Shark Bridge, scheduled for a mid-April opening at the Newport Aquarium, is not for the faint of heart.
The attraction features a 100-foot-long, V-shaped rope bridge suspended over the waters of the Surrounded by Sharks exhibit's 385,000-gallon tank.
The aquarium says, "It is the only suspension bridge in North America where guests can walk just inches above nearly two dozen lurking sharks."
Why you shouldn't be afraid:
- The rope will be reinforced with steel
- You won't be inches above the water, but several feet
- At least the Newport Aquarium doesn't have any great white sharks (but tiger, hammerhead and sand are still a handful)
There will be another kind of shark arriving just in time for Shark Bridge. Scalloped hammerhead sharks are extremely rare. In June, scalloped hammerheads became the first species of shark protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The ones at the Newport Aquarium come from Hawaii, where researchers say the population is stable and thriving.
