Living Swimmingly

Genesis 1:20
"And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.' "

For all the $290 million the founders sunk into the Georgia Aquarium, the entire complex was smaller than I had anticipated, having been spoiled with the Charleston, Boston, and other notable aquarium facilities. However, the exhibits were clearly laid out and designed to allow folks to stop and gape at fish as long as they pleased. The design was a central hub with five or six branches, each a themed exhibit sequence.
My personal favorite was unquestionably the Arctic selection, complete with beluga whales (we saw the two boy belugas, Nico and Gasper) and sea otters (apparently they're the Arctic-variety :) ). The beluga whales were eerily beautiful, shining vivid white in the deep blue, and they each sported the cutest, I-absolutely-top-Flipper grins. A voice narrating the story of the belugas informed their adoring audience that one of the whales came to the aquarium underweight and suffering severe skin lesions. I suspect that particular whale was the one scratching itself with ridiculous pleasure right in front of us. A boy to my right began to parody Nelly Furtado's new hit by singing "Promiscuous Whale"--I snorted with laughter and earned a very disapproving look from my brother. Alas...my dear, grumpy sibling thought the belugas resembled swimming albino slugs. Awful image, that.



As we walked by the sea otters, my sister noted that a middle-aged man behind us had "Riverbanks Zoo" emblazoned on his polo. Riverbanks is a well-known zoo in South Carolina, somewhere around my home. We spoke for a minute, he expressing wonder at the appeal of this aquarium and enthusiasm that I had participated in the Zoo Camp Wild Weeks program at Riverbanks. Ok, it sounds dorky, but I got to feed the marmosets, visit sick ferrets, see the back of the lion's cage, and eat popsicles virtually every day.

Back to the aquarium:

For walking-weary viewers, the aquarium-designers have installed an automated conveyer walkway, slowly moving us air-breathers through a fishtank tunnel. It was amazing, just to look up and see all sorts of fish going about their business and swimming energetically.
We all noticed the intensity of all the animals in the aquarium; maybe in older, more established zoos the animals are bored with life and lay lethargically in wait for their meals. In the Georgia Aquarium, however, either the temperature of the water or new surroundings inspired the animals to all be moving rapidly. Even the electric eels, which I have never seen show a spark of interest (hardy harr harr) in anything were swimming around sprightly.
I would heartily advocate visiting the Aquarium, despite the exorbitant price and crush of people. The exhibits are generally huge with tons of marine life, and the presentation of each is tasteful, eye-catching, colorful and just beautiful.
Back to the abbreviated Idiot's Guide to Atlanta