Penguin Palooza

Around Ohio

The final exhibit actually held birds--and rather comical ones. It housed five species of Antarctic penguins. Unlike other birds, penguins have solid, dense bones that help keep them from floating. They're also covered in a layer of blubber and warm feathers to protect them from icy water. A penguin's diet consists mainly of crustaceans, fish, and squid.

 

The penguins mostly occupied themselves with preening their feathers or basking in the sunlight.

Penguin Palooza

These two penguins almost seemed to be involved in a conversation.

How do you do?

One penguin was brave enough to take a dip in the cold water.

Brrrrr...

Surrounded by Sharks

Around Ohio

The largest display, not only in terms of amount of water, but also the size of the inhabitants, was home to one of the largest kinds of fish: sharks. Unlike other fish, sharks must be constantly swimming in order to send water over their gills and keep themselves afloat in the water.

Sandbar Shark

 

This next fish is actually called a shark ray. The Newport Aquarium has more shark rays on display than anywhere else in the world.

Shark Ray

 

This loggerhead sea turtle was also at home in the shark exhibit. These turtles are considered an endangered species, not only because of increasing danger to the turtles, but also due to loss of suitable nesting beaches.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

 

Here's another shark. I wouldn't want to get caught near those teeth! Sharks have multiple rows of teeth, so when one tooth is lost, another one moves forward to take its place.

 

 Sand Tiger Shark

Jellyfish Gallery

Around Ohio
 

In the next display, dozens of jellyfish floated in ceiling-high round tanks, making them observable from all sides. Different colored lights made the jellyfish stand out in rainbow colors against the dark background.

 

In this tank the light constantly changed color.

Jellyfish Tank

 

This lighter-colored jellyfish was in another tank, slowly swimming up and down the front.

Pink Jellyfish

 

Like the jellyfish, these anemone use their tentacles to capture food, but they anchor themselves to rocks or gravel.

Anemone

Coral Reef

Around Ohio

The coral reef section of the aquarium featured another walk-through glass tunnel surrounded by brightly lit coral, beautiful fish, and even a few manta rays.

The yellow fin on this little fish was a striking contrast to its blue body.

Blue Fish

Here's another colorful fish I found swimming among the coral.

Striped Fish

Several manta rays were gracefully gliding through the water as well.

Manta Ray

Amazon Flooded Forest

Around Ohio

The Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit was housed in a large aquarium around a glass viewing tunnel. With fish swimming all around, it felt just like being underwater.

It was amazing to watch how this stingray glided through the water by "flapping" its body.

 Stingray

 

This enormous black fish would be rather nasty to meet in the wild!

 Black Fish

And last but not least, this catfish spent most of its time nosing around its aquarium looking for food.

Catfish

Frog Bog

Around Ohio
 

The Frog Bog exhibit contained just that—frogs! All kinds of frogs, from tiny black poisonous tree frogs to big red frogs that looked like leaves.

Here is an example of a leaf-like frog. It had a hard time hiding in the green leaves in its aquarium. Or maybe it was trying to look like a mushroom.

Leaf Frog

This interesting frog was sitting on a rock ledge in its tank. It must have used those huge back toes for gripping the rock as it climbed up.

Frog on Ledge

This last toad looked almost like a mud statue. At four inches long, it was one of the biggest creatures in the whole exhibit.

Toad

Gator Alley

Around Ohio

The next exhibit, Gator Alley, featured several different types of toothed reptiles ranging in length from inches to yards.
 

It's hard to imagine how these tiny things can one day become full-sized monster alligators.

Baby Alligators

This alligator, named Mighty Mike, occupied a large part of the exhibit. Over 14 feet long, he weighs around 800 pounds. He's the biggest alligator in the country outside of Florida.

Mighty Mike

And last, but not least, is the crocodile. These reptiles were lazily sunning themselves when I walked past, although I did see one of them get up and walk a few feet. Crocodiles can survive in freshwater or saltwater because they have special mouth glands that secrete excess salt.

Crocodile

Dangerous & Deadly

Around Ohio
 

The Dangerous and Deadly exhibit contained dangerous fish, as well as several dangerous reptile species.
 

This snake had a unique coloring pattern that made its head look like a leaf, while its body blended in perfectly with dried leaves and grass. I wouldn't want to step on it by accident!

Leaf-Headed Snake
 

This alligator turtle looked like a turtle except for its huge mouth.

Alligator Turtle
 

I'm not sure if this algae eater was dangerous, but it sure was big.

Algae Eater

Bizarre & Beautiful

Around Ohio

 

The Bizarre & Beautiful exhibit contained unusual marine creatures from around the world. It also included a long coral reef aquarium with many colorful fish.

 

This octopus was wedged into one corner of its tank. It sure has a big head!

Octopus

 

These two colorful little fish were residents of the coral reef aquarium.

 

Copperband Butterflyfish

 

These funny little fish were sitting in a little tank sticking their heads out of the sand. I couldn't help laughing since they all look so serious.

Shore Gallery

Around Ohio

The Shore Gallery contained fish and a few crustaceans from shallow areas of the ocean near coastlines. Visitors could also touch starfish, crabs, and other creatures in open aquariums.

 

This little crustacean was hanging onto a log near the bottom of the tank.

 

These fish were kept in large, brightly lit aquariums.

 

This starfish was hanging onto the glass in one of the viewing tunnels.

World Rivers

Around Ohio

The Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky showcases thousands of aquatic animals from around the world. I recently visited the aquarium and attempted to photograph the many beautiful species of fish there.

The viewing areas are divided into twelve sections, each exhibiting fish from different habitats or parts of the world.


In the World Rivers area, some aquariums simulate a swiftly flowing, rocky stream, while in others slow-moving water swirls around lush plant growth.

A large, circular aquarium in the center of the display contained these freshwater cichlids.

Cichlids

 

This fish's tank was filled with bright green plants.

Boesemani Rainbow Fish

A large, well-lit aquarium housed hundreds of cardinal tetras, along with this colorful discus fish.

Discus Fish