Aquarium opens new penguin, sea otter exhibit spaces

"We were very intimately involved in the design," Christen said. "This gives us a whole lot of options."

For visitors, the new Cold Water Quest will offer more ways to see the animals, including a behind-the-scenes viewing window and tunnels and pop-up areas that offer a close-up view of penguins.

Here's an animal-by-animal guide to what's new in Cold Water Quest:

Belugas and harbor seals

Neither belugas nor harbor seals are new to the Georgia Aquarium, but they're new to each other. Both were off display during construction, and now that they're on view, they live together in the same tank. Defying all expectation, the seals fearlessly greeted their large, white tank-mates. "They're very confident little animals," Christen said. "They have little personalities, and some of their personalities aren't so little."

Penguins

When Georgia Aquarium's African penguins went off exhibit during Cold Water Quest's renovation, visitors were incensed. They asked so often where they'd gone and when they'd be back, the aquarium launched a behind-the-scenes "Peek at the Penguins" and eventually created a small, one-window penguin exhibition just to tide visitors over. The new habitat offers more space and twice as many penguins -- 28, to be exact -- but mostly, it's a better space. There are 25 nesting areas built into the naturalistic rock. A new lighting system mimics the sun and seasons, which helps the birds for molting and breeding. Penguins are "house shopping" for a nest right now, Christen said, but once they settle in, the aquarium might start to see some penguin eggs.

Sea otters

Sea otters Gracie and Oz are in the same area of the aquarium, but the space has changed to allow more ways for visitors to see them, and more back-of-the-house space to store rescued animals. (Male otters can be territorial, and don't usually share a space.)  The space offers more fun for the otters, too, like the new "clam cannons" that let keepers shoot treats into the habitat, making training into a game. "Every square inch counts," said Christen, explaining how the once-boring holding areas can become more like an otter escape. "This can be a very playful area for the animals."

More info

Georgia Aquarium, 225 Baker St. N.W., Atlanta. $26-$35. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays. Summer hours (starting June 1): 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays. 404-581-4000, www.georgiaaquarium.org .