GEORGIA AQUARIUM

May 6

After spending our last night in Alabama we headed out the next day in sunny weather.  We crossed the line into Georgia and stopped at the very nice Welcome Center and rest stop to get information and a map.  Then we continued along the highway toward Atlanta.

While we were stopped at the Kaiser in Jonesboro for Don’s monthly lab test I called my 4^th cousin, Robin Baker who had generously invited us to stop for a visit and offered us a bed for the night too.  I gave her an estimate of the time we would arrive and promised to call when we were closer to arrival.

We headed into Atlanta to visit the Centennial Square, site of the 1996 Olympics.  After reading some of the material we picked up at the Welcome Center we decided we would visit the Georgia Aquarium for a few hours.  The Aquarium is right across the street from Centennial Square.

The Georgia Aquarium is NOT TO BE MISSED.  We walked in the door with the thought in our minds that nothing could compare with the Monterey Aquarium, and we were not expecting anything very exciting.  Boy, were we surprised!  This aquarium is like nothing you have ever experienced before in your life.

The aquarium is organized in 5 distinct environments.  There is the Ocean Voyage, the River Scout, the Tropical Diver, the Cold Water Quest and the Georgia Explorer. 

The first area we visited, just by chance, was the Ocean Voyage.  WOW!  Each step we took was better than the one before.  We walked into a tunnel where we could look into large picture windows to see hundreds of pretty yellow and black fish swimming around, and once in awhile a larger fish would swim into view.  Around a corner we found a traveling beltway, which slowly moved us farther into the tunnel.  The tunnel actually went underneath the fish tank, and we could look up and see fish swimming over our heads, as well as all around us. 

There were graceful fleets of rays gliding gently over and around us.  There were thousands of these yellow fish swimming here and there.  There were many large fish sitting along the edge of the tank seeming to watch the humans in their tank.  And then, all of a sudden, we saw a huge shadow overhead, and as we looked up a gigantic whale shark lazily coasted right over us!  He is huge. 

We were awe-struck and could only stand and stare at the sight.  We got off the beltway and I sat on the bench along one side while Don took picture after picture of the sights.

After quite some time we decided to move on, and left the tunnel, prepared to leave the ocean area and look at something else.  Then we rounded the corner and gasped!  There was the biggest window we have ever seen, 40 feet high and 60 feet wide and 3 feet thick.  We could now see the whole ocean environment, with thousands of fish swimming around.  There was a big backup of people, who, just like us, were standing, mouths agape, at the site.  The attendant kept trying to get everyone to move out of the passageway, and when we finally did we found that we could go around and down some stairs and there were nice seating areas where we could just sit and watch for as long as we wished.

We sat down and were mesmerized as we watched the different fish swim in and out of our view.  There were more of those big fish just idling along the view side of the tank, seeming to watch all of the human goings on.  There were thousands of those pretty little yellow fish darting all around.  And then, here came the enormous whale shark again.

We now had a very good view of him and we could see that just millimeters in front of his mouth were 25 or more of those little yellow fish, swimming right along in front of him.  There were several more little fish swimming alongside and just under the enormous shark.  We speculate that there is some kind of a symbiotic relationship between them.  I can see that staying close to this monster would protect the little yellow fish, but I am not sure what they do for the shark.  It was amazing how well-coordinated they were, swimming just exactly the right speed to stay so close to the shark’s mouth at all times.  As we sat there watching another whale shark made his appearance.  There were two in the tank!

We sat and watched the fishy doings for a long time before we tore ourselves away to check out the other areas.

Next we visited the Tropical Diver area where we saw graceful, billowing jellies, pink and blue, orange, red, pale white with glowing red centers.  There were many very colorful, small fish to enjoy too.

The Cold Water Quest gave us two beautiful white Beluga Whales.  They were very frisky, cavorting and playing with the crowd and each other.  We also enjoyed the penguin display.  We could see them sitting on the display above water, and also see them swimming around under water.  Another interesting display was of enormous crabs with legs two feet long.  And, I loved the fish that looked just like a piece of seaweed floating around the tank.  There were some California sea lions barking and basking, and a tank full of frolicing penguins too.

As we walked into the River Scout area we had the feeling of being under the water, with the roots and river rock of the stream bottom all around us, and the fish swimming in the “river” above us.  We really had fun watching the wonderful display of amusing river otters, cavorting and climbing and sliding and playing around.  And in the Georgia Explorer we saw some great big turtles.

This aquarium is such a great experience I would make a trip to Atlanta for no other reason than to visit again.

Leaving the aquarium, we strolled through Centennial Park, remembering some of the wonderful Olympic experiences we enjoyed in 1996 when DJ was on the US Cycling Team.