Under the sea

Was flipping through my 2009 Entertainment Book the other day, looking for vouchers we could use before they expired and one that caught my eye was for the Melbourne Aquarium. I've never had any strong urge (not even 1%) to visit the aquarium in all my 7+ years here, but this weekend somehow, something was pulling me towards its doors. And for half price for me and the boy...why not?

We forgot to take along our camera so had to make do with the Iphone (which takes pretty impressive pics for a phone). We were greeted by penguins! So cute. I never knew there were different breeds of penguins but these were King penguins and they are aloof creatures, preferring to hang out amongst themselves and ignore their neighbours, the ..... 

...Gentoo penguins! These penguins can outrun a human on land (unbelievable!) and they were swimming soooooooooo fast in the tank, your eyes would both go in different directions just trying to look at them swim.

Lack of affection, hence resorted to kissing a penguin.

Some tiny crab

A lionfish- these fishes have a venomous dorsal spine

Gigantic lobster and crab

Did you know lobsters could climb up walls? Neither did I. 

Weedy seahorse. -_-

Leafy seahorse. -_- I swear these are its given names (non-scientific of course).

Pot-bellied seahorse. Ok, I made this up but the males have bigger bellies and the bigger the belly, the more attractive they are to the female.

A really ugly fish! I looked into the tank initially but didn't see anything so I looked away. I didn't see this lil guy till the boy pointed it out.

Trying to kiss another fish.

A long-necked turtle. Eeeee....

These turtle eggs were being artificially incubated at 24 degrees and once hatched, could mean an addition of up to 20 long-necked turtles for the Aquarium!

Did you know this fish...HAS NO EYES?! And is albino?!! They move around using sound waves that bounce around. The silver dot is just a reflection off the camera...it's not the eye cos they are blind as bats!

Transparent fish.

Ugly fish.

Sawfish at the bottom of the tank.

Shark!

Shark eggs. I guess they have the option of laying eggs, or giving birth to live mammals.

A very tiny, poisonous blue frog. The venom off their skin is used on the tips of blow darts in some parts of the world.

I want its nose!

A fish that look like it fell into blue dye. Doesn't look too smart either lol.

Then we went into a room lighted with UV and filled with jellyfish!

Some jelllyfish can only move up or down and they have to depend on the sea current to move them left or right hahahah poor things.

Haha I don't look too scared being caught in a shark's jaws, do I?

Massive stingrays!

Alright, I'll leave you with a pic of this cute fish and off to bed I go.

The visit to the aquarium was fun- I feel a lil bit more educated and enlightened about the creatures of the sea now :) although I still wouldn't want to be underwater with any of them.

Have a good week everyone! xo