The National Aquarium

The National Aquarium
Friday, March 9th

I had planned on this tour being an “eating tour of the US” but it appears that it’s turning into an “aquariums of the US tour”. Yesterday, for the second time in three weeks, I was peering through thick glass at strange swimming creatures. Having just been to the Georgia Aquarium, I wondered if I might have “been there and done that” at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I needn’t have worried; the two places could not have been more different.

I had been to the National Aquarium once before: a family vacation when I was much smaller. The effect this time was very similar to that previous visit: it made me want to be a marine biologist. I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about how my job is pretty great, but watching the folks working with the dolphins, rays and the giant sea turtle reminded me of what I imagined (when I was 14) I would be doing for a living when I was 30. Funny how my dream jobs have collided in Baltimore.

I spent 5 hours at the aquarium yesterday. I saw dolphins poop, learned a lot about frogs, got a glimpse of a pygmy marmoset and spent 20 minutes looking for a sloth that I never did find. In a couple of places, the National Aquarium displays whole habitats, not just the underwater components. There’s a whole section devoted to the Amazon River Basin. The exhibit begins with the sea creatures and moves inland. As you move up the river, there’s a display with pygmy marmosets (the smallest of the monkeys) climbing in the trees above the spotted ray swimming in the river. Then you go up an escalator to the greenhouse on the roof that been turned into a rain forest; complete with a sloth (or so the signs assured me) and all manner of birds. They have a similar exhibit on the Australian Outback. It features a huge variety of turtles, birds, flying foxes and crocodiles. There’s also a large exhibit devoted to frogs. I figured, “what the hey, I’m here, I’ll go see the frogs.” and I’m glad that I did! I had no idea that frogs are so diverse and live in so many places. (Did you know that a tiny Amazonian frog is the most poisonous animal in nature? It contains enough poison to kill 10 people – more than any snake – in a body about ½ as long as my pinky?!?!? Just touching it is enough to make a person ill.)

Blue poison dart frogs. These guys are less than 2 inches long. They're not the uber-poisonous ones, but they do secrete poison through their skins. Their poison comes from their diet, so the guys who live in the aquarium are harmless (they get fruit flies and baby crickets dusted with vitamins and minerals). Their bright blue color is a warning to birds and other predators that they are poisonous and should be left alone.

A pygmy marmoset. These guys are 6 inches long. Not quite small enough to ride around on Sheila's finger, but still the smallest of the monkeys.

When I arrived, the aquarium was full of school groups. Cool. Obviously, the National Aquarium is a great place for field trips. (Though, I did feel a little weird as a balding guy in an over-coat sitting amongst a bunch of kids at the dolphin show. In fairness, I was there first; their chaperones sat the kids around me.) What struck me watching the people around me was how not curious many people were. Not the kids, but the people with them. For example, I was looking at the puffins exhibit when a child came running up shouting: “Look at the penguins!” His mother replied: “Those ain’t penguins. Those are birds.” Take a minute to enjoy that. But then, she didn’t ever bother to read what the animals were or tell her child what they were seeing. It was enough for most of the chaperones to say: “Look at that big fish!” but never to go any more into it than that. The aquarium staff and their signs spent a lot of effort explaining that most sharks are not dangerous to people and that not all of them have to swim all the time or die, but all around me, I listened to people repeating these popular misconceptions to their kids. I’m really glad that my parents encouraged my curiosity.

A puffin. Not a penguin.

I got back to the hotel in time to catch the second half of the Michigan State / Northwestern Big Ten tournament game. The Wildcats did not want their season to end. I sort of zoned out for a while when we were up by 13, but then in the final seconds, it took Northwestern fumbling an in-bounds pass to really put the game away. Holy cow.

I have rehearsal this afternoon, but I’m hoping to get over to Lexington Market for lunch beforehand. Tried to go back for dinner the other night, but they close at six so everyone was packing up when I wandered in.

Sheila comes tonight!

JV