Audubon Aquarium — Attraction in New Orleans

So, it started out great - I was really enjoying myself; they had great exhibits with a range of fish and sea creatures. However, then I saw the baby alligators. There were about 5 of them in a very small tank in the middle of the room. Something about the way they looked just made me feel quite sad. The only other alligator in the aquarium was a fully grown, leucistic (white) alligator. So it made me wonder - what happens when the baby alligators are fully grown? Will they create a new enclosure for them? Or release them to the wild?

I decided to ask a couple of staff members standing around. They seemed a little bit awkward as they explained, in a rather roundabout fashion, that once the alligators become larger, the aquarium sells them to farms so they can be killed for their meat and skin (to make wallets and bags etc). This was very disturbing to hear, especially having just days ago seen the wild alligators thriving at Honey Island swamp. I understand that farming and killing alligators for their meat and skin is a big business in Louisiana, but for a zoo to partake in this? Zoos/aquariums are supposed to exist for education and conservation purposes. If alligators are to be killed for their meat and skin, they should at least be given a chance to escape and survive in the wild. Not to be LITERALLY bred in captivity, only to be sold off for execution. And CERTAINLY not by an aquarium.

The staff member tried to justify this to me by insisting that if these alligators were now released into the wild, they would not know how to hunt or survive, as they have been bred in captivity. Isn't that just case in point? The alternatives are plain: either don't raise baby alligators in the aquarium, or if you do and they're deemed unable to survive out in the wild, give them to an animal sanctuary.

The thought of these poor baby alligators having a miserable beginning to their existence - not getting to breathe fresh air, sitting in a tiny glass case, with humans sticking their faces up to and tapping on the glass - only to be shipped off to be butchered, makes me very, very sad indeed.

To add insult to injury, the aquarium has a number of ironic and deeply hypocritical messages posted throughout - such as "Be a friend to fish & sea turtles! Dropping coins, wrappers, snacks, and objects in the water can cause serious harm to marine life." Perhaps they might also consider the act of butchering animals to cause serious harm to marine life???

Then there's the Red-Tailed Hawk exhibit, which has a sign explaining that the hawk is only here because she had been shot several years ago and can no longer fly. Next to a photo of an x-ray showing her broken wing, it says, "She recovered at the LSU Wildlife and Rehabilitation Center but was deemed non-releasable. She has had a home at Audubon ever since." This rather sneakily suggests to the public that the aquarium cares about animal rehabilitation, and that it will not keep an animal in captivity if it is cruel to do so. Can you imagine if they had honest signage by the baby alligators' exhibit? And the outrage it would cause?

The final insult was in the form of the quote on the final wall of the aquarium, just as you make your way to the gift shop. "What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." - a quote by Jane Goodall, the famous biologist who has devoted her life to the protection of chimpanzees. Unfortunately, the aquarium doesn't even have any kind of feedback form (or indeed an email address) for me to raise this complaint with them directly, hence why I'm having to take it to Google Reviews instead. It leaves me with the impression that the only difference Audubon Aquarium wishes to make is to get a little bit more profit, even at the brutal expense of the animals they...

My husband and I haven't been to the Aquarium in a long while, but were meaning to. We went on Wednesday, 0ct. 13, 2025 and really enjoyed it. It is a little costly, but we went ahead and became members when we got there. It includes membership to the Aquarium/Insectarium as well as to Audubon Zoo and with the Senior Discount for our Dual membership, will pay for itself if we just visit one more time to either location within a year. Plus, if a member parks at the LAZ parking garage, which is just behind the Hilton Hotel, about 2 blocks away, then show ticket to the desk in Aquarium, they discount the parking and basically what would have cost $25 was only $10( Mon thru Thur only). There are other parking discounts closer, but not as substantial. Various other perks come with membership, see their site, and supports a good cause. We found everyone there extremely friendly and helpful and eager to be of service. We spent almost 5 hours there. Taking our time and we also did one of their Virtual Reality brief videos for an extra charge, and that was thrilling ...they have multiple ones available, we did the dolphin one and it was a lot of fun. We also ate in Cafe Aqua, which was actually better than we had expected. The menu is a little limited, but includes several types of personal pizza, hamburgers, a few po boys, salads, and various dishes with local flavors, as well as a limited kids menu. I had the Falafel sandwich, which was very good and the falafel was warm but the salad ingredients, thinly sliced pickled red onions, and sauce were fresh as was the bun....very flavorful and filling and prepared to order. We also tried their sausage gumbo and boudin balls, and my husband really enjoyed those and I did also. They have a wide variety of condiments including various hot sauces and spices as well as usual ones. They also serve a variety of alcoholic beverages. Their prices are a little high, but quality was good and definitely more reasonable than at the Dome during Saints games!

