Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi, US, is set to break ground on its US$50m (€36.7m, £29.2m) expansion known as the “Caribbean Journey”.

The 65,000sq ft (6,000sq m) new building and exhibit – styled around a tropical rainforest – will have free-flying birds overhead and include recreated coastal environments, plus a 400,000 gallon (1.5m litre) shark habitat. Following a US$1m (€812,000, £638,000) donation from local fast food chain Whataburger, the plans will also include the only 4D cinema to be built in South Texas.

The expansion will introduce aquarium guests to the sights, sounds, and wildlife of the Western Caribbean. Its construction will complete the final two phases of the Aquarium's original masterplan, and once complete, will make the aquarium one of the top facilities in the US.

The development will break ground on 10 December and aquarium officials expect to open in early 2017, with aquarium CEO Tom Schmid calling the development “the most significant development in our (24-year) history.”

Texas State Aquarium boasts an economic impact of US$43m (€31.6m, £25m) annually and officials say the expansion will increase that by 60 per cent, elevating the aquarium to “one of the premier aquariums in the nation.”