Persephone’s 2024 Road Trips

[Persephone]

Columbus is high on my radar for next year so this was helpful and definitely increased my interest in their bird collection. Did you see the Kiwi? I know you said they were a good addition so assuming yes. Shame about the markhor - just an off day there? I'm trying to avoid making 'target species' nowadays but those two are both really high interest for me. Also a shame about the Congo area.

Are aardvark, hyenas and guineafowl the main choices for the randomized exhibit at Heart of Africa now? I know in older threads they had more options, some of which seem to have passed on since then.

Yes, I saw the kiwi. The markhor exhibit is designed for three viewing windows. One is boarded up so if they’re in the back third of the exhibit you can’t see them. From the signage it looked like the water hole had guineafowl, spotted hyena, aardvark, warthog, and maybe ostrich in rotation.

 

[JVM]

Yes, I saw the kiwi. The markhor exhibit is designed for three viewing windows. One is boarded up so if they’re in the back third of the exhibit you can’t see them. From the signage it looked like the water hole had guineafowl, spotted hyena, aardvark, warthog, and maybe ostrich in rotation.

Thank you for the quick answers. I didn't phrase my question well on the markhor -- is that window boarded up temporarily or permanently is what I was trying to ask?

 

[Persephone]

Thank you for the quick answers. I didn't phrase my question well on the markhor -- is that window boarded up temporarily or permanently is what I was trying to ask?

Signage didn’t say either way. You’d have to ask a local.

 

[Persephone]

Pittsburgh Zoo

I did a full review of this last year so for now I’m sticking to a more basic overview on my thoughts.

Previously this place had two claims to fame: having northern elephant seals and being one of the most notable American zoos out of the AZA by choice. Well, the elephant seals are gone and now they’re… look I think “major zoo outside the AZA” was always too kind a descriptor for Pittsburgh. They’re a solidly middle-of-the-road zoo. Some elements are better than others, but none stand out much in either direction.

I’m going to split this into two parts, my thoughts on the zoo as it is and the master plan that was just released.

Pittsburgh Today

The most apt comparison zoo is John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids. Both are located on hills in mid-size metropolitan areas. But I think John Ball understood the assignment better than Pittsburgh. They don’t have many truly massive animals, capping out at bongo and Siberian tigers. Pittsburgh often tries to be a conventional zoo with grazing or browsing megafauna on a plot of land that just isn’t built for it. The elephant, rhino, giraffe, and Nyala exhibits are all a little bit small. When combined with the adjacent cheetah and lion enclosures there’s probably room for maybe three or four really good exhibits in the space they’ve tried to put six. It’s functional but it’s not great.

Other than the Africa area, though, I generally think the zoo does a solid job. The Islands and Jungle Odyssey make good use of the topography with small-ish, rarer species. The aquarium is probably the second best zoo aquarium I’ve seen, only dethroned last month by Omaha. The signage is terrible, though. The tropical forest building is outdated but most old zoos have an old building they regret. I really like the kids zoo and how it plays with the terrain. I even saw active beavers there this time. Water’s Edge also makes good use of the hill to have land, water’s surface, and underwater viewing areas naturally separated by switchbacks.

There are a few particularly regrettable exhibits. To me, these are the Komodo dragon (specifically the holding yard, which is the worst enclosure I’ve seen for the species), the leopard, the rhino, and the orangutan. All but one of these are phased out or get something new in the master plan.

The Master Plan

This is a genuinely satisfying zoo master plan that addresses many of the worst aspects while keeping… most of the good. No new Komodo space, but I have hopes they’ll get something in the new orangutan, clouded leopard, and flying fox complex.

The Africa overhaul is going to phase out the rhinos and expand the leopard exhibit while adding the smaller warthogs. The giraffe exhibit is apparently doubling and I’m frankly unsure where they’d even expand into. The cheetahs, probably, which is a shame as it’s a good exhibit for the cats and would still only be a perfectly fine exhibit for giraffes. Nothing for the elephants.

