New Orleans- Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

I got to visit New Orleans and play tourist.  Years and years ago I was able to see the aquarium with my boys when they were little.  I was so busy chasing them from one exhibit to the other because they were so excited to be seeing the many different things and they all wanted to go in different directions I could hardly enjoy it at all.  This time I got to go by myself and take my time and get lots of great photo's. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarium_of_the_Americas   (As a sidenote these were all taken with no flash.   I had learned from the Galveston Aquarium that you get better images that way. ) 

This is what it looks like as you walk to it from the downtown area.

Audubon Aquarium of the America's - New Orleans

I got there right before it opened at 10:00 am.  So I had to wait for a couple of minutes.  As I waited I enjoyed looking at these sculptures that were in front of it.

The one thing you couldn't help but to notice was the aqua color distinctive glass structure of the building.

outside the Audubon Aquarium, New Orleans

When I walked in and saw this it reminded me of  the aquarium in Galveston and it made me wonder if the same company designed this one too. (Here's my blog post about the Galveston Aquarium-http://rockhoundingaround.blogspot.com/2011/09/galveston-trip-aquarium-at-moody.html  )

This was the friendliest fish I've seen.  It seemed like it saw me trying to take a picture and came out to check it out.

Next thing I knew it was opening his mouth like he was trying to talk to me and tell me about the stuff that was there with him.

Like this weird color stingray.

Here's another image of him.

The aquarium is designed in a spiral and as you walk up the spiral you see different things.  One of the first things you encounter is a tropical rainforest and how water is so important for its ecology.

They had all sorts of fish that you would encounter in the Amazon river area.

One of them is piranha's.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha

When I first saw them I didn't realize what they were and thought they looked like just your everyday ordinary fish.  Then when you realize what they are I'm amazed about them.

You can't see them but there were birds flying around too and there were a couple in this photo.

The flowers they had were beautiful too.  I also liked the way they colored the air-ducts and such to blend into the building like this one that was behind this bird of paradise flower.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliconia

It was long before I came to the exhibit that had all sorts of people in front of it -giggling and making happy exclamations about it.  I had to check it out. It was the penguins,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penquins. I don't know what it is about penquins but people just seem to be naturally drawn to them.  They are soooo cute.   I know these aren't the best picts.

penquin at the New Orleans aquarium

I really got a kick out of these two who kept on trying to swim into the window and get out of there.

Here was one that was trying to get out. 

And here is the other one when I went to the side to look in on them.

I liked the way they were trying to interact with each other trying to figure this thing out.

They had this tank with corals growing in it.  I just thought it was so pretty

This fish really gets your attention with all of its spines on it.

I saw some clown fish swimming and heard a little kid ask his dad which one was Nemo- I laughed as it brought back memories of what my kids would say. 

They had a big exhibit on Seahorses.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahorse  I think everyone thinks they're cute too.

Seahorses @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

More seahorses pictures.  I liked the way the seahorse mimics the iron pipe.

I just liked the colors in this one and the way they were using the vegetation to hide in.

It was interesting to watch them anchor themselves with their tails.

I like the way this one would have blended into its surroundings if the gravel had just been a little bit darker like around an area that has basalt.

There was an exhibit of a Louisiana Swamp.  Here's some of the fish that are native to the area I live in.

I just like the way this picture looked and so included it.

They had a nice section on frogs and what the difference was between a frog and a toad. Basically all toads are frogs but not all frogs are toads.   This frog was on the wall and I thought it interesting to see attached so.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad

I liked them having this frog skeleton to look at. 

frog skeleton @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

They even had some tadpoles growing too.

I thought this starfish was so pretty.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish

There was this eel too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel

He looked like he was saying 'feed mee please!!!!'

It seemed he's screaming got the attention of his friend the lobster. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobster

Here's the lobster hanging out in his area. He sure did blend in with his surroundings.   Also notice the mollusc that are in the right hand corner.  

I came upon this skull and was curious as to what animal it was.  I was fascinated to see how sharp its teeth were.

It turns out it is a sea otter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_otter

Most of the pictures of the otter are of it on the surface of the water.  It seemed like the only good ones I got was of it underneath the surface.

This is more of a profile view. 

sea otter@ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

Here's my one surface shot of it playing in the water.

The sea otters were near the Louisiana swamp section and so I went back to it to see things I should be seeing where I live.

The Audubon Aquarium had windows that faced the Mississippi River - this was the view from one of the windows.

While I was in the Louisiana section I kept on hearing a hawk screeching.  I couldn't figure out where it was coming from but then I noticed a platform and was finally able to see it.

I was walking under the platform and was not looking up until a kid pointed up and asked 'what's that?'  It made me realize I had missed a lot of stuff.  So I retraced some of the areas I had been to already.

I found out I had missed the petting area where you could touch a stingray if you wanted too.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray

I liked this wall that showed the record catches for the state.

Some more pretty fish exhibits in tanks.

A exhibit about Louisiana wouldn't be complete without having some shrimp in it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrimp

Shrimp @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

One of the main attractions is this white alligator.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator

White Alligator @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

A baby turtle as seen from underneath.

more happy fish

I did like the way there was also art sculptures there

They also had this display of butterfly's.

And beetles.

As we were walking there was a central tank that looked like it would have been out in the Gulf coast.  You could see into it and see all sorts of stuff.  It was very pretty with the coral that was growing and the blue water and the fish and sharks that were swimming in it.

Shark's in the tank.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark

Sharks @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

I thought the jellyfish were so graceful and delicate to watch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish

Jellyfish @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

This was a hermit crab. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermit_crab

Hermit Crab @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

Here's a sea turtle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle

@ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

Another shark picture.

Another stingray.

I loved this one that came up to the window and seemed to say high.  It reminded me of a Dr Who episode. 

stingray @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

another turtle picture.

I thought this one made you feel like you were in a submarine and what you would be seeing if you were looking out its window.

The jellyfish were fun to watch and I got quite a few images but I'll only bore you with these two.

 jellyfish @ New Orleans Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

another jellyfish.

All good things have to end and I hated to leave.  As you can see you could easily spend all day there just reading and looking at everything.