Jellies, Stingrays, and Penguins getting naughty.

I love taking day trips to Boston.  Parking at Quincy Adams and taking the train (MBTA) into the city.  I recently went to the New England Aquarium with 2 friends, Tina and Amy.  What ensued was a lot of hilarity and a childhood school fieldtrip relived.

When we first walked into the Aquarium the first exhibit we see are the penguins...and it was feeding time.  You would think they were dining on oysters because these perverse flightless birds were having themselves a good old fashioned orgy.  Not as amusing as you would think...yes I got video of it but I'm not proud of it.

African Penguin

Rockhopper

We then watched the Fur Seal training session...a large male named Isaac was one bossy dude.  After the session he came out of the pool and posed for everyone...he also growled at the younger precocious harbor seals that were getting in his shot...he just wasn't in the mood to play I guess.  I especially loved it when one of the harbor seals decided to have some fun by tossing around a piece of feeder fish and then throwing it up on the ledge of the glass wall...I swear he was trying to give it to the woman on the other side of the glass.  Maybe he thought if he gave her a piece of fish she would do a trick...come on lady, he regurgitated that piece of fish for you...you could have at least spun in a circle or maybe do a hand stand...he has to do it 4 times a day.

Miss Myrtle

Then it was on to the giant ocean tank.  Located in the center...the aquarium was actually built around the tank.  Its four stories high and houses more than 600 animals, the oldest has to be Myrtle the green sea turtle.  She has been there for 41 years and she is suspected to be in her seventies. The spiral walkway built around the tank lets you get a 360 degree view of the tank. It leads all the way to the top where you can get a cool view looking down into the tank.  We were up there during feeding time and Myrtle came to the surface for some lettuce...in her own time of course.



After that we went looking for the shark and stingray touch tank...it was a little hellacious to find...even with the map and the floor stickers leading the way. (hint: its near the lockers)  I admit I was kind of psyched about it, like a kid I thought it was cool, slimy but cool.  It was busy so I might have accidentally on purpose elbowed someone or stepped on a kid's foot to get close to the tank...what?...I wanted to touch something.

By far the best part are the jellyfish.  Beautiful and majestic...these simple creatures are referred to as survivors because they can live in dirty, oxgyen-poor water conditions and have been around since before the dinosaurs.  My favorite were the small mushroom shaped jellies with what looked like colorful running lights. 

Another favorite...what I think Tim Burton's garden would look like...

Overall it was a good day and it cost us under $20.  Normally adult admission is $22.95 per person and parking near the aquarium is $35.  So it could have cost the three of us $103.85 or $34.62 each...but with the discount pass I got from the local library it only cost us $10 each for admission and because we parked at Quincy Adams and took the train, parking was only $7.  Round trip train fare is $4.  We also went to Quincy Market for lunch so that added another stop which cost an additional $2.  Total cost was $55 or $18.33 each!

IMAX shows are also offerred for an additional $7-$10 and certain times of the year you can take a whale watch tour from the aquarium for an additional $15-$40.

Some helpful websites to plan your day at the Aquarium:
New England Aquarium
MBTA
Hyannis Public Library or look for your local library.

*Discount passes from the library for the Aquarium are for the purchase of up to 4 admissions at the discounted rate.  The library has only one pass per day and they are dated so if you know when you would like to go call early to reserve the pass.  Also available are passes to the Museum of Science, Museum of Fine Arts, Roger Williams Zoo and more.  Each library is different in which passes they carry, you may need to call around for the one you want.

Its like a tornado of fish...