i visited the new addition to the tn aquarium last night w/ the family. a
members only preview before the grand opening in a few weeks. they are still a
bit under construction but the volumn of water is deep, dark and endless. cool
tunnels and caves w/ bowed, arced and bubbled acrylic protrude into the
salt water. 7 or 8' sharks slide by snaggle toothed and sleek leathery skins.
fearsome. how come they dont eat all the other multitude of colored fish?
the massive tank... something like twice the volumn of the current aquariums
waters is capped w/ a butterflyeri... is that a word :) and shallow touch
tanks of sharks, manta rays and freshwater stingrays. in many "windows" you
cant see to the other side. just an abiss. a nice addition to an already
stunning aquarium.
the tn aquarium is still the largest freshwater aquarium in the states (
world? ) and is what i like most when i visit. the mountain streams, swamps and
lake tanks. they keep a good variety of regional shiners, darters, topminnows,
chubbs and dace as well as the game fish and gars, bowfin, trout and such.
but the public likes salt and sharks so i guess one has to please them. i
think they are also setting up some jellyfish tanks behind the curtains and
barricades.
a great place to "snorkel" and not have to hold your breath. several
impressive views were had like a massive scholl of lookdowns swimming into view,
reflecting into the light and then fading into distant blue. makes me wanna don
scuba gear again. been a long time.
casper
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