Oklahoma Aquarium

” The ocean ebbs and flows and dances in waves on sandy shores.”

I have been working on a book about the ocean. I need a trip to the ocean to conduct some research. Yes, I do. I need to go to Savannah, Georgia and out to Tybee Island for a week or two to eat some seafood and walk in the sand, to listen to the waves wash the shore, and hear the seagulls squawk. The best I can do this week is a trip to Tulsa’s Oklahoma Aquarium. I certainly enjoyed my artist’s date and I took lots of photos.

So we went to spend the afternoon perusing the fish tanks, the shark tunnel and the sea turtle Island.

It seems odd to have sharks, and a coral reef, stingrays, and starfish so far out here in the prairie. But then we need to get a chance to see such fish and show them to our children. The aquarium is cool and a good place for exploring.

I loved seeing the two tanks of seahorses. I would say they were the strangest sights to see but that wouldn’t be true. The ocean is full of the oddest creatures. One tank is a nursery. The male seahorses swim around with swollen bellies. They carry and birth the babies– as many as 1,000 at a time.

Don’t mess with this guy! I can’t remember his name maybe a leopard fish?

The Oklahoma Aquarium is located in Jenks, Oklahoma. It’s easy to find off the Creek Turnpike. The grounds has a small wildflower garden that is fun to walk through on your way inside. The cost is $19.00 for senior citizens. I didn’t look at the other prices, but I am certain the prices are listed on their website.

These jellyfish were fun to watch like mushrooms that float about.

Many of the fishes are beautiful but this one is a strange sight–a pale pink with yellow and orange trim.

I enjoyed seeing all the bright colored tropical fish. These little Nemos were cute.

These flat fish swim around the coral reefs. Though they were ship wreckers coral reefs house many beautiful fish. The corals themselves look like plants but are animals. They protect and feed many species of tropical fishes.

We have red slider turtles in Oklahoma. These are albinos. The aquarium also has tanks for Oklahoma fish like crappie and bass and catfish, snakes and salamanders. There is a beaver and otter display plus turtles and stingrays. So many wonderful animals to see. Octopus, a sea turtle (huge!), sharks, red sea urchins, poison dart frogs, jellyfish. Oh the ocean is filled with multitudes of living things. The sea is full from shore to shore, from surface to floor. I am amazed by the ocean and all it contains. I long to wade a splash in its waves and watch a sunset over it. I want to feel the sand, pick up a shell or a sand dollar, and see a seagull swoop overhead.

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For I know that the Lord is great and that our God is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,

in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all the deeps. Psalm 135:5-6 NASB

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