The National Aquarium in Baltimore is a non-profit aquarium, on the shores of the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. It was built as part of a massive urban renewal project, for turning the Inner Harbor from a pool filled with, among other things, sunken ships, and ringed by abandoned buildings, into a vibrant commercial center.
The aquarium is built on two adjacent piers, connected by an enclosed overhead walkway.
Waterfall at the entrance of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland.USS Torsk, part of the Historic Ships fleet in Baltimore, as seen from a window in the National Aquarium. The Torsk has the distinction of sinking the last Japanese warship before the end of World War II. The submarine was heavily modified after the war and its appearance has changed substantially.USS Constellation, a sloop of war launched in 1854. The ship remained in active service for a very long time, finally being decommissioned in 1955. Constellation is the last intact naval vessel from the American Civil War. The purple dragonship in the foreground is not considered an authentic relic.A trainer at the aquarium attempts to teach a dolphin how to be an aquatic fullback using a Ravens football.With the purple football firmly in its mouth, the dolphin receives a somewhat confusing order to “fly.” Or possibly pretend to be a bat. Or hug the trainer. Something.Having recovered the football from the dolphin, the trainer suggests the dolphin consider water polo or perhaps swim sprints as a sport.Four dolphins entertain three trainers with an aria from “Eugene Onegin,” in the original Russian.One of the dolphins demonstrates a very splashy fast break with a basketball.Not sure, but it appears the trainer is attempting to teach the dolphin toe touches. This isn’t going to end well.After a failure at toe touches, the dolphin turns away after the trainer decides to get even stranger and suggest flying around like a boy pretending to be a jet.A trainer discovers that dolphins have teeth.Here a trainer whistles at a dolphin that has jumped up onto a ledge.The trainer decides to sweep the dolphin back into the water. A bottlenose dolphin can weigh as much as 1,400 pounds, so this involves some pretty frantic sweeping.Finally, the dolphin gets tired of dealing with such nonsense and pretends to be swept into the pool.A trainer hands off a basketball to one of the dolphins. This looks to be suspiciously small for a regulation basketball.Another trainer tries to move a dolphin using a lift and press. This didn’t go well.A trainer looks like she is brushing the dolphin’s teeth. There are a lot of very sharp teeth.Jellyfish hanging sculpture in the National Aquarium, Baltimore.Jellyfish hanging sculpture in the National Aquarium, Baltimore. It is sheer coincidence that this is over the entrance to the jellyfish exhibit.More jellyfish sculpture, up close. This is a great desktop picture.You can use this jellyfish sculpture photo as a high-security desktop because you’ll never find anything again.Yes, this is a fantastic sculpture.A mother and child dolphin. Dolphin children spend several years with their mothers.While dolphins can stay underwater for a considerable period of time, they are mammals and regularly come up for air.This dolphin is not being friendly but, instead, looking at something above the waterline.You can see the varied coloration of a dolphin, with a light gray on the bottom (making it harder to see from below) and a darker gray on the top and sides (making it harder to be seen from above or on the sides).These are also real jellyfish, though they look remarkably jewel-like.This and the next four photos make great background photos for a computer.Another good background photo.Yet another good background photo. Notice the complex, delicate, lacy structure.That lacy-like structure helps the jellyfish digest food.Jellyfish have only a marginal consideration for “up” and “down.”Moon jellies are not from the moon.Nor do moon jellies howl at the moon.Technically, some of these moon jellyfish were in the preceding photos.The moon jelly lit up like a lightbulb is actually refracting lights from the pool illumination.Moon jellyfish anatomy bears very little resemblance to that of the larger jellyfish seen earlier.Last of the jellyfish sculpture photos. Really incredible sculpture.Large sea turtle. It would be interesting to claim that the blue streak on the side is from some space aliens, but it is actually from a ceiling light.What isn’t obvious in the first photo: this sea turtle has only three legs, or flippers. It was brought to the National Aquarium because of the injury.Hanging from the ceiling of the National Aquarium is t˙his massive skeleton of a whale.The golden-colored animal is allegedly a golden lion tamarin.A whole mess of golden lion tamarins.Someone probably knows what kind of bird this is. The National Aquarium in Baltimore has a “rainforest” beneath a glass pyramid on the top floor.Two parrots in the National Aquarium rainforest.Yes, it is a bird, a large bird, a brown bird, with a big beak, in the National Aquarium rainforest.Large red bird with really impressive long beak.Eastern long-neck turtle, from Australia, in the National Aquarium in Baltimore.Blue poison tree frog. Pretty.Also called the dart poison tree frog, as the Amazonian tribes used it to tip darts for blowguns.A green tree python, from New Guinea.Yellow tree frog. Also called the golden poison tree frog.Albino poison tree frog. Like its more colorful cousins, much cuter than it really is.Striped tree frog. Very snazzy racing stripes on this tree frog.Front and back poses of the striped tree frog.Another pretty, but poisonous, tree frog at the National Aquarium.Pink and gray parrot, or at least a parrot-like bird.Very green and gray bird at the National Aquarium.It looks sort of like a lorikeet.Gray and yellow bird with orange spots. Ornithologists are probably cringing.Two bats doze away under a heat lamp. Yes, the National Aquarium in Baltimore has bats in its belfy.
