In this entry I mention that staff at Mote aquarium consisted of a lot of retired seniors, and that they were all very friendly. Well one sweet woman, a nanny type, came up to us as I was taking a shot of Nora and Sharon. She offered to take a pic of us as a family. I handed her my phone and she proceeded to take the first shot. It is of her finger in front of the lens. The next was way too dark, and finally on the 3rd one, when she handed the phone to me to look at what she got. She asked, " is that one alright?" I did not want her to have to try again, plus we may have been there all day trying to get a great shot. So I just replied, "perfect." Which in my opinion it is. Any picture that is accompanied by a good background story is a perfect picture.
As far as stacking up to some of the larger aquariums such as Chicago’s Shedd, or News Orleans’ Aquarium of the Americas it falls short. But for what it is, it is pretty nice. They operate on a small budget and do what they can. It is very clean and up kept. The staff was made up of quite a few retired seniors who were extremely pleasant and knowledgeable and obviously took pride in their aquarium, and rightfully so.
Exhibits included a shark tank, impressive jellyfish tanks, dolphins, mantees, sea turtles and many various reef tanks. Our favorite being the seahorse breeding center. Nora and Sharon did get to pet a stingray which was pretty neat. Not to be dismissed is the dolphin rescue area, as it is a huge asset to the area.
We did not get to see the movies they play in their new theater but the setup was pretty nice. Something for next time as I am sure we will end up back there someday as Nora loves her aquariums.
In addition to the aquarium there was a bird rescue facility loaded with eagles, owls and many other large birds that encountered problems in the wild that required them to need rehabilitation. Seeing such large and majestic birds so close up is always exciting.
There is a large playground and picnic area on the property right along the water which makes a perfect spot for kids to get out some energy before getting back into a car for the drive home.
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