Of course there is a shop.... I sort of liked this tshirt. But I didn't buy one.
Sea horses! This was an odd tank. Pretty big, nearly empty. That sharp-looking gravel on the bottom and some ... plants? Plants, or fake plants, I wasn't sure.
This leafy-looking critter has its nose at left (pointed down toward gravel) and its tail at right.
I believe there were two kinds of sea horses in this tank. Those leafy yellow ones, and these speckledy striped ones. So hard to see them against that busy gravel noise. Wish they were against sand, which would be plainer and make them easier to see. I'm sure the aquarium is taking care of them properly, but sometimes proper care and ease of photography are in conflict.................
A couple of close-ups.....
The Aquarium has penguins. I believe these are macaroni penguins, for the fancy yellow feathers on the sides of their heads.
I wonder if the sticks and stones mean attempts at nest building may be underway.....
I tried and tried and tried to upload a video of the jellyfish moving around, but Blogger Will. Not. Load. It.
Sigh.
So here's a cruddy photograph of the jellyfish.........
Jellyfish are polar opposite of the sessile animals we've seen. While these have some control over where they go, they are also easily pushed by currents of water.........
More sessile animals. I have no idea what these are. I can't remember ever seeing anything like them.
Another speckledy fish. I love that green curve of the plant, coming toward and up behind the fish.
Sturgeon!
Sturgeon have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. They have changed very little in all those millions of years. They are in grave danger of extinction due to human predation and habitat destruction.
We got to pet the sturgeon! They felt like suede. With hard bumps where you'd predict, given what they look like. How cool to get to touch something whose extremely similar ancestors were here so long ago...............
And how weird to get to pet sturgeon in Chicago, but not one (1) dog....................
This section of the Aquarium might have been about the Great Lakes. I know there are (were?) sturgeon here, and trout as well. I think I read a sign for these, but didn't get its pic.
I believe these are brook trout. I think that white edge on the underneath fins means brook trout.
Hmm. Not in the Great Lakes any more, I'm pretty sure. This was big. 12-15"?
Another tank. This one wanted to rest on the floor. A bigger one that looked just like it pushed it away from this spot, but the moment it could, it came right back here.
At least three kinds of anemones (green, at right, yellow, at left, and two little ones with orange-ish centers white-ish surrounds, above the yellow one). Maroon sea urchin, orange sea star.
Blue sea star. Definitely carrying the tips of its legs up.
Little green fish with hot-pink anemones.
I hadn't noticed, before seeing this "on the big screen" how much the fish's shiny belly was reflecting all that pink.....
Believe it or not, this is a lobster. It's lying down, with its head toward the left, and its bottom in the corner. It's got its left claw in front of its face. I actually managed to capture the signage, which says it is "one in a million;" that this color is the result of a mutation.
Moray eels (see the nose of the second one, upper left?), and anemones.
A close look at those pits around the edges of its mouth.... I know sharks have senses we do not -- for sending motion, and electrical fields..... I'm wondering if moray eels have something like that, too. I looked, but didn't find any info about this.
Sea urchin. I bet they lose this color when dead; I have never seen any sea urchin spines that were bright colors.
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