The Sydney fish tank, are you paying attention?

I went to the Sydney Aquarium today to see all the fishes. I've been told that it was quite good and worth visiting. I'd been to Ocean Park in Hong Kong quite a few times and that has a very large aquarium, so it would be good to compare it to that.

I must say that it was quite good in bits and not so good in others. The coral marine sections were very good, but the sealions and penguins were disappointing. Maybe I'd been spoilt by the penguins and sealions at other marine parks, but the two sealions and half a dozen penguins were just weak exhibits.

On to the better bits, on the left here is one of the many large tanks that they had on the coral marine fishes. It really was quite impressive to see so many colourful fish. Much better than going to the free zoo's at Taunton, read marine fish shops there.

There was also a crocodile in the aquarium, though not with any of the other fish. There was only one but it was one big mother!

Here's a picture of it's head as it was just wallowing on the tank that had been setup for it. On the surface it looks sinister and not so big, but down below it was absolutely massive.

The running in zig zags to get away from them isn't a good idea apparently. They don't move that fast really and most people can outrun one if they just run away from it. The biggest problem with them though is that they have a low stamina so won't really run after their prey if they have to.

I also learnt the difference between an alligator and crocodile. You can see the bottom teeth in a crocodile but not an alligator. So if you find yourself next to one then you can tell the difference between them, assuming it's jaws aren't around your leg, in which case you'll have to find some other way to tell the difference.

This sign was above the crocodile enclosure as you could see the crocodile from above as well. I thought it was quite funny and worth taking a picture of for my blog.

There was also the infamous duck billed platypus there. It really is a bizarre creature. I've never seen anything like it and it really is unique in the world.

It's a very strange mix of a reptile and mammal. It lays eggs, has a lower body temperature than mammals, produces venom and walks like a reptile. However, it also has fur, suckles its young, and is classed as a mammal. It's also about the size of a cat and very quick. So quick that I couldn't get a decent photo of it. It has a heart beat of around 140-230 beats per minute, not unlike me sometimes!

The final bit of the aquarium had a big glass tank wall which showed lots of fish which were somehow attracted to swimming along the glass wall. They played some very calming music and had seats to sit on and watch the fish.

I really liked sitting here and just watching the fish swim about while listening to the music. A very relaxing end to a good aquarium.

It may not have the size of the Ocean Park aquarium, bit it is very well laid out and much better in showing the marine fish. Maybe Ocean Park is slightly better because of its size, but I'd recommend anyone visit the Sydney Aquarium if they have time while over here. It's well worth the £12 odd entrance fee.