New England Aquarium

Dan and I finally used the free passes to the aquarium that Uncle Jon gave us months ago. The tanks and animals were relaxing, and while there were a fair amount of families it wasn't too crowded. It was fun just to relax and forget about grad school and job hunting and all of that for a bit.

Outside the aquarium was an enclosure for harbor seals. 

Penguins! They had three different types of penguins on display in this open tanks that you could look down into. We got there just in time to see the staff feed the little guys. The whole aquarium smelled like sardines as a result, but the way the penguins begged and wagged their tails was just adorable.

Here the rockhoppers live up to their names, jumping up on the rocks to get close to the sardine man.

This African penguin watched everyone suspiciously from his perch.

While these guys just begged for fish.

The blue penguins are the smallest penguins in the world. They wagged their fat little tails and cried because they could hear the announcer talking about penguins, but it wasn't their time to eat just yet.

So tiny.

 So cute.

So tired from all the begging.

Jellies

Tropical fish tank

A rockfish

 This shark was quite interested in Dan

 He kept swimming by and checking him out.

Octopus in another tank

 

Googly eyes 

The aquarium is basically a large room with ramps circling the central tank. At the top you can look down into the tank.

This is Myrtle, their green sea turtle who is at least 70 years old and weighs about 500 pounds.

She'd had her protein earlier, but it was time for her leafy greens. As soon as she saw the platform come down she swam up for dinner.

This was a northern fur seal that decided it was time for some attention. This picture isn't that great because of the glare, but look at his cute little face.

He was very itchy. One of the employees said he is molting.

But he also seemed to like posing for all the tourists.

A little squid.