It took a little while to get there after it opened, but we finally visited the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park this past Sunday. I, like many people, was sorry to see the old building go, but the new one is fantastic. The living roof is worth the price of admission. The Planetarium now is now state of the art with three digital projectors. The original African Hall was preserved, along with this long-time resident….
The albino alligator
Here’s some of my favorite images from the day-
The entrance
Looking past the "swamp" to the enclosed food court
Looking down to the west end of the building
The living roof, covered with California native plants
How the roof started; cocoa fiber planting trays laid out side-by-side
The downstairs is a large and very well-done aquarium.
California coast kelp forest fish tank
I’m a mammal person and don’t really know my fish that well. I’ve identified the ones I know. You’ll have to use teh googles for the others.
The big salt water tank
Butterfly fish species
Triggerfish species
Lagoon triggerfish
Upside down jellyfish (no, really, that's their common name)
Small saltwater tank
Moray eel and fairy shrimp; symbiosis in action
There’s an old Dean Martin song that someone wrote some new words for. It goes like this: “When the eel in the reef has your heel in its teeth, that’s a moray.”
And finally, we walked through the botanical garden across the street before we went to the Academy and “met” this guy:
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We went there last June and it was so fantastic we have plans to go again this next January!