Blue Blue and more Blue at the Baltimore Aquarium

Hola from the Bay Area! My parents have gone away on a whirlwind tour of the South-West. They will be visiting LA, Vegas, San Diego and Grand Canyon over the next few days. My uncle who has taken them categorically decided I don't deserve to see those places again after my recent Cross Country trip. Meanwhile Arun is planning on more travel in the Philadelphia area this weekend. So I figured this is my last chance to squeeze in a post on our trip to the National Aquarium at Baltimore last weekend.

We planned on spending an entire day at the Aquarium. In hindsight, after seeing what a bunch of animal and photography lovers Arun's and my families are made up of, I'm surprised we finished in a day. My dad and Arun spent what felt like hours at each viewing station chasing every shiny elusive fish with their cameras. Arun's dad went bonkers shooting videos of everything in sight with his beloved handycam. I wandered around wide eyed- an entranced child in that blue paradise. The mothers, being absolute mothers, tried in vain to keep everyone together while oohing and aahing at the colorful creatures. It was two happy families!

The guys who built the aquarium have thought of everything. From the dim photography-friendly lighting in the different galleries to the eerie music in the Jellyfish exhibit, the attention to detail was really impressive. They even projected on a wall a real time image and description of the exact fish swimming at any moment under the bridge we were standing. The shows were pretty good too. The dolphin show, albeit not as entertaining as the one in Sea World, had the mammals doing some cool tricks. The parents really enjoyed the 4D show.Of course we didn't tell them beforehand about the phantom snakes that slithered through their legs or the giant whale that spat on them from the screen. They laughed, still tickled, for a full 15 minutes after the show.

Tired parents at the end of the day

The "Jellies Invasion" Exhibit wins hands down as the highlight of the aquarium visit. It is amazing that creatures as pretty as those orange parachutes silently floating down, those tender exquisite lacelike mushrooms, such wispy fragile looking things actually pose a dangerous threat in the ocean. Arun loved the riot of colors they created against the bright blue water. Here are some pictures of the jellies to round off the post. 

Do visit the aquarium if you happen to be in the area.