Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans

No matter where we are in the world, our kids always love going to aquariums. I was delighted that, even at age seventeen, my daughter asked to go to the Audubon Aquarium and IMAX Theater. The aquarium is situated beautifully along the banks of the Mississippi River on the fringe of the French Quarter. I braced myself for a sad visit because I read that the aquarium lost thousands of fish during Hurricane Katrina. Diana Guerrero of arkanimals.com writes:

"While the aquarium survived Hurricane Katrina relatively unscathed, its life support system did not; most of the animals in its aquatic exhibits were lost. However, the sea otters, penguins, macaws and raptors, leafy and weedy sea dragons, some fishes, and Midas, a 250 lb. green sea turtle all survived thanks to the care of staff who remained at the aquarium through the hurricane, flooding and civil unrest."

I was buoyed to learn that through efforts and donations of legions of people, their restocking efforts are well underway.

This huge tank is where Midas the green sea turtle lives.

He shares the tank with some impressive sharks.

We were super lucky to have arrived when the cownose stingrays were being fed. You may be able to spy the scuba diver feeding small fish and broccoli to all these mouths.

I always have a ridiculously difficult time photographing birds in the wild. I usually end up with photos of where the bird used to be. These parrots, however, were a snap to photograph.

I don’t have very many other photographs because my daughter grew impatient with me, but I couldn’t resist these upside down jellyfish.

And their tactile education display of a snapping turtle shell, an alligator and a beaver fur.

The Audubon Aquarium is definitely worth a visit, especially when the weather is oppressively hot and humid.