one of my favorite animals that i almost instantly feel in love with was calypso, the green sea turtle. calypso has been at the national aquarium since the early 2000's with one amputated fin and barely weighing six pounds. about a decade later, calypso is as healthy as she can be and almost weighs 500 pounds! calypso is the biggest and cutest turtle i have ever seen.
once i passed that, i was directed up an escalator into the TOUCH TANKS area. this is where i was able to touch all sorts of underwater creatures such as jellyfish, stingray, horse-shoe crabs, and more! no, i didn't touch any of them because i was scared too, lol. it was still pretty cool.as i kept walking throughout the aquarium, i saw the many different tanks filled with all types of sea creatures. it was dark here, but the tanks were lit, which made the colors of the fish and coral and what not look so beautiful. in one of the tanks i saw a sea-horse! i'd never seen one before that it was so so so awesome. at first, i couldn't really see her. this tank was dimly lit with tones of purple. but once i spotted her, i was able to make out her features. she was so so so awesome too.
from that point i went up another escalator into the reptile area. i quickly skipped over this area. i am not a fan of reptiles, or snakes lol. once i was done in there, my group and i started descending into "the depths of the ocean". we were directed into shark alley. yes, shark alley. i'm not exactly sure how to explain the layout of this exhibit, but there's a ramp in the middle that my group and i walked down , and on the outside were the shark tanks. as we were walking down, there were literally sharks swimming around us. it was freaking amazing. a little off topic, but in my opinion i think the national aquarium does a fantastic job in making you feel like you're actually underwater.
after we survived the sharks, we got to my favorite part--the blacktip reef. remember from above when i mentioned this exhibit? well here it is. this part of the exhibit is fully underground and are able to view all of the sea-life. the blacktip reef is shaped like an arch, the sides are turned up and the middle goes in. it's honestly breathtaking. standing there, in the middle of the arch made me feel like i was underwater. the blacktip reef actually made me realize why i love aquariums so much. i love watching the exotic fish and animals swim seamlessly in their captured world, the way they glide through the water so effortlessly. it brings a sense of wonderment to me. there's something so enchanting about watching these exotic fish and animals swim in their tanks--something so unrecognizable from anything around us.
one of the last exhibits i was able to go to was the jellies invasion. although it didn't beat the blacktip reef, this exhibit was really cool too. there are seven different types of jellyfish showcased here such as the pacific sea nettle, the moon jelly, blue blubber jelly, lion's mane jellyfish, the atlantic sea nettle, upside-down jelly and the northern sea nettle. just like reptiles, i was never a fan of jellyfish until after this exhibit. the room is darkly lit, and the tanks were lit with light. the light made the jellies glow in the dark and it was intriguing to watch as they moved throughout the water.
unfortunately my adventure ended there. but i've been to different aquariums, and i have to say that the national aquarium in baltimore is by far my favorite. i definitely recommend going there.
i hope you enjoyed this post! make sure to leave a comment about your favorite aquariums, or favorite memories from aquariums!!
xoxo,
l.k
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