Some of my best photos from Birch aquarium!
I rarely photograph things that are not real specimens of lifeforms, but this lifesized sculpture of a mother grey whale and calf emering from a fountain at the entry of this aquarium, impressed me so much, that I want to share it with all you! :)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]I'm a sucker for strange, weird and colorful shark and rays rather than for boring "big" plain grey ones. I was happy to find one of my favourite species here, the Banded guitarfish!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]School of Blacksmith damselfish swimming in the Kelp Forest tank
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Colorful blue and gold snapper
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]The blue green damselfish is one of the most common tropical reef fishes in aquariums but here I obtained my best photo of it
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Broomtail grouper in the sunken ship tank
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Brown shrimp, I wish more shrimps are represented in public aquariums, where rarely appear any species besides the common Lysmatas. So I liked a lot to see a "different" shrimp alive
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A very neat pinky bubble coral
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Nicely patterned Calico rockfish
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Couple of California morays
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Impressive California spiny lobster in the same tank than the morays
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]One of the best stars that I was more happy to find in this aquarium!!! A mantis shrimp!!!!! This Caribbean rock mantis shrimp lives in a tank with dead corals that is used for comparation with a next tank with live corals, for warn people about coral bleaching.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]My most favourite goby species was here where I saw it for first time!!!! Imagine my happiness!!! Catalina goby with almost surreal colours
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Seeing alive cowries is also something very special for me as I'm used to see only empty shells in shops, as souvenirs, in museums, etc and they're magnific creatures! Chestnut cowry is one of the nicest species!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Comets or "sea bettas" are common in aquariums but very shy and often remain hidden in a crevice. Here I obtained the best photo I have for this species:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A coral hawkfish resting in the bottom
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Diamond stingray in the outdoor shark and ray tank
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Beautiful flag rockfish
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]In this aquarium full of nice surprises I found a lot of happiness but maybe none of them can beat the superdreamed Flamboyant cuttlefish!!!!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Pure beauty of the Pacific coast seafloor! Group of fringed burrowing anemones in front of a bed of strawberry anemones and with a nice warty sea cucumber visiting!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A juvenile Garibaldi, so different from adults that one could think it's a different species!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Intrincate pattern of a Geoffroy's wrasse
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Kan you see a Giant kelpfish here?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]And now?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]One of the photos I like more from this place. The Giant sea bass is a Critically Endangered species in the edge of the extinction
Birch Aquarium holds a indolent and pacific individual of these giants in the Kelp Forest tank and it's the star of the place. Compare its size with a children! In photo is not as impressive as in real but...!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Another of the dreamed creatures that I like a lot and suddendly here they are, in front of my eyes! A real and alive grunt sculpin! These weird-shaped cute tiny things are amazing! They share the tank with pygmy lumpsuckers according to signage, but I passed minutes and minutes watching every corner and crevice of the tank and no lumpsucker appeared. But the grunt sculpin is enough for make me happy :)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Hawkfish anthias is an attractive tropical reef species not often seen in aquariums
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Another of the best gems of the aquarium: one of the most magnificent fishes of the whole sea, the mythical leafy seadragon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They're really impressive!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]The seadragons live in the Seahorse Room with a wide collection of other seahorses and pipefishes, such as these lined seahorses in two tones:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]This loggerhead turtle was impacted by a ship and lost one rear flipper and part of the shell, so now it lives in a safe place in the Sunken Ship tank because it could not survive in the wild
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]In the same tank, the pure elegance of the streamlined and beautiful longfin yellowtail
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Attractive colours of a many-banded pipefish
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Another big pleasant surprise, nothing less than a Basket star!!! This northern basket star is at the moment my only photograph of an alive specimen of this fascinating group of animals :)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Floral arrangement of the orange-cup coral
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Pacific mutton hamlet another rarity in aquariums!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Pacific seahorse is the only seahorse that doesn't live in the Seahorse Room
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A superamazing species that I didn't knew at all before visiting the aquarium: the painted greenling!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Couple of nice rainbow seaperchs
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Red Irish lord trying to look like a rock
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]The box of surprises never end... here the amazing ribboned pipefish!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Beautiful colours of a russet angelfish
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Sammara squirrelfish, another rarity
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Probably many of you know one of the weirdest fishes of the ocean, the Sarcastic fringehead. I never imagined that I would see one alive in an aquarium. Needless to say that I didn't saw it displaying the mouth.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]One more of the thinks that excited me most. I'm a fan of butterflyfishes and I never saw before none species of Prognathodes, a genus that I like a lot. Until I saw the scythemarked butterflyfish in this aquarium!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Endless giant surprises in terms of amazing dreamed species. Nothing less than short dragonfish! A couple of these wonders live in the Seahorse Room!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A starry flounder resting in a rock :)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Ginormous sunflower sea star climbing the glass of the tank
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Tuna crab or pelagic swimming crab, the first time I see a galatheid in an aquarium!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Weedy seadragons are not as impressive as their leafy cousins but still amazing!
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