If Only I Were Twelve Years Old

Fill in the blank: On Saturday, the Georgia Aquarium was  _________ with people. 

Good job. Even a twelve year old could figure that out, but though this little joke was accessible to many, not everything was for adults at the Aquarium. Do you want to go down the Whale Slide? Nope, need to be forty two inches or shorter. Want to crawl around here? The maze of tubes will collapse under twelve hundred pounds. Alright, I can be an adult, but with an admissions price of twenty seven dollars my jealous sparked learning children under twelve years old dressed like princesses entered for free this particular day. If I were a parent of two, one daughter and one son, I’d tell little Jimmy to chose between Belle and Sleeping Beauty because there is no way I’m forking out more greens.

But I must admit, I did pay an extra fee to see the shark exhibit, which was worth the price for a quieter, more in depth experience. The Aquarium’s center compared to a Forth of July on the Charles River mixed with my childhood Disneyland; like walking out of Atlanta into a fish frenzy. Not so in the dark, winding exhibit on these big fishy fishies.

Every tank I approached, be it the Amazon, California reef, or Mississippi River, I sized up the wildlife against my strength and artifice, as well as considered if butter or a little white wine would bring out the flavor. Café Aquarius sits outside of the center ring and I couldn’t help but wonder how ordering occurs. Yes, I would like the fish from tank number nine. Correct, the one in the Amazon exhibit. Doubtful, but not a regard in my mind while touring the shark exhibit.

Sharks look mean for a reason. 5.2 meters of Great White only earns a number four spot in the world’s largest shark competition, out grown by the Whale, Basking and Tiger shark. Luckily Otodus Obliqua, one of much larger proportions, fell to extinction ages ago after sixty million years as a top predator. Touch screens, frozen Makos, really jaws, piles of teeth, and video assembled the information to frame the next part.  Media attention focuses every decade on sharks, instigated by movies like Jaws, high profile shark attacks, or front covers by Time Magazine. Though my approach includes the appreciate and avoid tactic, many interested divers and scientist continue to descend into shark waters with new devices.

Maybe starting off small will warm me up to this idea. Waiting pools with sea urchins, starfish, cownose rays, bonnethead sharks, and spiky things presented the opportunity to touch. However, the brown shrimps were not cute enough for the wet hand inconvenience.

After about two hours, I bought my postcards and exited onto Baker Street. Back to reality where every danger is not housed in glass and signs are unavailable indicating deadly plants. Well, Hotlanda damn, I had no idea plastic plants were harmful. The things you learn at the Georgia Aquarium.

(answer: swimming)