The exhibits were very well done, with a variety made easily accessible to kids but adults as well. There were stations with questions and answers one could do with one another, some audio presentations, and a lot of wonderful exhibits with both preserved and live specimens and a lot of information. The butterfly 🦋 exhibit was fun to walk through, as well as really the other various exhibits . The large Gulf aquarium "tank" was fun to view from several levels. We missed the feeding there, which was done in AM instead of usual 1 PM time due to a staff meeting, but we caught the pelican feeding and also stingray feedings...the stingray exhibit is a Touching exhibit if one cares to, but both of these have personnel who give talks about the various animals and eagerly answer questions. Above the large Gulf fish tank, which is near the stingray exhibit, there was a young lady there to answer any questions about any of the Aquarium occupants or exhibits, and she was very friendly and informative and interacted well with everyone, of all ages. While walking throughout there are beautiful films running and the overall design was quite beautiful and restful and helped one feel closer to nature. There are various restrooms which are well marked and were clean, and various benches throughout where one could rest and just take it all in. We will...

I am disabled and I have multiple disabilities. The main one's are mental illness and a disease that makes it hard to stand or walk for long periods of time and cardiac issues. I have a service dog that is trained for these illnesses. I have a stroller that is designed to help.me walk and hold me up and support my service animals. My husband and I were in New orleans for our anniversary 04/2025. We travel.often and always visit aquariums and zoos and never had a problem in any place we visit including other countries. We arrived at Audubon and were quickly approached by what appear to be a greeter, aggressively and asks was our service dogs service dogs and what do they do etc extremely triggering for me, mind you they were fully vested with equipment on. I answered his questions even though they are not suppose to ask me what my issues are and what they do, and it was not a nice curious ask it was intruding and aggressive. He then point is to get tickets he then hurries.over to speak to her about us. When I get there the young lady begins to say the same type of questions to me and the I pull.out my certified license and service dog card and she then says 1 second get another lady (that we find out is off the closk).who also very very aggressively approaches and says okay well you can't have the stroller (I am only 49 and I .trying g to avoid a wheelchair for as long as possible and the stroller is designed to hold my weight and theirs and assists me with being mobile and somewhat normal, as I again have to explain the refused to listen refused to the highest level vy this time I am panicked and crying and my husband is trying to help the understand other visitors have entered and we are the spectacle and I cannot tell you how I felt I would not wish this on another disabled person ever. I have filed a complaint directly with the aquarium and heard nothing! I tried to file with BBB and I am also speaking woth the American Disabilities foundation to make them aware, I have never been treated this way anywhere we have traveled, they just kept saying I had to leave the stroller that the dog needed to be on their floor, the they kept telling me the areas I could not visit because I had a service animal etc. Not 1 time did they listen nor care the distress they placed me in. There were familys.coming invite children bigger then my 28 pound service dogs with stroller being allowed to take them, when I mentioned that I was told it's just their policy, so PLEASE IF YOU ARE A DISABLED PEROSN DO NOT VISIT THIS AQUARIUM THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT US AT ALL!!!!I WOULD GOVE NO STARS IF I COULD. I will add this was our last day in New orleans and ruined the...