Take a peek beneath the surface with a visit to the reimagined, state-of-the-art Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans. Marvel at more than 3,600 animals from over 250 species in an AZA-accredited aquarium voted one of the top five aquariums in the USA Today 10 Best reader poll. Make your own way to the aquarium, which is adjacent to the French Quarter. Once inside, explore a vast underwater world spanning the Caribbean and the Amazon Rainforest to the waters that give New Orleans its lifeblood: the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Touch sharks and stingrays in the Shark Discovery Touch Pool, and enter a 30-foot-long tunnel to admire aquatic creatures of all shapes and sizes as they swim through the Great Maya Reef habitat. In the Amazon Rainforest gallery, discover lush plant life, free-flying birds, stunning aquatic species such as piranhas and pacus, an anaconda snake, and much more. Feel amazed by the aquarium’s largest exhibit, the 450,000-gallon Gulf of Mexico habitat.