Ripley's Aquarium

One evening at the beach we went to Ripley's Aquarium.  I had been looking forward to this so much and it was one of my "have to's" on our list.  I love zoos so I couldn't wait to get there!!   It was FABULOUS!! The only thing I would have done different was going earlier.  We went in the evening time, and it was crowded, and we had to hurry to get through it before they closed. =(   I also had a hard time getting good pictures. The lighting in there was really "funky" and dark, and no matter how much I played with my settings I couldn't get really good pictures.

These are from inside the "Dangerous Reef" exhibit.  There is a track you get on that slowly takes you though it, so you don't have to try to look and walk at the same time...perfect for ME!  Anyway, the tank is made from 2 1/2 inch acrylic and holds back 6,675,000 lbs of water!

Sawfish Shark. Look at that face!!

Whoa! Can you see the teeth?  He looked pretty mean.

 

J and T "petting" the horseshoe crabs

 

One of the staff flipped one over for D to see.  They have legs like a lobster.  Very bizarre, but very neat! They are related to spiders and scorpions, are not true crabs, have copper based blood blue blood that is used by scientists to diagnose diseases and are true living fossils as they have been on the earth for over 200 million years.

DORY! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....

The Octopus's little suction things kind of creeped me out, but he was fun to watch move around.

 

I LOVED the JELLYFISH!! They are so beautiful and moved like they were dancing. 

I could have stayed until they kicked me out, just watching these guys.

 This was shot looking up into a window under the stingray tank from the floor below.  It was amazing.

 Their faces are adorable and they look like they are smiling.  Much friendlier looking than the sharks!

 So peaceful to watch!

"Petting" the stingrays.  We can't remember which it was, but they had just added either a new stingray or shark in the tank.  Whatever it was, the staff was not real sure of his attitude yet, and you had to remove your hands from the water any time he came close.  Made me nervous, but the kids loved it!

It was so amazing to see these creatures these Kansas people had only seen on SpongeBob and Animal Planet! ;-)  If you ever get a chance to go, GO!! And tell them the chunky girl with the wide eyes and open mouth sent you.