CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (KXAN) — USA Today has nominated the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi for their “Best Aquarium for 2024” award with voting ongoing through mid-May.

KXAN meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with Jesse Gilbert, the CEO of the Texas State Aquarium, about the nomination and the importance of the aquarium to the ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico.

KXAN Meteorologist Nick Bannin: Jessie, you were nominated by USA Today for best aquarium for 2024. Can you tell us about that nomination?

Jesse Gilbert, CEO of the Texas State Aquarium: Sure. So we were we were honored to be nominated with a group of aquariums from across North America, Great aquariums. But we’re a little biased. We’re the biggest aquarium in the state of Texas, the official Aquarium of the state of Texas. And so, being nominated is a great honor. And we would encourage Texans to vote for the Texas State Aquarium, you can vote every day from now until May 13. And really make sure that Texas is on a map from an aquarium standpoint.

Bannin: You do a lot of rehabilitation of the animals and marine life in the Gulf of Mexico too, right? Can you tell us about that?

Gilbert: We do. So that’s the number one thing we do from a wildlife resiliency standpoint is our wildlife rescue and rehabilitation program. This is the leading coastal wildlife rescue program in the United States. And it’s right here in Corpus Christi. And so it’s not only an asset for the Coastal Bend and the Corpus Christi area, but really for the state of Texas. We have the largest capacity for marine animals in the United States, we can hold upwards of 4,000-5,000 sea turtles at one time during a disaster event, we just opened our new wildlife rescue center, which is the largest center now in the United States with state-of-the-art technology. And so all of that leads to our making sure these populations are resilient and making sure that Texans can enjoy them for generations to come.

It’s an exciting program, it releases almost 4,000 animals in the last probably 10 or 15 years back into the habitat. So keeps us busy, particularly when the cold weather hits and sea turtles, we’ve had upwards of 1,200 sea turtles at the aquarium at one time. So it’s a very, very active program.

Bannin: Jesse, for people here in Central Texas that want to visit the aquarium their tickets, not just buying them admission, right?

Gilbert: Right. So you’re purchasing a ticket to the largest aquarium in Texas. You can have a great time all day long, but you’re helping fund the largest wildlife rescue program in the state and so you’re a partner and saving this wildlife right along with the Texas State Aquarium. And so you kind of get a two-for-one deal on that.