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Friday, March 29, 2013

There Be Whale....Sharks :)

Roosie has always dreamed of seeing whale sharks. These large animals have fascinated her for many years.So, for her 13th birthday we took her on a trip to the Georgia aquarium where they have not only a whale shark but FOUR whale sharks. Now, to be honest, overall I don't rate the aquarium itself very high. We had to wait in a line almost two blocks long for well over an hour to try and buy tickets.(We were already tired from the four hour drive.) Finally an attendant came along and told us there was another line for people who were going to pay with a debit card...a shorter line...much shorter. Then we found out the tickets were time stamped. You could only enter the aquarium at the allotted time on your ticket. Luckily for us we were able to get some of the LAST tickets for the 2:00 entry although by this time the dolphin show was sold out. They did discount our tickets by $5 though. By this time our patience was stretched pretty thin and we were ready to get inside. Inside the aquarium was packed and I mean packed...like sardines in a squished can. The displays were small (as in small viewing areas) and people were very rude (yes, almost everyone was very rude). Kids and adults alike were shoving us (and others) out of the way. If you were lucky you got to go up to a viewing window and see something, mind you only got to see it for five seconds but hey at least ya saw it. The "flow" from exhibit to exhibit was weird and difficult to navigate. Plus it was so loud and noisy you couldn't hear yourself think and you had to yell to communicate.Was there anything good about the trip you ask? Why yes, the whale sharks. Believe it or not we actually had no problem getting into the viewing area and finding good seating. We watched them for a long time. It was so amazing that something so large could glide so serenely and easily through the water. The whale sharks alone made the trip worthwhile....or more specifically, the joy it brought to Roosie to see them. And the manta rays....awesome! They were huge and may I say a bit show offy but it was so much fun to watch them. We may go again someday .... a slim maybe, just to see the whale sharks again. My opinion though is that the Ripley's aquarium we have in Gatlinburg is a much nicer aquarium. When it is crowded you can't really tell it. The flow is still good and it is still peaceful and quiet.The exhibits are amazing too. If only we had whale sharks up here it would be perfect :)
Anyway, I thought I would share some neat resources with you in case you were interested in learning more about whale sharks. Enjoy the links! Blessings ~ Nikki
Fact sheet with link for a PDF

Another fact sheet

Whale shark color sheets, even has a blank stencil so you could make a shape book for lap/notebooking.

Great printables for a shark report  

One thing I do love about the Georgia aquarium...Ocean Voyager webcam. Watch whale sharks :)