Shanghai Aquarium

As I said last week, the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium is really a world-class outfit. We were there for hours without even realizing we had been. It has examples of sea-life really from all over the world, with some special emphasis on Chinese aquatic life. There was a special exhibit on Yangtze River fish, which was exceptional. Most of the educational signs and descriptions were in English and Chinese both, like this one about the 4000-year-old practice of stocking waterways with a polyculture environment. These four different types of carp live and feed on different things at different levels.


One of my favorite parts was a display of Shark eggs. A light was shone through them and you would see each stage of the shark's development very clearly. A few weeks before they break from their mermaid's purse, you can actually see a small shark-shape moving around. It was fascinating, though I wonder at how humane the exhibit was. I did get some great video of it, too.




Escalators that go under water are cool. This wasn't even part of the underwater tunnel. Just an escalator.



Did I mention that I bought a new digital camera last week before this trip just because it had an aquarium setting? This is a parrot fish


Here's a creature that crosses all kinds of Zoophobias. A Japanese Spider Crab.


Stingray.


One of the many highlights was, of course, the famous Underwater Tunnel. For me, though, it wasn't terribly exciting because it was just more of the same fish we had already seen. But because it is the longest of its kind in the world, it is noteworthy.



Really, this aquarium was totally world class. It was so disappointing that their "gift shop" didn't have some better souvenirs.