NEAQ

I enjoy aquariums and try to visit them whenever I am on travel.   There is quite a range in the manner in which these establishments view their purpose, from Shedd in Chicago which won’t teach the animals any tricks they wouldn’t do naturally to Sea World in San Diego where they are likely training otters to ride on fur seals to deliver giant plastic orca shaped slushy-cups to children around the park.  The saddest exhibit at Sea World is probably the “pet the bat rays” tank which is basically a shallow kiddy pool where you can throw a quarter in a machine and get “bat ray food” which you toss into the 10″ deep water and when these purposefully starved animals come over you can pet them.  Our own New England Aquarium always seemed to me to run in the middle of the pack.  They are highly engaged in legitimate research and I always felt that it was the confines of their concrete container that kept the NEAQ from being able to really update themselves.  I was saddened thus to discover that one of the two major expansions that have occurred since I was last there ten years ago is a “pet the sting ray” exhibit, officially named a “touch tank”.  It is a bit isolated from the original aquarium and has its own gift shop even though the main gift shop is probably 30 seconds away by foot.  Sad.Above:  The big tank is till very impressive.  Maybe its her age but I was hoping Phoebe would be a bit more excited about being face to face with an enormous sea turtle.Below:  The three of us at the “stingray touch tank”.  Phoebe couldn’t quite reach the level at which they were swimming so I had to orchestrate a ray collision to get one of them up to the surface.  Cristin noted their fancy hand washing station was on the way out of the room.