Photos Galore Part 2: The Shedd Aquarium

For my 27th birthday (March 28, of course!), Nathan took me to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Unfortunately, the octopus exhibit was temporarily closed, so I didn’t get to see my mascot. So, I guess we’ll have to return! Until then, here is our trip to the Aquarium in photos:

Our day started with a train ride from Dune Park to Roosevelt. Here we are relaxing to some iPod tunes on the South Shore line.

Our first stop at the Aquarium was the Beluga Whale exhibit. They looked like they were happy, and they were sort of turning barrel rolls as they swam.

Our next stop was the penguin exhibit, which I liked a LOT. They are so cute up close! I tried to convince Nathan that I could probably adopt a family of them, and they could live in my bathtub, but he noted that it would be really hard to transport a whole load of penguins on the train. So maybe next time.

I think this guy is playing “King of the Hill.”Hey, look at that! There are law students invading the penguin exhibit!
I thought this was funny… this is how penguins rest, but it looks to me like they’re “beached.”

Two beached penguins, and one playing coy and refusing to look at the camera.

Gah! It’s a ghostly figure haunting the penguin exhibit! (Actually, it’s the announcer guy who happened to be walking past me when my flash went off. But I thought it looked pretty funny.)

When the penguins are fed, they all line up and march single-file to the edge of the rocks and then dive into the water. The handler then tosses shrimp into the water, and the penguins dive after it, simulating how they “hunt” for fish in the wild. It was so cute, to see them all neatly lining up and marching. I definitely need to adopt my own fleet of penguins. Perhaps I will house them in the giant fountain I’m going to get for my Mom’s front lawn. (haha, Mums.)
Nathan and I happily wait for our vegetarian spring rolls with honey-soy sauce, and our vegetarian club sandwiches (YUM!) at Sounder’s, the restaurant inside the Shedd Aquarium.

This is a bird that I thought was really pretty, and had very long, thin legs. It was just very unique. I decided to adopt it as well, but there are very thick panes of glass between the animals and the observers… probably to prevent “adoptions” like I had in mind.

I loved the turtles. They were on their cutest behavior. This one was chillin’ out on a log, and actually turned toward the camera for his mugshot.

This bird looked like a miniature, brightly-colored duck, and stood on one foot, like a flamingo. I just thought he was neat.
In no particular hurry, this turtle just floated along, paddling only enough to keep himself mobile.

The rays were also very cool. They were huge, and I couldn’t believe how fast they were!

And yes, another turtle. These guys (there were four of them) were actually moving all over the place. They were funny, though, because they perpetually looked unstable, like the slightest breeze would’ve made them topple over. Of course, that’s probably how I look too, with my almost completely absent sense of equilibrium, so I guess I shouldn’t laugh too hard.

Hey, whaddyaknow?! Another turtle! This one saw something interesting at the bottom of its tank, and executed a perfect swan dive toward the bottom.

I was commenting to Nathan how I was only catching brief glimpses of the rays’ bellies, and I wished I could get a better look because they were really awesome, and then this ray swam up and acquiesced to my request. He just paused there on the side long enough for me to snap his photo.

This is a “rockfish,” called so because he blends in so well with the rocks when he lays down. But I actually thought he looked more like a sideways fish… like he was a regular fish that turned sideways and plunked both his eyes on that one side. This is how the rockfish sat and rested, with their heads kind of raised.
This photo isn’t sideways; the crab was just strolling up the tank wall. I shall call him Neo, as that is a very Matrix-esque move.
A purple starfish!
This fish was such a vibrant orange, it was like it was glowing inside the tank. This photo is lightened a bit to see the colors of the plants around him; the second photo has a different contrast so you can better see how vibrantly he showed up in the tank.

This fish was literally resting his head on the ledge of the tank, and staring at us. I started laughing, and I told Nathan, “I think he’s actually checking us out!” The colors are a little funky because the tank was very, very dark, and it was tough to lighten. The fish was actually kind of a pinky-orange color, not all mottled like he looks in the photo.

I named this fish Jabba The Hut, because he looked just like a mini-Jabba, from his head to the way he sat on the bottom of the tank. He blends in with the rocks a lot in the photo, so I don’t know how obvious the resemblence will be, but trust me–it was a Jabba Fish.

This is what I call a King Crab. I wouldn’t challenge him for his place on that throne.

Next time you think about eating crab legs… the crab mafia’s sending this guy after you. And I don’t think he looks like a happy fellow.

I have no idea what kind of creatures these are–I couldn’t find a sign for them. But they looked like glowing leaves of some sort–like a blend between a glow-in-the-dark plant part and a seahorse. Very, very cool. They had a couple tall tanks of them, and it was pretty awesome.

This turtle was just standing like this underwater. Just standing there. I don’t know if he was posing, or meditating, or what… but I suspect he may be evolving into a bipedal species, in phase one of his plan to take over the world.

It is a shame this photo didn’t turn out clearer–this guy was swimming very quickly and it was dark. He has a very, very LONG snout on him, and as you’ll notice, he had his mouth open as wide as it would go. His mouth was open so wide, in fact, that when his back was turned to us, you could see through his head, because his gills were stretched to their maximum, making them see-through. Pretty wild. I called him Big Mouth Buddy.

This fish is named “Granddad.” That’s actually his name, not a nickname from me. He is the oldest fish in any aquarium in… the State? the Nation? Shoot… I don’t remember. But suffice to say, he’s an elder member of the fish society.

Nathan and I pose outside near the lakefront on the musem campus, with the overcast Chicago skyline in the background.

As we were leaving the Aquarium and heading back to the train station, I saw these three shapes on the hill, and thought it made such a cool scene, with the shapes there, and the hazy buildings behind them.

And here are a couple of photos for Daddio, who appreciates a good sign photo. This one indicates where we were headed to hop on the train (Roosevelt Road).

This photo not only showcases the sign directing visitors to the Aquarium, but also shows the Aquarium itself in the background.

Nathan and I stroll through the tunnel that runs beneath Grant Park on our way back to the train.

Back at the train station, Nathan waits happily for our “carriage” to arrive.

Rissa keeps warm at the train station in the fuzzy fleece she stole from her brother Alex.
Our last encounter with wildlife… this pigeon, who was clearly the Leader of what I termed the Roving Band of Pirate Pigeons. They were fierce.