On Christmas Eve, my family took a trip to Baltimore’s National Aquarium. It had been more than a decade since I had last came to the aquarium, again with the family during a holiday visit. Ironically, I think I’ve visited the Monterrey Bay Aquarium more often than I have the one in my own hometown, even though th Baltimore Aquarium is at least as large, with a wide-ranging collection.
As usual, I took no notes, so I can’t tell you precisely what species you’re looking at, with rare exception (such as above). If you can identify something, leave a comment. Indeed, even if you can’t identify anything, leave a comment. (We’re all about comments here.)
At the entrance to the aquarium, there is a large pool where many species of sharks and rays, as well as one old sea turtle, swim around. I got shots only of the turtle and one shark. From the other side, it’s possible to see that the turtle is missing his left front flipper. As for the shark, I have nothing enlightening to say.
There was a portion of the aquarium devoted to recreating the habitat and displaying the aquatic life of the Amazon River. Among the interesting fish was the beautifully marked ray you see below. I didn’t know there were species of freshwater rays.
In addition to the rays, there were some very large fish floating around. Hubby thinks they’re piranhas, but I just can’t remember. The one below is overshadowing the ray.
There was another display devoted to the frogs of Central America, both poisonous and non. They’re all quite tiny and sometimes difficult to find in their terrariums. I found these to be the most colorful. It’s a wonder of evolution that these frogs have such remarkable colors and patterns. One wonders what aspects of their environments caused them to take the particular colors they have. (We appear to have the primary colors covered, more or less).
This next photo is of, I think, fish native to Maryland. What struck me is how the fish composed contrasts in black and white (and neutral tones in between) as they swam.
Also native to Maryland are these moon jellies.
And a couple of final photos:
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From your humble diarist:
In a thoroughly disturbed way, I enjoyed ItsSimpleSimon’s correction to Fury’s comment in Mark Sumner’s (and others’) attempt to liveblog Trump’s unhinged performance at the White House today
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