Demolishing the forest building is probably for the best but it does leave the zoo with less to do in the winters.

The orang complex sounds very interesting. If that’s not a misprint and the orangs have a full 40,000+ square foot enclosure with good verticality it might be the best for the species in North America. I think it’s probably referring to the full size of the complex, though, including other exhibits and guest areas.

I am kind of disappointed they’re moving meerkats and kangaroos from the kids area. I think the kids area is fantastic and could just have a rename to better draw adults in. The current macropod exhibit is fun because it shows how easily kangaroos can hop up the terraces. I also think moving the kangaroos into Africa takes away space in an area that’s already filled to the brim.

No word on the elephant seal replacement. The signage is still up and a lot of guests mistakenly identified the sea lions as elephant seals. I think they plan to get more, but that’s not really something they can reliably acquire. All up to the luck of the draw.

Entry village sounds fine. Is weird how long it takes to get to the zoo at present, but I kind of like the build up on the escalators.

The current islands area is kind of gutted by moving the clouded leopards and siamang. I assume that’s where they want to put Yellowstone, but it really isn’t big enough. I hope it goes in undeveloped land instead. Neither species would mind the hilly terrain.

 

[Persephone]

Not a road trip but why not throw this in?

Gladys Porter Zoo

I really wasn’t sure what to make of this one going in. It has a pretty good reputation and a quick glance through the website showed that it had a lot of interesting rarities, and also a few larger species. It’s also only about thirty acres. That’s solidly at the upper end of “small zoo” status. So. How is it all fit in? Would it come off as a collection of rarities majorly hindered by enclosures in the bottom-tier of the AZA?

Well. No? There are a few enclosures I wish would be expanded. Most of them are getting expanded in the master plan. The rest can probably be expanded into the exhibits of the former African hoofstock.

Anyway, let’s go section by section.

Realm of the Dragon

It’s not really part of anything else and it’s the first impression of the zoo, so I guess it gets its own section. The Komodo dragon section looks fairly new. The rockwork creates a mock cave with pretty good signage. The exhibit itself is on the lower end of industry standard. That’ll be a running theme here. Not noticeably bad, but also not the best. Unless I comment on it assume that holds for all larger animals.

Tropical Americas

Half of the zoo follows a rough theme of islands along a river, with a few side trails on the banks. This follows a waterway that spans throughout the zoo and adjacent park. As a result of the design choice there are an abundance of wild and semi-wild birds around the grounds. Muscovy ducks are probably super common in this part of the world but they’re (mostly) new to me and it was cool to see how abundant they were. Also saw a blue heron at one point.

The Mexican spider monkeys seemed to be at war with the birds. I saw them get fed and the birds got most of it. In return the monkeys tried to grab the birds from time to time. The ducks seemed to be taunting them afterwards, staying just out of reach. Between that and the baby’s antics it was probably the highlight of the trip.

The aviary row area starts with a pretty big aviary for bald eagles. Then there’s one for Ara macaws and screamers. The aviary seemed to have a good amount of space and climbable surface area for the birds. There was signage that indicated the great curassow lived there at one point. Not sure why they got banished. Their current setup is really too small.

This was my first time seeing caracara and chacalaca. The caracara was very active. Chacalaca wasn’t but was at least clearly visible. Many of the smaller aviaries had a lot of cool birds. The walk-through aviary was pretty forgettable for me since it was the classic scarlet ibis / roseate spoonbill combination. My mom loved it. Reminded me it’s popular for a reason.

I thought about feeding the Galapagos tortoises. Didn’t work out due to timing and a misunderstanding but the people who did it seemed to really like it. Even got to pet the tortoises afterwards. Probably worth it for $3.

Tropical Americas is in the middle of a major refurbishment to make new exhibits for primates, ocelots, coatis, and sloths. The capybara and capuchin exhibits are complete. The capybara exhibit was solid but seemed to only have one, even though there were two other individuals elsewhere in the zoo. The capuchin exhibit was unsigned for some reason. Whole complex is themed to a Mesoamerican settlement but the rockwork and signage is better than most attempts. The capuchin enclosure had a lot of climbing chances, including a netted ceiling that they seemed to love climbing on.

