A trip to the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium

We found out that on Saturday, June 8th the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium, in Norwalk, Connecticut, would be having a fish themed car show.  Naturally, this I had to see, so my brother and I went over. I had never been there before, but I really love aquariums, so I knew it would be a fun trip. I ended up spending way more time looking at the fish than looking at the cars- about 3 to 1 ratio I'd guess. I ended up taking over 1000 photos, and I will share some highlights here. I also got to pet a jellyfish, a manta ray and a crab, and I set my record for most pictures taken in a year- my old record was 13050. I'm now over 13500, and September and October both have huge photo events coming up. I expect to set a record in 2019 that will never be broken.

 This is the main entrance. Those tall towers date to 1911, I think the sign said.

The Aquarium is right on the Norwalk River, and the train bridge was built in 1896. It actually goes OVER the Aquarium!

 My brother pets a jellyfish!

 These teeny tiny jellyfish are half the size of a dime

 a crab

 The manta ray petting booth

 They come right up to you!

 They seem to like getting a pat on the back!

 This one wouldn't swim away until I reached in and pet the top of it!

 Sharks

 Seals

This came out blurry, as most of the fish pictures did, but it looks like it's wearing lipstick!

Finally, a clear fish photo. Note the others are all blurred- the fish move very quickly and are nearly impossible to get good photos of.

 really big sea turtle. There were three of them in the tank

 A school of fish that shares the tank with the sea turtle.

 an eel

 A lionfish

 There's a puffer fish hiding back there. Literally hiding- there was a sign saying he was new to this aquarium and hadn't gotten used to his new surroundings yet.

 More jellyfish

 Big tube of Jellyfish that had a color changing light on it

 This fish stopped to look at me!

 a big ray at the bottom of the shark tank

Not a big fan of sharks, but if they are in the place, I will photograph them.

 A sturgeon

 Sturgeons with their mouths open

 I don't know what it is, but it was barely moving much, so I was able to get a clear photo.

 A lobster! Finally a lobster in an aquarium!

 The crab I pet

 Horseshoe crabs and starfish

 The Otters were hilarious...very energetic and fun. They never stopped moving, so I wasn't able to get any great shots of them, although I tried...and then went back and tried again, but this is the best.

 A garter snake.

 An Eastern Newt.

 Turtles

One of the two otters took a little snooze, so I was able to get one clear shot!

 a long, thin fish and some snails

 a seahorse and a crab

 very active turtles

 The seal exhibit is both in and out doors

 There is a small overlook where you can look down to the seals or over to the Norwalk River, first sight of the car show

 Looking straight down from the overlook. As someone scared of heights and not a fan of walking on grating, I had to get off this as quickly as I could...

 lizard

a crocodile

 they had a monkey, but he was just sitting in that box staring at people.

 poison dart frogs

 big frog

 got him with the tongue out!

 quail

 They had model ships on display

 The building the Aquarium is in dates back to the late 1800s at least, the aquarium has only been in existence since 1988.

 To fit the aquatic theme of the car show, they referred to this Austin Healy as a Frog Eye Sprite...usually they are called Bug Eye Sprite.

 I took this picture to show the remains of the ladder that once led to the roof, but aimed higher up to get the bird in flight. Success!

 This is looking directly up at the grate I was standing on before.

 A Daimler, a brand I hadn't photographed before.

 A Rambler Marlin

 A Chrysler Cuda. Yes, Chrysler. In France, where this was originally sold, they were badged as Chryslers, not Plymouths as in the USA and Canada.

 a Plymouth Barracuda

 A Frazier custom built in 1954

 Train!

 A 1937 Gougeon Streamliner, a one-off custom build.

 I think the above fish are all bass

 Meercats!

 My brother crawled under and went in with the Meercats! I decided against it.

This was a really spectacular place. My pictures don't do it justice, it's instantly become a favorite place for me to go. I will be going again- at least once a year, perhaps more. It's more than just an aquarium, and there is construction going on- they are working on an expansion. So in the future, it'll be even better!