St.Louis Aquarium

Nothing much has been going on with us the past few months, as you can tell from the absence of my postings.  Now both John and I have been vaccinated, and we certainly will be out and about more now.  Last week our grandson Nathan had his spring break, and we had to find something to do with him to make that week somewhat special, so we chose a visit to our new aquarium in St. Louis.  Granted, it is a bit costly, but we found out that the money we put out was worth it.  Nathan enjoyed every moment of his visit there, and after we exited the aquarium he begged to go back in!

The aquarium had some information and exhibits regarding climate change and what we can do to make a difference in a world that is experiencing weather extremes and coastal flooding.  Upon entering the aquarium, we were surrounded by many hanging plastic bottles.  Very pretty, but it is a sad reminder of how many of them have been pitched out only to end up in land fills or or other places.  Only 8% gets recycled, and a new plastic bottle cannot be made from the old one without adding more chemicals to it.  The plastic debris which ends up in our environment ensnares animals and fish.  And, according to the exhibit, "plastic is found in the the seafood we eat and water we drink".   By 2050 "scientists expect there will be more plastic by weight than fish in our oceans if we do not reduce our use of plastic".

 The aquarium has some unusual fish which I have not seen before, such as the archerfish.  Nathan,our grandson, is holding a stick with fish food at the end of it.  When the fish sees that hanging above him, he spits out a stream of water which causes the food to fall down for him to snatch up and it.  We did see that stream of spit come up and knock off the food.  Nature is very fascinating; it seems to me that many species of plants and animals have a particular uniqueness which is common to only them. 

Pictured above is Lord Stanley, a blue lobster.  Only one in approximately 2 million lobsters are blue instead of the usual red color.  

The aquarium has tide pools where it is possible to touch star fish, and other creatures found in those shallow pools.  There were also the other usual exhibits of sea horses ( I am always fascinated by those creatures and the various members of that species).   There are also interesting displays of a variety of jelly fish, pictured above.  Nathan enjoys touching sting rays, which he was able to do at the aquarium.  For young children this aquarium has a lot to offer, and I must say we adults enjoyed it too!