Kenin and I had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Georgia Aquarium while in Atlanta last fall. I wanted to visit the aquarium when it first opened in 2005, but something always seemed to get in the way. Nothing was going to stop me from seeing the whale sharks and manta rays on this trip. I woke up early and was ready to go before Kenin even had his first cup of coffee. Georgia Aquarium here I come!
“Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink”. The Georgia Aquarium holds 8.5 million gallons of water and is home to over 100,000 animals consisting of 500 species. When they opened in 2005, they were the world’s largest aquarium. The aquarium is the only one outside of Asia that houses whale sharks, I am not going to lie, this is the main reason I wanted to go. :)
Not many people know this about me, but I went to school to study marine biology (and I am a water sign). I have always been drawn to water and everything in it, but I am also the world’s biggest scaredy-cat. Seriously, my friends taunt me on an almost daily basis because I can even watch commercials for horror movies :( . If I came across this big guy in the wild, I’d probably poop myself. Seeing him swimming around in this giant fish bowl though, was life changing. Swimming with whale sharks has now been added to my bucket list. This guy was amazing. I spent half of our day at the aquarium just sitting next to his tank watching him while in absolute awe! We spent some time filming the tanks and put a video together so you could see how cool it was.
Then I was forced to move on to the next exhibit. Thankfully the next guy was pretty amazing too.
And he came with some incredible friends.
The colors were pretty remarkable.
Then we moved on to one of Kenin’s all-time favorite animals, the beluga. Don’t speak of this to anyone, but when I can’t sleep, he sings me the “Baby Beluga” song. :D
This beluga had a little seal friend and they would swim together. It was quite cute. When the beluga was upside down so was the seal and when the beluga surfaced, so did his little friend.
On to one of my next favorite animals at the Georgia Aquarium (in case you didn’t notice, I have tons of favorites).
I love penguins. One day I will be brave enough to travel to the ends of the earth to see them in their natural habitat, but for now, I will love each and every one I see elsewhere.
Of course, this is an aquarium and so I feel obligated to post a few fishy photos. :)
I am not really a fish expert and you can’t really cuddle them; so most of my time at the Georgia Aquarium was spent on critters that could be captured and smothered with love. Alas, it is an aquarium, so here are some fish.
And even though I studied Marine Biology, and I could tell you all about the oceans currents, I know surprisingly little about fish.
I do however, know where to find Nemo. :)
In the beginning of this post, I mentioned the rays. Here is a touch tank where you can pet the lil guys.
The pièce de resistance for me was the manta ray. He was one of the most majestic creatures I have ever seen. Luckily for me, he was in the same tank as the whale shark, where I spent half of my day.
My visit to the Georgia Aquarium was well worth the wait. I don’t think I will ever be able to spend time in Atlanta again without making a stop in and saying hi to Fred. We left the aquarium that day filled with awe and inspiration. I know that the Georgia Aquarium will always hold a small piece of my heart, I’m just going to have to make it a point to go back and visit.
For more information on the Georgia Aquarium take a look at their official website.
Glad you finally got to visit the aquarium. I got a behind-the-scenes tour when I went to the BarkWorld conference last year. I didn’t even know it existed…or was such a big deal :)
Oh I love aquariums! How fun!
Ann, this is definitely one that you should check out!
Great video! And studying marine biology sounds interesting!
Out of everything you listed, belugas and penguins are my faves :) I can see spending half a day watching dream wildlife. I could have spent a long time watching the polar bears of the San Diego Zoo and the penguins out in nature in Argentina. Penguins are super polite – if you don’t touch them, they won’t touch you. And they wait for you to cross the road before they cross it themselves. And they pose for cute pictures with you – in the wild! They’re just adorable, and…. I’m noticing I’ve gone off track here. You’ve posted some really cute photos – I would love to visit this aquarium one day.
This is a must-see if you are ever in Georgia :) Penguins are very near the top of my “favorite animals list”. It’s on my bucket list to see them in the wild. The whale sharks and manta rays were enormous though, so i was in awe of them as well.
We’re in sync. I’m going to post Osaka Aquarium next week! ha ha…My memory may fail me, but isn’t Georgia ranked as one of the top 10 aquariums in the world? No beluga whale at osaka.
Also in the video, was that an otter or seal? The tip was hard to recognize. Didn’t look like a standard seal.
Georgia is ranked in the top 10, due to it’s size and variety of habitats. The guy playing in the water is an otter. We can sit there and watch them play for hours. Looking forward to your post on Osaka!