I hadn’t been to Sydney aquarium for many years, so a few weeks ago, AS and I decided to go there as it was a rainy Saturday afternoon as there wasn’t much we could do outdoors. Sydney Aquarium in situated on the eastern edge of Darling Harbour and is close to the heart of the city. The cost of entry for an adult is AU$35 per person.
When we went to buy the ticket, we realised that lots of people, especially families with young kids and tourist had the same idea as we did. So there was a bit of a wait before we could get inside. Once inside, there were a large variety of fish and water creatures like huge sharks, massive stingrays, majestic turtles, jellyfish, platypuses, penguins, and sea dragons.
There were many interesting Lego structures which wasn’t there on my last visit. I later learned that they are aquatic inspired constructions containing around 20000 pieces of Lego.
There was a section called Great Barrier Reef and I swear I saw all the fishes there which I had seen while snorkelling in Great Barrier Reef itself. They were so colourful with similar coral around them. All sorts of tropical fish, sharks and rays darted about the coral reef formations swimming over creatures that live on the ocean floor including lobsters and sea cucumbers.
The best part of all was the underwater tunnel. There were so many sharks and sting rays that we spent more than 30 minutes looking at them. I felt really excited when a three-metre shark or giant sting ray glided silently above me :).
Luckily we were there when they had shark feeding as well where one of the keepers told us many things about the sharks and sting rays in the tank.
A few facts I learnt that day.
- Opened in 1988, Sydney Aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in the world.
- Six million litres of water house this varied and colourful exhibit.
- They have beautiful dugongs – 2 of only 5 on display anywhere in the world
- Almost every Australian sea and major waterway is represented at the Sydney Aquarium: from the open sea to the Great Barrier Reef, to the Australian Bight and Sydney Harbour, to the Murray-Darling river system, the rivers of the Far North, mangrove habitats, rocky shores.
- Some of its displays are contained in the main exhibit hall, others in one of the three large floating oceanariums.
- A large purpose-built tank called Mermaid Lagoon is where the rather adorable Dugongs Pig and Wuwu call home. Most Dugongs spend their time in warmer northern Australian waters and they are a strictly marine herbivores.
- Little Penguins are on display in a large tank replicating their natural habitat which stretches around southern Australia from northern NSW all the way to southern WA, and can include Sydney Harbour.
- There are a number of shark exhibits at the aquarium. Together they tell the story and life cycle of sharks and also their relationship with man.
The aquarium is great for kids (and adults) who can appreciate the cool things the world can offer like sharks and turtles. I really enjoyed my day out and if you ever visit Sydney, I think this should be one of the places to go on your list.
For more information on the aquarium, please visit their site
http://www.sydneyaquarium.com.au/
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