhibition's inhabitants were indifferent to our arrival, though. They swam languidly, or now and then moved from one side of the exhibit to the other with perceived purpose. When looking at the exhibition through the glass from the normal visitor's perspective, the cage is against the far back wall, so the marine life stretched out between us and the guests on the other side of the glass. A space between the cage and the wall, though, allowed the fish to swim around us on all sides and brought them very close to the bars — including the sharks. With four sharks in the exhibit with us (and many other fish, but the sharks, admittedly, were the most alluring) we couldn't keep an eye on them all at once. The safety diver with us the whole time was quick to get our attention when one of the sharks floated especially close to the cage so we never missed them. Inside the cage, each diver is given a GoPro camera to record (short) video and take pictures. Having never used a GoPro — and finding the screen so small when it was in my hand — the pictures were far better than my expectations. There is also a small booklet in front of each diver with identifying photos of the fish so you can always know what you're looking at, and a small doodle pad should you need to communicate with your companions. My friend and I mostly just spent the time watching in awe, though, forgetting even to take very many pictures. The realization that I was underwater, in an exhibition with SHARKS — an encounter many people will never experience in their lifetime — and the fact that I didn't have to travel to a coast to do it, was overwhelming, exhilarating and very moving for me. The whole experience lasts around an hour and a half, with around 20 minutes being spent in the water. And participants receive a flash drive at the end with their recordings. While the dive was the major excitement of the day, I'd be remiss if I didn't emphasize the marvel that is the full aquarium adventure. From the moment you step through the front door to the lobby bathed in a deep blue light — like you've stepped under water yourself — the WoW aquarium fully adheres to the buzzword of the day: immersive. Highlights during our visit included watching playful otters, the bewitching jellyfish, the touch tank of stingrays and walking through a tunnel full of river "monsters." Just as on the gallery side, the exhibitions and habitats in the aquarium take you through the swamp lands of America, the Amazon rain forest, the depths of the ocean and more, with the same astonishing attention to detail. FYI Out to Sea Shark Dive Experience Open to children 10 and older. Cost $130 ($90/ members); Feeding Frenzy $155 ($115/ members) Tickets are currently on special promotion at $95/$55 for the dive and $120/$80 for the Feeding Frenzy through the end of January. More photos and video are available at nwadg. com/features/ whatsup. "I only spent a few hours at Wonders of Wildlife, but could easily devote an entire day to exploring every corner." — JOCELYN MURPHY