If you ever find yourself in Virginia Beach, Virginia, I can highly recommend the Aquarium, link here. This was not a recent visit as you can guess, but not so long ago in the grand scheme of things.
This is a Snapping Turtle. He has a very interesting face doesn't he?
There were several small crabs scurrying around in this exhibit.
My personal favorites were the seahorses. Only a couple of photos came out. Seahorse populations are declining but it is hoped that holding and displaying them will heighten awareness of marine conservation issues, engage public support and provide the opportunity to study and improve our knowledge of their biology. Here they are not collected from the wild, instead they get animals from facilities that breed captive individuals.
I took several photos but most came out very blurry. I was happy with what I could get.
These are Lionfish and very venomous. They are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans and were first observed in US waters in 2000 off the coast of North Carolina. Scientists have offered several explanations for their arrival - perhaps accidental or intentional release by aquarium hobbyists. Lionfish now live around wrecks from New York to South Florida where they prey on small fish and threaten local fisheries. The lesson learned from this and other 'invasive' stories is to avoid introducing non-native species into our local environments. As beautiful as they are, there always seems to be unfortunate consequences.
Striped Burrfish. Their range is from the Chesapeake Bay to Brazil.
These are Sheepshead and their range is from Cape Cod to Brazil.
I didn't identify all the fish and am not sure what these are.
Or this?
These look like those Sheepshead.
I always find aquariums interesting to look around. I hope you have enjoyed these photos from our time there.
Thanks for looking
and enjoy the rest of the week.
