Ripley's Aquarium, Myrtle Beach - March 25/14

Today was NOT a nice day here!  Rain, wind, and cold.  So we had a relaxing time this morning, and went to Ripley's Aquarium this afternoon.  It was a good way to pass some time, and as you can surely imagine, I took "a few" pictures.  I apologise in advance for posting so many - I just couldn't help it!

Ripley's Aquarium - with a blowfish.

There was a long glass tube/tunnel, with a moving sidewalk through it.  There were fish, etc all around us - like this saw shark  lying on top of the tube.  This is his underside....

....and this was his topside.

There were a LOT of sharks all around us, and a variety of kinds of shark......

.....and this big tortoise.

We saw 2 diving shows in different tanks, where the diver fed the fish, or in this case the sharks and wrays.

This was the coolest sea horse!

I love the jelly fish - so colourful!

I believe this is an anemone.  It was fastened onto the glass, and on the right is a reflection.

Amazingly colourful fish!

This was like a big oyster, with a "pearl" in it (the sign), and in the middle of the oyster was a tube that you could climb up into and see things as if you were in the middle of it.  This Dad and baby were really enjoying it!

I am being eaten by a big piranha!  

An Amazon River wray.

Red-bellied piranha from the Amazon River.

I loved watching these little guys!  They are called Halloween crabs (for obvious reasons!), and there were 100's of them in the display, most of them huddled together in hollows.

Spiny lobsters, being fed shrimp - funny!

These yellow-tailed snappers really hung out together in the big tube.

Vicious looking teeth!

Sharks really are amazing creatures!

There were a whole lot of Moray eels and other kinds as well.

JAWS!

This was an area where kids could touch sharks (little ones) and handle horseshoe crabs.

Notice the sign to the left - "Please exit through the gift shop".  Surprise, surprise!

After we left the aquarium, we went to Brother Shuckers Fish House for dinner.  Ironic?

Flowers at Brookgreen Gardens - March 20/14

And now for the flowers and some scenery at Brookgreen Gardens.  Everything is very late this year, so there were not a lot of flowers.

Camellia

Eastern redbud tree.

This is a tree called the Star Magnolia.  The white tree below is the same kind.

And of course the pansies - very colourful and cheery.

Daffodil

Narcissus

This used to be the driveway to the plantation house, which burned down.  The gilt bronze sculpture of Dionysus is at the center where the house used to be.

The fern growing on this tree - very common down here - is called the resurrection fern.  When it is dry, the fern appears to be dead, but as soon as there is some rain, it "resurrects".

The magnolia trees were past their best.

I love the big, spreading live oaks - so named because, although they shed their leaves, there is always a new one to take the place of the one that drops.  This, with the hanging Spanish moss, says "south" to me!

Birds at Brookgreen Gardens - March 20/14

And here are some birds at Brookgreen Gardens.

There was a pen of Dominique chickens in the farm area.

In an aviary there were a LOT of  Black-crowned Night Herons.  This is an immature one.....

.....and this is a mature one.

Also in the aviary were snowy egrets.......

.....and cattle egrets.

This is an amazing bird that was rescued - the bald eagle....

.....and his mate, also rescued, was sitting on an egg, and was not impressed with visitors.

Not a very good shot of a great horned owl - in a cage.

This turkey vulture was hanging around the outside of a cage that had turkey vultures.

And one of my favorites - in another aviary - the barred owl.


A chickadee enjoying a meal.