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| Ripley's Aqarium, Toronto, Canada |
There are a lot of interesting things to see and places to visit in the Greater Toronto Area.
We visited the Ripley 's Aquarium located in downtown Toronto recently when our younger son came home to visit us over the Christmas/ New Year's holiday.
The price for admission for Toronto's latest attraction and Canada's largest indoor aquarium could be a little prohibitive. Fortunately,
there are some discount prices for seniors ( over 65 years old) and
for children.
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| Entrance area of the Ripley's Aquarium |
We got there last Friday night around 6:45p.m. So we paid the regular and senior tickets for our senior members.
What we didn't know was that after 7:00pm., there is a $5.00 discount for each ticket. So if we waited for anther 15 minutes, we could have saved $20.00 for the four of us.
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| A spectacular open water scenery greeted us as we entered the main exhibition area |
After we paid and entered the main exhibition area, there was an impressive scenery of open water on the left. But we could not go there as we needed to follow the exhibition route which directed us to the right
of us.
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| Beautiful and colorful displays of water creatures! |
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| Alewives schooling in a big tank |
One of the exhibits we saw was a big tank filled with Alewives swimming together.
Some fish such as Alewives swim in a large groups call Schooling for protection reason.
We learned that when Alewives swim in a large number together, they confuse their predators
by presenting them with so many targets that they are unable to decide
which fish to chase.
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| Paddlefish with a long paddle-shaped snout |
Paddlefish from the Great Lakes Basin have long paddle-shaped snouts
which are covered with sensors that allow them to detect tiny electrical
charges in water, helping them to hunt.
We saw many unusual water creatures with interesting shapes, sizes and colour.
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| A beautiful poisonous water creature! |
This living creature to the left may look pretty and colourful; but it can inject toxins into its preys and paralyze them when in contact.
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| Fleshy Sea Pen |
One of the interesting things we had never seen before looked like an old fashion feather writing pen is called Sea Pen.
"This sea pen may look like a single animal, but each is really a colony of up to 40,000 tiny creatures called polyps, each about the size of an ant's leg."
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| This Sea Dragon looks like a branch! |
Beautiful Sea Dragons with clever camouflages swimming by leisurely.
They just looked like tree branches and can be easily missed if we were not looking carefully.
We saw the baby sea dragon and they look different from the grown ones.
There were lots to see at the aquarium. It is a big place with many
exhibits that can keep the interest of people of varied ages.
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| My Mom was mesmerized by the colourful displays |
Eighty- seven years old and with limited mobility, my mother was quite memorized by what she saw.
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| We stepped on a moving exhibit |
After stopping and walking for almost an hour, we started getting tired. Here came the rescue!
A moving exhibit!
One of the most spectacular displays was when we stepped on an automatic walkway that took us through a tunnel like gigantic aquarium.
We were surrounded by a great variety of fishes swimming over our heads.
The best part of this display - we got to rest our tired feet a little.
Simply standing still, we could enjoy the graceful movements of the swimming creatures zooming by and over us.
We got to see the underside of many water creatures!
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| We could see the underside of the living creatures |
As we enjoyed looking at the different fishes and the living things in the water, we learned a few things about these beautiful and fascinating creatures in the lake/ sea.
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| Sharks lying still, blending in with their environment |
There are many aggressive predators waiting to ambush others.
For instance, sharks achieve their hunts by being still - lying quietly at the bottom of the sea, blending nicely into their environment.
When unsuspecting preys swim by, they open their mouths and attack them.
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| Clownfish - the star of the movie -Finding Nemo |
Another interesting fish we saw was the little Clownfish towards the end of the exhibit.
This little brightly coloured fish was featured in the famous animated movie - "Finding Nemo". Nemo was taken by divers and his father encountered many adventures trying to find him.
We were surprised to see how tiny Nemo was!
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| The discovery area at the Aquarium |
The Ripley Aquarium has many interesting exhibits for all ages.
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| A hands on activity area for kids |
It has a sizable area where visitors can ask questions, and learn more about the exhibits.
It also has a hands on area for curious little hands and minds to explore and learn.
Our family's visit to Ripley's Aquarium was fun, entertaining and educational. We purposely planned our visit on a winter night so that we could walk around indoor, have some exercise and spend some quality family time together.
Our most memorable moment occured at the aquarium cafe where we could sit, had something to eat, rest our feet while the younger generation communicated and shared their favourite pictures and stories with their older family member.
To me, that was priceless!
R.T.
Ripley's Aquarium
Toronto, Ontario
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