Ripley’s Aquarium has reopened following an earlier power outage that forced the popular tourist attraction to turn thousands away on Thursday.

The aquarium announced in a news release issued at around 3 p.m. that their doors were back open after losing power at 5 a.m.

“Toronto Hydro has restored power at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada,” the news release said. “Operations are back to normal and we will be open until 11 p.m. this evening.”

The aquarium’s general manager Peter Doyle said the animals were not affected by the power outage as a backup generator was active at the time.

“All our animals are safe. Our water quality is fine. Our animals' health is paramount to what we do,” he said.

However, while the aquarium waited for Toronto Hydro to restore the electricity, Doyle said members of the public were unable to visit.

“Without lights and power, we cannot open the building to the public,” he said. “We’ve probably turned away over 6,000 people so far so it is a lot of people.”

Doyle said they offered complimentary coupons for free coffee and a muffin to people who showed up at the aquarium and were not permitted to enter.

As well, the news release said tickets purchased for the time of the outage will be honoured for a future visit.