Pictures, videos, and rants on traveling in a wheelchair
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas – New Orleans
I woke up early the next day and headed over towards the New Orleans Riverwalk area. It’s a large indoor shopping mall right next to the Mississippi River. It opens early and inside is a Cafe du Monde that is much, much less crowded than its more famous location in the French Quarter. Nearby are all kinds of other shops, sightseeing of naval traffic in the river, and the original aquarium of my childhood, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. It suffered near catastrophic damage from Hurricane Katrina, but has rebuilt itself nicely while staying true to my memory.
I’ve never had a chance to take a cruise along the Mississippi, but there are lots of opportunities for it in the future. I got my cafe au lait and beneigts for breakfast. I’ve ordered a few boxes of Cafe du Monde beneigt mix over the past year and the taste really is similar at home, but it’s not the same. The real ones are much lighter and the oil they use give it a much more doughnutty flavor than the plain canola oil I use at home. Also I was drinking chicory coffee so much at home for awhile that I was sick of it. But its been a few months and man was it good here.I found a couch under the stairs and facing out towards the river. Put my feet up and worked on my thesis for awhile as I finished my coffee. Every minute or two a different ship would sail by. I pulled up some live marine tracking websites and were able to identify the ships and their itinerary. A ship watch nerd could spend all day in this place.After finishing up breakfast I walked over to the aquarium. Luckily it was a Thursday morning and wasn’t too crowded. Only some families and a couple relatively small school class field trips. This is the entrance area.The first exhibit upon entering is the Great Maya Reef.I like how they mix in the local human culture with the local sea life. Lion fish. One of the most beautiful species of fish, but also invasive to Florida. Lion fish. I hear they’re tasty too. Beautiful mix of architectural ruins, coral and fish life.Moray eels are super creepy.There’s a 30 foot long underwater tunnel that is quite amazing to experience. Outside of the tunnel. This whole Gulf tank is 500,000 gallons.The main exhibit hall of the aquarium is the Gulf of Mexico 400,000 gallon tank. There are benches and reduced lighting in the back and lots of floor space up front. An aquarium worker began giving a presentation as they started doing a live feeding. They dump a lot of food in the water for most of the fish to eat, but some of the fish require specific feeding. For example the sting-rays are all trained to eat off a long wooden stick. This way the rays are ensured of getting the right food in the right amount and other fish won’t steal it away.Beautiful lighting and atmosphere with a 17 foot tall aquarium.Sharks.King Mydas, the green sea turtle, is thought to be close to 70 years old and has lived at the aquarium for decades. He was evacuated after Katrina to aquariums in Houston and California before eventually being returned home. Sea anemones of every color! I want some at home, but I imagine they are hard to take care of. They aren’t plants, they’re animals, related to jellyfish. Jellies undergo a life cycle change where they become free floating creatures while anemones always stay anchored to rocks. Upside down jellyfish. They’re meant to be like that. They wait for food to swim by. Super tiny baby upside down jellies being incubated. I will never get tired of seeing and watching sea horses.I like how they use their tails like a monkey to hold on to branches.Old fashion diving outfit and bellows.There was a really nice quiet rest area in a corner with coloring supplies. Make your own fish and hang it up.Going upstairs and you can see the front lobby from above.Going over to the Mississippi River area. This owl was so still everyone who walked by wondered if he was real or not, but he definitely was!One of the aquarium’s original inhabitants, the albino white alligator. He spent most of the time hiding in the shade, so this was the best shot of him I was going to get.Selfie with the albino gator.These paddlefish are ridiculous looking. They literally just swim around with their mouths hanging open agape.I used to have an Oscar fish! His name was Oscar. They are incredibly smart fish and can even be trained to do tricks like fetch a ping pong ball. They’re predators and love to eat whole live shrimp or goldfish. My Oscar got too big for his tank and we released him in Lake Toho. I assume he’s still alive there thriving. Giant catfish that could swallow your entire arm. Spotted string ray. Another shot of the beautiful black and yellow-spotted sting ray. Never seen one like that before.There’s an area with dozens of parakeets. For a dollar you can get a sugar stick to feed them. The final exhibit area I saw was the penguins!Penguins are always adorable.
I love visiting any aquarium, but the Audubon in New Orleans will always be one of my favorites.
