They also have tanks containing sharks and rays, a myriad of different kinds of fish, moray eels and touching tanks where you can pet small sharks and rays. I pet one ray and they have amazingly soft bodies, almost like wet fur.
There is an area that mimics a New England marsh with huge water lilies, turtles and tons of bullfrogs.
There are exhibits with sea lions, seals and penguins.
There was one tank with one of the most interesting species I had never seen before - upside-down jellyfish in the genus Cassiopea. They are true jellyfish found in warmer coastal waters worldwide.
They are bottom feeders, unlike most of their jellyfish cousins. They extend their frilly tentacles up into the water column where they capture plankton and absorb light that is used by photosynthetic algae that are housed in its body. Even though the upside-down jelly has a mild sting to humans, the sea urchin crab sometimes puts one on its back and carries it around using it as a shield and camouflage against potential predators.
Source: Starfish
All in all a very interesting place to visit!
However, aquariums like this one and places like Sea World are not without controversy, especially those with large marine mammals like the belugas, orcas, and dolphins and whether it is ethical to hold these intelligent creatures captive. You can read more about that here and here. Here you can find out more information about the movie Blackfish.
Love the bullfrogs! You have me wishing I had taken my camera in after all! :)
ReplyDeleteNot many of my photos came out that I took inside with the iffy lighting and everything moving around. You probably could have gotten better pics than I did though!
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