Octopus's Garden

I traveled beneath the waves over the weekend, and enjoyed the trip immensely.

Although I'm still smitten by the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the New Jersey State Aquarium in Camden had some very nice exhibits too.

We started by checking out the hippos. While it was pretty amazing to see them in an aquarium, what was more amazing was how photogenic they were. Not that I would know because I made a classic bonehead move and forgot my camera. There was the usual underwater viewing area where you could see the hippos swimming along. In the midst of an aquarium employee droning on all the little factoids about hippos, one of the hippos cruised along the bottom of the tank, and then decided to kick off and launch straight up in front of the glass until half of it's body was extended into the air! White men may not be able to jump, but hippos sure can. Seeing something like that made it a little easier to see how dangerous they can be in the wild.

From there, we went directly into a display of jellyfish. They were magical and glowing in the blueish light in a huge cylindrical tank. I could have stayed for hours there. It always strikes me how some of the smallest things capture my interest. I also was very fond of the seahorses, and sea dragons they had. Then, we were upon a monstrous tank that housed 27 sharks of varying types as well as some fish and rays. This was impressive, but not nearly as impressive as the tunnel of glass that you pass through where sharks glide menacingly towards you, and then swim directly over your head.

On a side note, while the gift shop was fairly reasonable as those go, do NOT wait to grab a bite to eat at the snack bar in the aquarium. There were four of us, and the bill was closer to $50 than $40 for heat-lamp tended burgers and fries. Not cool.

Anyway, we headed over to the waterfall area, and into some smaller exhibits with all sorts of fish ranging from moray eels to triggerfish. Towards the end of this area is another huge tank, and this time it was filled with sea turtles, manta rays with wingspans of over 8 feet, and bluefin tuna. The turtles were amazing, and the grace of the flight patterns of the rays was hypnotic.

We went over to the shark petting area, and I did so. Felt like smooth rubber, and it was very cool.

They have a "4-D" theatre experience that can be purchased separately, and after doing so, I would advise you to save your money. It has a shoddily CGI'd film that you view with 3-D glasses and the seats have coordinated movements. If you want to see this done well, then head to Disneyworld.

There were many other fish and sea creatures to be seen, but I don't want to ramble on indefinitely. I've always liked the water, and going to the aquarium inspired me to want to have a fish tank again. There's something uniquely soothing about watching fish swim around, and it's been proven to reduce stress too.

I think that anyone who has considered heading over to the aquarium definitely should give it a try. We had a great time, and will definitely be heading back again...