No1ofConsequence2

This guy is my absolute favorite. I love turtles, love them. I don't know why. They just appeal to me. This is the only turtle in aquarium. He likes to hide behind the rocks in his exhibit and doesn't come out to play too much. Both times we have been there though, he has been frollicking about. I took a bunch more pictures, but these were probably the best ones. I have one with both whale sharks in the picture together, but it is very hard to make them out. I will take more next time. Season Passes baby!!

No 1 of Consequence

This is in the tropical section of the aquarium. They created a living reef and even have simulated surf and brighter lighting so the fish feel like it is a real tropical reef. Again, the absolute size of the tank is amazing and this tank contains the most colorful fish in the place, by far!

Check out this bad boy! This is one of the jellies that were in Finding Nemo. They have amazingly long tentacles and are a cool pink color, although it is difficult to tell with the blue backlighting. once again photo credit goes to No Wife of Consequence.

Worm fish. These guys anchor themselves in the sand. As you will notice it is one of the better pictures. Credit goes completely to No Wife of Consequence.

California Sea Lion. Very cool to watch swim. They are super playful and incredibly fast in the water. You see Discovery Channel shows about them and they muddle around on land in an ungainly fashion, but once they hit the water they are absolute lightning.

Check out this guy! He is a Beluga Whale. The aquarium has five of them in a special cold water tank. It may be hard to see but if you look at his flipper closest to the camera he has a signifcant wound. He and one of the other whales were rescued from an amusement park in Mexico City where they weren't getting proper medical care. He has improved significantly since coming to Atlanta. The whales are very playful, charging the window and then veering off, swimming upside down and generally having a blast.

Look out!! SHARK! I know, silly, but kind of a cool shot!!

Another view of the Bow Mouthed GuitarFish. How cool is he?

This is the infamous Bow Mouthed Guitarfish. It is like part ray, part shark with really interesting markings. There are only two of these in captivity and this is one of them.

They don't call it the largest viewing window in the world for nothing. I know this isn't a great photo, but I wanted to include for size and scope purposes. Also, check out the school of rays in the upper right. The tank is so large (6.5 million gallons) that it is impossible to see all the way to the back from the window, so as the rays circle the tank they come in and out of view. When the rays are just entering your field of vision they kind of look like birds, flapping their wings in slow motion. It is incredibly cool!

Better view of the Hammerhead.

Hammerhead Shark, obviously. They are so unique looking. It is very interesting and suprisingly calming to just sit and watch the fish swim.

This is a saw fish. It swam right by the window. I apologize for the glare on the left there, it was hard to get a proper angle where the flash still worked effectively and while I realloy enjoy taking pictures I am not a great photographer.

This is one of the whale sharks. Notice how he has quite the entourage. Check out the lower right hand corner to get an understand of the size and scope of what I was seeing.