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A city between two World Heritage areas
Cairns, founded in 1876, is often called the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics of Queensland, both World Heritage sites. The Wet Tropics, listed in 1988, include the Daintree Rainforest and run in part from Townsville to Cooktown, alongside the reef.


An aquarium for the region
Daniel Leipnik and Andrew Preston founded Cairns Aquarium around a commitment to protecting these two World Heritage-listed ecosystems. It opened in 2017 in a three-level building on Florence Street, and in 2018 won two Master Builders Queensland awards, including Project of the Year.
Seventy-one tanks, ten ecosystems
The aquarium has 71 tanks across 10 ecosystems, holding about three million litres of water. A visit follows the water from rainforest rivers and mangroves to the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. The building also houses the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, a volunteer-run, not-for-profit turtle hospital.

