Kevin Turner hadn't understood the parental pressure of a penguin until he tried walking with a wooden egg on his shoetops.

Testing his skills at a Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center exhibit, Turner inched forward about 5 feet before his egg slipped off and rolled away.

"It kind of gives you an idea of how nature does things versus us," said Turner.

The interactive exhibit also shows "how lazy we really are," said friend Christina Barlow.

Since opening in 1986, the Virginia Aquarium has strived to increase understanding and appreciation of the state's marine environment.

The center features 700,000 gallons of fresh and saltwater aquariums, plus hundreds of hands-on exhibits, an aviary and a 3-D IMAX theater. The exhibit "Penguins: Birds of Play" features six South African penguins and is on loan from the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

The Virginia Aquarium is owned and maintained by Virginia Beach and supported through the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center Foundation.

More than 600,000 people visit each year, with about half of them coming in summer. To avoid the biggest crowds, officials recommend arriving in the mid-after

See AQUARIUM, Page S8 noon and starting at the Marsh Pavilion rather than the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean Pavilion.

The two buildings are connected by a 1/3-mile nature trail through salt marshes and woodlands along Owls Creek. There, visitors can learn to identify trees and animal tracks, and peek inside a long or circular yihakan, or house, in a re-created 17th-century American Indian fishing camp.

Officials recommend reserving two to four hours for a visit, more if you plan to catch an IMAX film or ride on one of its creek cruises.

Barlow and Turner, both of Richmond, made a recent day trip to the aquarium and beach. She'd been to the aquarium once before and advised visitors to not short-change their trip.

"Just walk through the whole thing beginning to end," she said. "The whole thing is gorgeous."

The Marsh Pavilion showcases river otters, fiddler crabs and a macro-marsh featuring enlarged models of animals and plants. One exhibit allows you to test your ability to avoid a snake strike.

The Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean Pavilion is the home of the 300,000 gallon Norfolk Canyon Aquarium with sharks, stingrays and other deep-water creatures. Another aquarium mimics the pilings of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, with sheepshead, burrfish and cobia.

Visitors also can stand nose-to-nose with sea turtles and peek through the glass into a nursery for turtle hatchlings. They can stroke stingrays in a touch pool.

One question always comes up: How can the sharks and fish coexist so nicely, said Joan Barns, public relations manager.

"They're fed very well," she said. "They get along fine because one's not threatening the other."

The aquarium is in the midst of renovating its original galleries, a project scheduled for completion in fall 2008. The work has prompted some re-organizing of exhibits but all remain open.

On a recent weekday, the museum was buzzing with school groups.

Norma and Robert Coe, of West Virginia, found a refuge in the aviary, which houses more than 55 species of birds. They paused on a bridge and watched egrets and herons in the marsh.

Norma Coe said she was impressed by the turtles in the aquarium and by the cleanliness of Virginia Beach in general. She and her husband were excited to go dolphin-watching.

"It's great," she said of the marine center. "I'm amazed at some of the large specimens they have."