Waikiki Aquarium
Waikiki Aquarium Entrance
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| Date opened | 1904 |
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| Location | Honolulu, Hawaii, United States |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 21°15′57″N 157°49′19″W / 21.2659°N 157.8220°W |
| Website | www |
The Waikiki Aquarium is an aquarium in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Founded in 1904, it is the second oldest public aquarium in the United States. Since 1919, the Waikiki Aquarium has been an institution of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Built next to a living coral reef on the Waikiki shoreline, the Waikiki Aquarium is home to more than 3,500 organisms of 490 species of marine plants and animals. Each year, over 330,000 people visit, and over 30,000 schoolchildren participate in the Aquarium's education activities and programs. The Waikiki Aquarium was designated a Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center of the Coastal America Partnership federal program.
The Waikiki Aquarium was established on March 19, 1904, by the Honolulu Rapid Transit Authority, a forerunner of the present-day TheBus. Then known as the Honolulu Aquarium, its purpose was to entice travelers to ride the trolley all the way to the end of the line at Queen Kapiʻolani Park. It was built on land donated by James Bicknell Castle with funds from Charles Montague Cooke and his wife Anna Rice Cooke. In 1955, the Aquarium moved to its present location, a 2.35-acre parcel of land two hundred yards south of the original site, and changed its name to Waikiki Aquarium.
The aquarium opened in 1904 with 35 tanks and 400 marine organisms, and during its first year, biologist David Starr Jordan proclaimed it as having the finest collection of fishes in the world . Considered state-of-the-art at that time, the aquarium also received positive comments from such notable visitors of that era as William Jennings Bryan and Jack London.
The Aquarium has had five directors. Frederick A. Potter, a clerk for the Honolulu Rapid Transit Company, was transferred to manage the Aquarium, becoming the first director in 1904. Despite his lack of formal training in marine sciences, Potter was a vigorous supporter of Hawaiian ichthyology, and served as director until May 1940. Potter's Angelfish (Centropyge potteri), was named in his honor.
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