The National Aquarium in Baltimore is located in the famous Inner Harbor area of Baltimore City. It was opened in 1981 and was constructed during the urban renewal period of Baltimore City. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is currently the largest tourist attraction in the state of Maryland. As of October 22 2003, the National Aquarium in Baltimore is currently undergoing renovations and expansions. The expanded portion of the National Aquarium in Baltimore will be 65,400 square feet and is expected to open in Spring of 2005. In Spring of 2005, visitors to the National Aquarium in Baltimore can expect to see a glass-enclosed expanded portion of the aquarium, a waterfront park in front of the expanded portion, in the park there will be interactive and hands-on activities that will teach visitors about bayscaping, the bird-box building, the nationally recognized National Aquarium in Baltimore's Marine Animal Rescue Program, water quality testing, marine debris issues, and wetland restoration. Inside the expanded portion of the National Aquarium in Baltimore directly in the main entrance into the expanded portion, there will be a 35-foot waterfall that was modeled from an actual waterfall in a Maryland state park and the waterfall will be visible from people outside of the aquarium. Also inside the expanded portion, there will be a recreation of an Australian habitat. The Umbrawarra Gorge of Australia will be carefully depicted inside the upper portion of the expanded building, the exhibit will depict lands of fire, drought, and flood. Aboriginal artwork will also be found on the recreation of the gorge and will be based on actual Aboriginal artwork that has been found in Australia, that will convey messages of sacred interpetations of the native people and the land that they live on. In Spring of 2005, visitors will be able to visit an entirely new National Aquarium in Baltimore.

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