Walk above the water at Adventure Aquarium's Shark Bridge

At Camden's Adventure Aquarium, visitors can swim with sharks and touch sharks. And now they will be able to walk above them.

Shark Bridge will allow the most daring visitors to walk the 81-foot-long, V-shaped rope suspension bridge across the aquarium's 21-foot-deep Shark Realm, a 550,000-gallon exhibit housing the aquarium's massive collection of sharks.

A "Dare to Cross" sign invites you to stand only inches away from some of the ocean's fiercest predators. Continue walking, as sharks swim beneath your feet. The V-shape structure offers bird's-eye views of incredibly large sharks that can appear both scary and majestic.

"You usually just get to see sharks from a tank," says Doug Hess, the exhibit's lead project manager, "but never from up top like this."

Shark Bridge comprises four tons of steel, 148 bolts, and enough rope to span the length of 68 football fields. The rope is tied together in a netlike fashion, creating a sturdy barrier between visitors and the sharks.

Sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, and less-frightening sea creatures such as stingrays and blue tangs can be seen dwelling harmoniously in the Shark Realm.

Eight- to 10-foot sand tiger sharks swim closest to the tank's surface, swishing their tails through the crystal-clear blue water. Peering even further into the exhibit, nurse sharks rest on the floor right next to stingrays and fish. On weekends, some people even snorkel with the Realm's residents in the aquarium's Swim with the Sharks experience.

Before Shark Bridge, the aquarium's biologists were the only ones who had access to the area above Shark Realm, in order to monitor the tank's water quality, feed the sharks, and dive in with them to check on their health, said Kevin Becker, a senior biologist at the aquarium.

"They're pretty chill," Becker says of the sharks. "When we're in the water with them, they don't show any signs of aggression. They are comfortable with the open environment."

Becker adds that sharks are often misunderstood because of their reputation for being vicious creatures. He hopes Shark Bridge will help visitors develop new perspectives on the animals and says that there is a difference between seeing them in real life rather than on television.

"Once you get to see an animal up close, you kind of become a part of their existence and tend to take more care of them," Becker says. "We try to create a relationship with the animals at the aquarium, so people can take that experience with them and use it in real life for conservation."

Shark Bridge opens Friday at the Adventure Aquarium, 1 Riverside Drive, Camden. Tickets: $26.95; $19.95 ages 2 to 12; under 2 free. Information: 856-365-3300 or www.adventureaquarium.com.