Local Expert
Damon Sgrignoli
Damon Sgrignoli is an Atlanta native that has recently returned to the south after several years of residing in NYC. An avid traveler, his adventures have recently taken him to Bali,…
Damon Sgrignoli is an Atlanta native that has recently returned to the south after several years of residing in NYC. An avid traveler, his adventures have recently taken him to Bali, Jamaica,Australia, and Mexico.
Currently, Damon calls the tree-lined Atlanta neighbohood of Inman Park home. Known for its annual spring festival, quirky residents, and easy walkablity, he can often be found reading the Sunday paper at one of the cities vibrant parks, or dining with friends at local dives. His writing can be found on Citysearch.com, Spin, and Stone Magazine among others.
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Go Fishing
There is one more reason to visit Atlanta. The Georgia Aquarium is now home to the sole manta ray on exhibit in the United States. Nandi named after the mother of Shaka Zulu, was rescued from shark nets along the South African coast in 2007.
The reason that most aquariums do not have a manta ray is because they can't house a manta ray because of how large the animal gets, many as far as 26 feet across and weighing about 6,000 pounds.
The Georgia Aquarium's 6.3 million-gallon salt water exhibit will have plenty of room for Nandi who is about 9 feet from the tip of one wing to the other and still growing.
Aquarium officials chartered a jumbo jet to fly Nandi the 9,000 miles in Durban, South Africa, to Atlanta. The trip took about 30 hours.
This past Friday Nandi was released into the aquarium's Ocean Voyager tank before her official public debut Monday the 25th. Manta rays are listed as a threatened species. Just three other countries house manta rays at aquariums: Japan, Spain and the Bahamas.