July 19 -- the aquarium

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They have a big tank with a lot of sharks.

Taking pics in aquaria is very difficult.  The dim light, the critters-in-motion, the thick plexiglas (with scratches, smears, and reflections)......

Sharks are in nearly constant motion.  Taking pics of them in an aquarium is frustrating.

You can see that there are lots of sharks in this tank.  They were not tiny.  These are five or six feet long, I bet.

Here's one that was pretty still, for this moment.....

I know I'm supposed to appreciate them as apex predators, perfectly designed for their place in their environment, but they look like soulless killing machines to me.



Let's go look at something more less-obviously-lethal.



There were two tanks of jellies.  These are spotted lagoon jellies.

There's a lot going on here!

Again -- hard to get good pics, though at least the light was good.

All that mess in the water -- I bet it's their food, but it's not photogenic.......

Moon jellies.

Moving on, to another section of the aquarium.......


Can you tell what this is?

Here's a closeup, from a different angle.....

Hippopotami!  "Ah, Myrtle, you make such a lovely pillow......"  They were napping.  I think I've only ever seen hippopotami doing their underwater ballet steps once, or maybe twice, in all of the dozens of opportunities I've had.  Maybe they are more often active at night?  I do not know.



In this "African river" section, there were birds, as well as fish and hippos.

I neglected to photograph this guy's info.  Love those iridescent purple wings!

I don't know that anyone thinks of the needs of photographers, when they design habitats in aquaria (or zoos....).

They should certainly never sacrifice the needs of the critters to the wishes of the visitors!

But sheesh -- look at all this mess of pipes, lights, ceiling.....

If we crop it, and get rid of the little sliver of pipe that still shows, and hope people can ignore the shadow of the pipe, remaining at the top...............

This is an Abdim stork.  Love his orangey-pink heels.....

There was also a porcuspine (as Ziva calls 'em), stuffed into a corner avoiding the worst of the paparazzi (and giving the rest of us the evil eye).

Moving on again......


Now for something completely different!

Love those feet, sticking out behind.....

The keepers were cleaning the exhibit, and taking questions about the penguins.

It was very interesting and educational to hear about the individual penguins, and their relationships to each other.  They definitely have their friends and their not-friends!

I wonder if this splashing (which we saw several of them doing) is a way to get rid of parasites....

They have lots of toys.  We were told this plastic frog is a very valued item, and is often offered to a friend as a gift.

These are hot-weather, burrowing penguins.  They have sections of pipe set into the wall, so they can go in and be alone, or be with a special friend.  The one on the right, with the nearly-naked head, is fine -- just moulting from the top down.

Pair-bonding, and preening.

I'd never noticed before the 19th how different the undersides of their wings are.  I bet you could learn to identify individuals by the patterns of black and white.

They also have some seals (in a different habitat!)  The penguin water was crystal clear.  The seal water, not so much.  This is a gray seal (love the reflections, ections, ections.....).  They also have harbor seals.  The signage says that there are four kinds of seals native to New Jersey's coast, including these two kinds.

Interesting pattern on the concrete, by the seals.

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