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The NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher is located in Kure Beach and takes about four hours of driving and a ferry ride to get to! Riding on the Southport Ferry to Fort Fisher was an interesting experience that was enjoyable and cost effective as it is only $5 for a whole carload of people so take some friends along for the fun!  Once you get off of the ferry it is just a short drive to the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher.  The aquarium itself costs $10.95 to get into and includes access to their fish tanks, gift shops, playground, information about different species they have, and various exhibits with sea life that you are allowed to touch.  Some of the sea life you are able to touch and interact with are horseshoe crabs, stingrays, starfish, sea urchins, tiny sharks, and various anemones that move when you touch them.  During the warm summer months from April to the end of September, the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher played host to 50 Lorikeets in their outdoor exhibits.  Lorikeets are a tropical bird, related to the parrots, that are native to Australia. To visit the Lorikeet’s exhibit and have them land on you by feeding them nectar, it only cost $4.  When you first enter the aquarium, there is a large fresh water and local wildlife exhibit that includes snakes, frogs, alligators, and many other interesting species.  The aquarium also acts as a home for a Bald Eagle named Maverick.  One particularly interesting creature at the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher is Luna the albino alligator because there are only about 50 albino alligators that we know exist.  The aquarium has several types of sharks, fish both local and exotic, seahorses, sea turtles, and lovely live corals and other plants.  Some of the sharks that the aquarium at Fort Fisher has are the classic shark every aquarium has, the Hammerhead shark, and carpet shark.  Just some of the many fish varieties the aquarium has are Clownfish, Banggai Cardinalfish, Jellyfish, Lionfish, Short Bigeye, and Silverdollar fish. There is also a tank in the aquarium which holds Spiny Lobsters which are giant lobsters that are all around 2-3 feet long.  The NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher helps take in turtles that are in need of rehabilitation.  In my opinion, even though the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher is somewhat smaller than commercial aquariums like Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, it is worth the trip and money to go there because of the open atmosphere it provides.