Sydney Aquarium

Last Monday we returned to Darling Harbor for a second round of Australian creature encounters. The Sydney Aquarium is right next to Wildlife World, and they offer combo tickets at a discount. (There are additional concession prices for students. See their site for prices) You have up to 3 months to complete you visits, but why wait that long.

This time we were ready with the schedule info and chose Monday specifically because they offer the most opportunities to see feedings on Mondays and Wednesdays. You can see Sharks and Penguins fed everyday, but the croc is only fed on those two days. (They also do a feed in the Great Barrier Reef tank, but we missed that one.) This plan was well worth it because the crocodile feeding was the coolest by far. Three trainers come out into the croc habitat -- one gives a brief informative talk, while the second holds back the crocodile with a plastic barrier, and the third tosses the croc her lunch. As the feeding begins the croc, who could have previously been mistaken for a stone statue, suddenly shifts into rapid action mode and starts snapping away.

I felt there were some missed opportunities with the other two feedings, as there were no informative talks for the audience. As G will tell you, I'm the type thats likes to read everything posted on a museum wall, and I'm an even bigger sucker for a lecture -- although preferably a brief one. He teases me constantly about this. The Aquarium let me down here. In fact, we had problems figuring out if we were even in the right place for the shark feeding. As this was the first of the three feedings, we made our way straight to the shark tanks. The feeding was supposed to start at 2:00 p.m., but 2:00 hit and nothing was happening. There was no announcement and no one appeared in the tank. Thinking we must be in the wrong place, I set out for more info and found out that yes, we were in the right place. When I got back, G and Kate, had decided to go find me instead of waiting by the tank. At that point the feeding began, but they didn't miss much; the feeding just involved throwing small fish into the tank. It was cool to see the giant turtles snapping for fish, but that was about it.

The penguin feed could have also been more of a show. It was cute to see them fluttering around impatiently dancing for their food, but when the two trainers finally emerged in the habitat with a bucket of fish, there was no discussion of what the adorable Little Penguins were being fed or what they're habits are in the wild. They just fed them as they took notes nonchalantly on a clipboard, talking to themselves, while the crowd looked on from the other side of the glass.

That said, the Aquarium is definitely worthwhile. They have some really beautiful tanks, with several giant walk-through displays. They're huge and vast - sometimes overwhelmingly so.

Despite my gripes about the feeding, the walk-through shark tank is really quite amazing. There are lots of different species of sharks, plus rays, and those giant turtles all swimming around together in the one tank.

The Great Barrier Reef displays are gorgeous! My one lament here is that because it is the final section of the Aquarium, I was a little fatigued by the time I got here and wasn't able to give it the attention it deserved. If I'd had more time, this would be the perfect place to just sit and get hypnotized by the beautifully colored fish swimming by.

There is also a fun hands-on exhibit. Sure, this is probably intended for kids, but that definitely wasn't going to stop Kate and I from petting a sea cucumber.

Kate likes to growl at the camera.

A couple more notable displays are platypus and the dugongs. The platypus is incredibly amusing. She darts all of the place in the most awkward way, and yet with incredible speed. She hides at times, though. Some friends went a few days later and were very disappointed because they didn't get to see the platypus.

I know this pic, kind of sucks. This little chic just moved too fast and turned her butt to the camera as I clicked the button.

The dugongs are just plain cute. I'd never heard of these before, but they're related to manatees -- I'm going venture to say that these guys are even cuter.

In the end, I have to admit that I enjoyed Wildlife World more because there was more that was new and out of the ordinary to me. However, there is tons to see at the Aquarium, and while it can be a little repetitive, it is enchanting and certainly worth it. We were there for about 3 hours, which is definitely enough time to see everything, but I'd recommend leaving more time for fish gazing.

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