Under the Sea

Churaumi Aquarium was a HUGE hit! We will DEFINITELY be getting annual passes for this one!! Especially because most annual passes out here are just the price of 2 visits. Ha absolutely loved it (as did Martin and I). Some of the tans were a little on the small side (always a complaint of US visitors--animals and animal rights/needs are viewed very differently in the US as opposed to Japan), but their big tank is the 2nd largest in the world! Second only to one at NASA. In it were 3 whale sharks--amazingly huge and harmless, tons of assorted rays, many sharks, and so much more. There were a lot of animals that I'd never seen before here, such as the whale shark, some unusual shrimp, fish that swim vertically and upside down, and sting rays with faces that look like dolphins! Churaumi is located inside a much larger area called Ocean Expo Park that also has other exhibits--dolphin shows, manatees, sea turtles, beaches, botanical gardens, playgrounds, even the Butterfly Paradise is located nearby. It is a shame that it's 1 1/2 hours away, but that is really the only bad thing we can say about it! What a great day!

The family by a crab topiary:
Checking out starfish and sea slugs in the "petting" area: Ha loves the fish! Family photo opt:

The whale shark tank:


Wow...Turtles!! This may come back to bite us, lol, but we think Ha's "no"s are adorable! This is one of Martin's tried and true ways to elicit one:

Nappin' with Pops on the way home: