First of all, this was an amazing place. Second of all, let's get started! (that was oddly fast) Bay and Ocean Pavilion Seals Harbor Seal ----------------- I didn't see the seals, the exhibit was getting some work. ---------------- Upland River American Bullfrog Carp Yellow Perch Bluegill White Catfish Pumpkinseed White Crappie Golden Shiner Red-Eared Slider Red-Bellied Turtle Yellow-Bellied Turtle Eastern Paint Turtle Promothonary Warbler Eastern Bluebird American Robin Carolina Chickadee Painted Bunting Northern Bobwhite ----------------------------- This has to be one of my favorites at the aquarium, the room was very beautiful, very well planted, and the birds were beautiful, and the Northern Bobwhites were more active than usual. ------------------------------- Coastal Rivers Crescent Shiner Bluehead Chub Eastern Hellbender Rainbow Darter Rosefin Shiner Sculpin Longnose Gar Bowfin White Perch Black Crappie Spiny Softshell Turtle Bluegill Diamondback Terrapin ----------------------------------- A nice air-conditioned room, a relief after the warm and humid Upland River room, I actually had a great conversation with one of the keepers there about the Sculpins and the Hellbenders. ----------------------------------- Restless Planet: Indonesian Volcanic Island Komodo Dragon Zebra Finch Java Finch Leapin' Lizards! Tokay Gecko Blue-Tongued Lizard Green and Black Poison Dart Frog Yellow Banded Poison Dart Frog Mimic Poison Frog ------------------------------- This was truly one of the most interesting parts of the aquarium, they have two Komodo Dragons, and the lizards are in a separate room with the exhibits. Next to that area was some Chesapeake Bay exhibits, with no animals, but there are supposed to be oysters there, which weren't there though..... ------------------------------ Restless Planet: Red Sea Spotted Eagle Ray Blackwedged Butterflyfish Redtail Butterflyfish Batfish Bluegreen Chromis Diana's Hogfish Auriga Butterflyfish Bluecheek Butterflyfish Sea Goldie Arabian Angelfish Sweetlips Zebra Shark Unicorn Tang Doubletang Surgeonfish Elongate Surgeonfish Redtoothed Triggerfish Clown Wrasse Sohal Tang Brown Surgeonfish Green Birdmouth Wrasse Red-Breasted Wrasse Leathery Soft Coral Finger Coral Staghorn Coral Joker Coral Sea Goldie Sunrise Dottyback Three Striped Damselfish Striped Cleaner Wrasse Bluegreen Chromis Elongate Surgeonfish Forster's Hawkfish Longnose Hawkfish ------------------------------- This is comprised of the tunnel exhibit with the rays and the coral tank. I completed two of my life goals with this exhibit: see a Spotted Eagle Ray, and see a Unicorn Tang (cause' unicorns are real) ------------------------------- Restless Planet: Mediterranean Sea and Coastal Desert Longspine Spinefish Swallowtail Seaperch Ornate Wrasse Azores Chromis Mediterranean Rainbow Wrasse Canary Damselfish Sergeant Major Striped Mullet Boarfish Mali Uromastyx African Pygmy Hedgehog Egyptian Cobra ------------------------------------- Very nice display, some concerns though. The fish tanks were open-topped which worried me about people reaching in and "petting" the fish. ------------------------------------- Restless Planet: Malaysian Peat Swamp Tomistoma Blue Gourami Clown Loach Pearl Danio Clown Barb Snakeskin Gourami Two Spot Rasbora Irian Jaya Carpet Python Javan Hump-Headed Lizard Painted Terrapin Malaysian Pond Turtle Bala Shark Smallscale Archerfish Pearl Danio Two Spot Rasbora Giant Gourami Clown Barb Two Spot Gourami ---------------------------- My second favorite, this area has the most beautiful displays, everything was so interesting, I thought it would be good for many species list hunters. --------------------------- Sea Turtles Loggerhead Sea Turtle Green Sea Turtle Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Great Barracuda Atlantic Spadefish Atlantic Moonfish Lookdown Tripletail Cobia Loggerhead Sea Turtle (babies) ------------------------- Honestly, my favorite section because, the baby sea turtles are so darn cute! ------------------------ Sharks Moon Jellyfish Star Coral Atlantic Octopus Lionfish Forbes Sea Star Green Urchin Whelk Chain Dogfish French Grunt Sergeant Major Doctorfish Brown Chromis Tomtate Blue Parrotfish Blue Striped Grunt Ocean Surgeonfish Black Sea Bass Sandbar Shark Nurse Shark Sand Tiger Shark Southern Stingray Roughtail Stingray Schoolmaster Yellowtail Snapper Queen Triggerfish Gray Triggerfish Blue Parrotfish Tomtate French Grunt Blue-Striped Grunt Gag Grouper Great Barracuda Horse-Eye Jack Crevalle Jack Greater Amberjack Blue Runner --------------------- Many fish in one area, I could watch the big shark tank for days, it is very, very informational, taking you through a "tour" of the Norfolk Canyon, it is very fun and interactive for kids with many activities. --------------------- Touch Tanks Atlantic Stingray Atlantic Stingray Cownose Stingray Southern Stingray Horseshoe Crab ------------------------- Here I had a very nice conversation with a keeper about all the stingrays in the tank, which was very accessible and had more hiding spaces (which is good) for the stingrays than other places. ------------------------ Chesapeake Bay Aquarium Clearnose Skate Oyster Toadfish Silver Perch Speckled Trout Northern Kingfish Summer Flounder Spot Banded Drum Atlantic Tarpon Black Drum Striped Bass Striped Mullet Tautog Sheepshead Striped Burrfish Northern Puffer --------------------------- A very good display, very beautiful, it looks like a scene from under a boardwalk or pier. -------------------------- Temporary Exhibit: The Dragon's Lair Black-Throat Monitor Green Iguana Bearded Dragon Roughneck Monitor Plumed Basilisk Chinese Water Dragon European Legless Lizard Uromstyx Club-Tail Iguana Indonesian Frilled Dragon -------------------------------------- A very nice collection of lizards ------------------------------------- Marsh Pavilion Marsh Pavilion North American River Otter American Crow Eastern Screech Owl Osprey Skilletfish Feather Blenny Striped Blenny Lookdown Atlantic Spadefish Permit Blue Crab Killifish Mummichog Spot Atlantic Silverside Spotfin Butterflyfish Smooth Trunkfish Red-Jointed Fiddler Crab Sand Fiddler Crab Mud Fiddler Crab Striped Killifish Horseshoe Crab Mummichog Diamondback Terrapin Oyster Toadfish Common Snapping Turtle Striped Burrfish Puffer Wharf Crab Black-fingered Mud Crab Long-Clawed Hermit Crab Green Treefrog Gray Treefrog Squirrel Treefrog Eastern Ratsnake Rough Green Snake Broad-Headed Skink Northern Pine Snake Copperhead Timber Rattlesnake Eastern Cottonmouth ------------------------------------------ A very nice place, which is separated by a 1/3 mile Nature Trail. It is small, and the only complaint I would have is that the turtle exhibits are a bit small. This is also the place the former Aviary stood. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So I hope y'all enjoyed my first maybe last review/species list of my visit to the Virginia Aquarium on May 31st, 2018!
Thanks for the list! They have a lot more than I expected them to. I've been meaning to get down there but the bridge keeps making me go somewhere else instead
It's about a 30min drive across the bridge/tunnel.....I dont know if im just lucky, but my cousins live in Hampton, but they go to the beach almost every weekend, and its just about a 30 min drive.
Yeah, there was an aviary (it was damaged in 2015 and they never fixed it, I dont really know what there was, but it was about 80 rescued birds). They have a medium sized outdoor cage (the birds can't fly, they have wing injuries), for two Osprey named Baby and Bo. There was no Leucistic Jay there at the aquarium.
What? May you please explain? There was no signage for ducks, and I never said that there used to be ducks there.
I know that there is any for several of their species in Upland River. Their ducks(Canvasbacks or Redheads) are usually by the bridge in Upland River.
Bridge? I don't know how I am missing this, but I have heard that there are ducks on the Nature Trail.
Thank you very much. I understand now, on that particular day, oddly enough there was no ducks, not even signage, the stream is the part with the fish and turtles, right? And the bridge is on the pathway from the stairs to the doors to the Coastal Rivers room, am I correct?
