Marc's Public Blog

Table of Content for aquariums:

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2022/06/12 Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

π 2022-06-12 01:01 in Aquariums

Since I was in San Pedro for Dreamstate Harbor, I had a couple of hours on the 2nd day to visit the aquarium before the festival started at 15:00, which was just enough.
It's not a huge aquarium, it's actually been a teaching aquarium for many years, and sure enough it had lots of explanations on lots of things, which allowed me to pass the 2 hours even if the displays were more on the limited side. It's not a destination aquarium, especially with Long Beach Aquarium nearby, but I enjoyed my time there.

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2021/11/12 Diving in Dubai Mall's Aquarium

π 2021-11-12 01:01 in Aquariums, Diving, Uae2021

Dubai was on my way back from diving in Maldives, and since it's full of fun things to do, I figured I'd go diving in one of the 2 Aquariums. The Lost Chambers Aquarium by palm beach, also offered aquarium diving. It felt more appealing, especially as they use ocean water, so there is no restriction in bringing your own gear (including camera) unlike other aquariums that try to prevent contamination, but it turns out their diving aquarium is actually smaller, and they charge an even more ridiculous amount of money for a dive ($330 for 30mn), while the bigger Dubai aquarium was a bit less than half, although you had to pay extra for the guide to film you (since I couldn't bring my own camera).

So, I went with the Dubai aquarium, which I think was a good choice, it's still not cheap, but no aquarium is, 30mn felt short, but it was probably long enough given that I didn't have to go anywhere, and the extra I paid for video, gave me some good shots, when I'm usually never in diving shots :)

The dive center had all the gear you needed (but make sure to get the 5mm wetsuit, 3mm is too cold for 24C):

Like all aquariums, they have a small platform you go from:

And then I got a bunch of shots even if the quality was lesser than my own diving camera:

And interestingly, while the lost chambers aquarium might not be the best choice to dive (more limited hours for diving and a lot more expensive), that other aquarium is in my opinion the nicer one of the two to visit from the dry side :)

video summary:

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2021/11/12 Dubai Mall's Aquarium

π 2021-11-12 01:01 in Aquariums, Uae2021

The Dubai Mall Aquarium, located in the largest mall in the world, is a bit of a weird layout as it's on multiple floors (which half makes sense based on how tall the main aquarium, is). Contrary to the Palm Jumeirah Lost Chambers Aquarium, it has more than just sea life, which both fun, and a bit out of place for an aquarium (I mean, they had hedgehogs and reptiles, mmmh, ok).

I did enjoy diving in the main aquarium, that was definitely fun. After the dive, I did a visit of the aquarium on its multiple floors and that was fun too.

they had lots of tours for non divers

nursery for new jellyfish

algea

getting a new baby blue spotted ray ready for the main exhibit

I love nurse sharks, they are pretty and kind looking :)

The main aquarium had bigger fish:

that the tube I dived on the other side of, and photobombed a few people :)

random stuff that didn't belong:

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2021/11/12 Dubai's Lost Chambers Aquarium

π 2021-11-12 01:01 in Aquariums, Uae2021

Dubai has 2 big aquariums, the Dubai Mall one and this one that is by the Palm Jumeirah, built over water:

Of the 2 aquariums, I think it's actually the nicest one of the two, although both are nice, but I elected to go dive in the other one which had more convenient hours and was less than half the price.

A few pictures:

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2021/09/29 Seattle Aquarium, take #2

π 2021-09-29 01:01 in Aquariums

I had already been to the seattle aquarium in 2015, but ended up going back as part of the 2021 Seattle open source summit, as it was our group dinner in the rented out venue.

It was again not the best aquarium ever, but still fun to go through:

still loved the pigmy cuttlefish

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2020/11/21 Phoenix Odysea Aquarium

π 2020-11-21 01:01 in Aquariums

As part of driving across the southern states back to CA, we were in Phoenix for 14 hours.
Due to a lot of time in national parks, and adding Organ Pipe Cactus NP to the itinerary, we only had half a day in Phoenix. We arrived pretty late the first day, just in time to spend a quick hour at Odysea Aquarium, which was somewhat out of town.
In the end, the aquarium isn't huge, so 1H was enough. It's not one of the best aquariums I've seen, but it was still decent:

big mouth

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2020/01/26 Dallas World Aquarium or Zooquarium

π 2020-01-26 01:01 in Aquariums

Dallas "World Aquarium" might not be a world aquarium, in some ways it's barely an aquarium at all given how many non aquarium animals they have, it's probably more a Zooquarium than an Aquarium, but that said, it's the best Zooquarium I've ever seen :)

a burrowing owl, that was exciting since we're supposed to have them at home, but I had never seen one

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2019/09/12 Alaska Sealife Center in Seward

π 2019-09-12 01:01 in Ak2019, Aquariums

We used our monsoon day to go visit the sealife center. It was quite decent, and they nicely offered $75 animal interaction options, first feeding puffins, and then feeding and touching giant octopuses. That did add up to over $350 with the two of us and 2 interactions (1H each).

wolf eel, had never seen one of those, they're huge

After going through the center, it was time for our puffin encounter. We got a briefing on them and their family:

After the puffins, it was time for our even more exciting giant octopus encounters:

that one was small

pretty though

feeding time

it made friends with us, tasting us with its tentacles

here's a claim for you, enjoy :)

That sure was loads of fun:

Great way to spend a most of day, especially a rainy one.

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2018/11/30 Waikiki Aquarium

π 2018-11-30 01:01 in Aquariums

Ok, the Waikiki Aquarium does not warrant a special trip to go visit, but if you are already in the area and have 60 to 90mn to kill, it's still a fun visit. A few pictures below:

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2018/11/28 Ohahu's Sea Life Park

π 2018-11-28 01:01 in Aquariums

After diving nearby, it made sense to go check out Sea Life Park. It's a fairly small Sea World, but still fun to visit for 2 to 3h depending on how many shows/talks you go to. The actual aquarium bit is kind of small, though. The birds added some good amusement.