Mermaids, Santa and Fish

So what do mermaids, Santa Claus and fish have in common you wonder? We saw them all at the Georgia Aquarium today, that's what! Knowing that Ariel is one of Lily's favorite princesses (she's a mermaid in case you didn't know), I knew we had to go when I saw that the Weeki Wachee State Park mermaids were up in Atlanta for a visit. To top it off, Scuba Santa was going to be there today. We had to go!

When we got into the Aquarium, we high tailed it over to my favorite area where the tropical fish are. Sure enough, hanging out in the tank with all the beautiful, brightly-colored fish was Santa Claus in his scuba gear! He had a little bottle that he released food from so there were tons of fish swarming around him. He also had a special piece of equipment on that allowed him to hear questions from the kids outside, so he could answer them. Unfortunately, there were tons of kids around him, so it was difficult for Lily and Mia to see him. They seemed more interested in the other diver and fish in the tank though, so that was alright.
After seeing Scuba Santa, we backtracked a bit to see the rest of the tropical exhibit. While I never want to come in contact with a jellyfish, I love seeing their exhibit. Look how pretty they are!

After walking back through the tropical area, we headed over to the deep water exhibit which is a HUMONGOUS tank that houses whale sharks, other sharks, manna rays, flounders and many other kinds of fish. They have an observation area that is usually fun to sit in and watch all the fish swim around. However, today (and several more days leading up to New Years if you're interested) they also had some mermaid visitors. A few safety divers came out to set up their air tanks and get in position to keep some of the not-so-people-friendly sharks and fish away, and then two young mermaids came swimming down.

They mostly swam from side to side waving to the crowd, but every so often, they would flip over or dance a little bit (or "wiggle around" as Lily said). It wasn't exactly the synchronized swimming show I was expecting, but it was pretty neat. Both girls sat, pretty fascinated, for the fifteen minute show, so that should tell you something.

The blond mermaid seemed a little surprised when the very large manna ray swam very close to her!

The whale shark got a little close too! How did the safety diver miss him?

After the show, the girls and I darted out so they could take their picture with one of the mermaids who was relaxing outside the exhibit on a big rock. However, they would not let you take a personal picture. This evening, I looked at the picture the professional took, and while it was relatively cute, it wasn't as cute as the $34.99 they were asking for it. I have to draw the line somewhere. So, I'm sorry to say, but you won't get to see the girls with the mermaid. Guess we'll just need to go back down to Disney sometime and track down Ariel!

After this picture, we walked over to the touch tank where they have rays and bonnet head sharks available for you to touch as they swim by. Mia really wanted to touch them but she wasn't quite tall enough to reach them. After a minute or so, they asked everyone to keep their hands out as they fed the rays; that was pretty fun to watch as they splashed all around! We also noticed a dry Santa Claus available for pictures nearby; however, the girls didn't seem interested in all at seeing him (other than Mia crying out for a "pop" aka candy cane from him), so we skipped over him. Instead, we headed up to the cold water area to watch the beluga whales for a little bit. Two new whales were added a few weeks ago, so there are now four of them in the tank. They are such beautiful animals. We all liked watching them.

After the whales, we walked up the ramp where we saw the cute little otters. There were two of them in the exhibit having a lot of fun. Mia really liked how they kept rolling over in the water.

After the otters, we walked over the penguin exhibit. Mia later said this was her favorite part; she was fascinated by them. Bama and Lily walked through the tube and got up close with the penguins.

Mia liked that they could swim right up to the wall of the tank; she would lean back or step back each time though as if she thought they were going to swim right up to her. She watched another little girl "direct" the penguins up and down in the water, so when she walked away, Mia tried too. She was pretty cute to watch. I know she really enjoyed this part.

Yet another day of memory-making for the Hooks family!