The focus of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, in Kure Beach, is to educate visitors about the waters of the Cape Fear region.

In this large, tree-filled atrium, streams, ponds and swamps are home to frogs, snakes, bass, catfish, and perch.

In 2006, the aquarium opened an exhibit featuring the venomous snakes of the region, including several species of rattlesnake, copperheads, and cottonmouths.

The Open Oceans Gallery includes Sharkstooth Ledge, which features fish common to offshore North Carolina, such as pufferfish, hogfish, and filefish.

The 24-foot (7.3 m)-deep replica of an offshore reef affords two-story, multi-level views of large sharks, stingrays, groupers, and moray eels.

These displays include spiny lobsters, the red lionfish (Pterois volitans), and a North Carolina native, the spotted scorpionfish.

The 550-US-gallon (2,100 L; 460 imp gal) Pacific Reef Display features living corals, giant clam, anemones, cardinalfish, hawkfish, clownfish, wrasses, surgeonfish, and nearly a dozen other fish species.

The expansion included the creation of the Cape Fear Shoals tank, a 235,000-US-gallon (890,000 L; 196,000 imp gal) exhibit recreating the hard bottomed coral reefs off the coast of North Carolina.

Wide viewing windows bring their playful antics and underwater agility to child-eye-level, and the lively pair enchants people of all ages.

In the summer, beginning June 1, the North Carolina Aquarium offers snorkeling, surfing classes, night treks to search for nesting sea turtles, onboard collection and river cruises, kayaking and canoeing excursions, and fishing courses.

It holds a replica of the USS Monitor, a Civil War ironclad which sank off the coast of Cape Hatteras in late December, 1862.

Year-round education programs and week-long summer camps focused on ethical practices in recreational fishing, marine science, and resource conservation are conducted at the pier.

"Oceans Under Glass," a segment of a 1995 episode of the PBS television series Return to the Sea, profiles the operations of the North Carolina Aquariums.