Okay, so I wasn't actually under the sea this past weekend, but I may as well have been. The first summer we met, Devin promised to take me to the Georgia Aquarium. Over two years later, we finally made it there with Devin's sister, niece, and nephew. It was even better than I could have imagined! When we first walked inside, there was a petting pool with small sharks and sting rays! Because I fell in love with sting rays during the Grand Cayman stop of our Honeymoon Cruise, this was a fun first exhibit. (Ignore my funny face...this was the only picture that actually showed a sting ray in it.)
In the river exhibit, our neice asked why the alligator was white. After trying to explain albinism, she remarked, "Oh! All of his color just got trapped inside and didn't come out!" According to Devin, this is apparently somewhat accurate scientifically.
When we first arrived at the eel tank, it looked empty. Then, one after another, the tangle of eels started to move and swim around. They have such evil and gross looking faces...it's fascinating!
The Artic exhibit brought us to the Baluga Whale tank. They were absolutely beautiful. It was very calming to listen to the peaceful musical selection while watching them swim through bright blue waters. That was, of course, until one of the whales emptied his/her bowels up against the glass.
Next, we saw the sea otter habitat. This otter was swimming circles, so I decided to record a short video. I wasn't expecting him to suddenly do something this cute!
The highlight of the trip was the giant 6.3 million gallon tank that housed a whole ecosystem! We walked through a tunnel under the tank to the giant viewing room. On the way through the tunnel, Devin made friends with a giant grouper.
I found the long nose saw shark pretty cool. I wish this picture better showed the edges on the saw nose, though.
The manta rays were also pretty amazing. I never knew just how big they actually were!
And, of course the stars of the aquarium were the whale sharks. They are not only the only aquarium to have them in their exhibit but they have four! Right now, all four are juveniles but eventually they will grow to be the size of a school bus. That is proof of the hugeness of the tank!
All in all, this was an amazing experience. There are plenty of things we didn't get to do (like swimming in the big tank and sleeping over) that I want to do someday. If you haven't been, I definitely reccommend a trip!
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