Chesapeake Bay Aquarium

The Commonwealth of Virginia is blessed with an “uncommon-wealth” of natural wonders, among the most diverse in the country. At the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, Va., this natural heritage comes alive.

In 1987, the museum became the first living museum east of the Mississippi, combining the elements of a native wildlife park, science museum, aquarium, botanical preserve and planetarium.

Today, the Virginia Living Museum continues to be a museum leader in its use of native wildlife to present its message - stimulating knowledge, awareness and appreciation of the living world.

Visitors to the living museum encounter more habitats, wildlife and plant species than would be encountered in a lifetime of outdoor adventures in Virginia. The exhibits showcase all of the state’s regions from the upland coves of the Appalachian Mountains to the salty offshore waters of the Atlantic Ocean and feature more than 245 different animal species.

The Museum’s unique exhibits are also a vital component in its extensive education programming. The museum believes in hands-on education; that by experiencing science it will become memorable.

More than two million students have visited the museum since 1987. All of the museum’s classes are correlated to Virginia’s Standards of Learning and targeted to specific grade levels.

For museum members and visitors, there are special programs and weekend safaris to the caves, swamps and fossil banks of Virginia, helping to bring science and nature up close and personal to young and old alike.

The museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums, a distinction awarded to only 10% percent of the museums in the country. With a corps of over 350 volunteers, the Virginia Living Museum is testimony to the appreciation and overwhelming support it receives from the local community.

The Virginia Living Museum will continue to be the premiere learning laboratory to showcase Virginia’s natural and living resources so that people, of all ages and in future generations, will understand and protect the balance of our natural world.

Connecting people to nature through educational experiences.

The purpose of the Virginia Living Museum shall be to stimulate knowledge, awareness and appreciation of the biological and physical world, and to develop an understanding of its relationship to the environment of the planet and the universe beyond. This shall be accomplished by providing a variety of living interpretive exhibits and education programs for the public, students and educators that encourage a commitment to protection and conservation of our natural world and its delicately balanced components.

Click here to learn about the museum’s history.

Click here to learn more about employment opportunities at the VLM.