Indo-Australia

One of the pileated gibbons was being very loud. Very cool. Rare species, too. This is where the bulk of the monkey islands are. They’re fine for the gibbons and lemurs but are a bit small for modern orang or chimp exhibits. The Australia pathway starts with three interesting exhibits. I don’t see a lot of saltwater and Philippine crocs. The latter feel like a major missed opportunity. I get alligators are easy to obtain but it feels like a waste to give most of the AZA’s largest crocodilian spots to the most abundant species when critically endangered ones exist.

There’s an aviary for the rhinoceros hornbills that clearly used to be a walkthrough. I don’t know if the walkthrough was closed before it had hornbills.

The Australia house is loaded with rare and semi-rare species of note. Including perenties. I get that they’re becoming more common but it’s still great to see them. Would have been my first time if not for Omaha this year. The kangaroos were shut inside for the day. I don’t know if this is a normal thing. Doesn’t seem like a horrible arrangement to let them sleep during the day in the dark before letting them into a larger yard at night.

Australia house also had lots of tree shrews and sugar gliders. Bettongs and tree kangaroos were seen but inactive. My mom was fascinated by the shrews and tree kangaroos. Echidnas were signed but it looked like tree shrews had taken over their exhibit. Fine for me since I see them all the time at Brookfield but disappointed I couldn’t show them to my mom. The bat exhibit has a huge colony huddled together on the branches. Always absolutely fascinating to see.

Cassowaries were a no-show. Shame. Their two habitats were just okay and reasonably good.

This was my first time seeing gaur and they are suitably massive. They had a calf and were being a little playful. The exhibit did feel too small, though. Nilgai and Addax weren’t new species but are always great to see. The rhinos had a decent-sized exhibit, relatively speaking, but I hope they move to the expansion area to free up space for the Asian hoofstock. Same for the camels.

South Texas

There were no butterflies in the butterfly house. Just a mix of Texas native and fairly common insects in terrariums. The discovery center had some rare species like Gulf Coast toads mixed with more common (but good) ones like tiger salamanders and cane toads. Just a few terrariums and a display on elephants but solid enough for what it is.

Africa

The lowlight of the zoo. Thankfully most of this is scheduled for new exhibits soon. The grottos for lions, pygmy hippos, and painted dogs are small. The enclosed exhibit for mandrills is, too. Its clone works for ocelots, though.

I ate here. The food was fine. Decently priced. Like if you told me these were normal fast food prices I probably wouldn’t complain about the cost.

I’m not sure where the main viewing of the sable antelope is. We did see them hiding in the bushes at the back of the exhibit. Another great species that I hope gets a new home or an expansion into the adjacent enclosures.

Addra gazelle / giraffe exhibit is also small. I wasn’t expecting much more, though. They are getting a new exhibit in the master plan.

Kudu were off-exhibit due to construction.

Aquarium / Herpetarium

These two exhibits hold most of the rarities. The aquarium is interested in that the signage isn’t about the species on display but the ecosystem of the nearby lagoon. It’s a fascinating approach that kind of falls apart because they have genuinely interesting species like dwarf seahorse, mantis shrimp, and large coastal snails with no signage beyond the species name. The main tank is an okay size for what it holds but does trail other zoo aquariums. Stars are two kemp’s ridley sea turtles with signage emphasizing the zoo’s role in conserving the species.

There is a touch tank but it only seemed to hold a few small, unsigned fish. Don’t know what, if anything, is usually in there.

The reptile house has a lot of the usual reptile house problems. Many of the exhibits, including for the rarest species, can usually accommodate one viewer at a time. But oh man is it loaded with rarities. Multiple monitor lizard species that were firsts for me, a great collection of Latin American snakes, and giant Asian bumpy frogs were the highlights.

The central exhibit is a mix of an alligator snapping turtle and an American alligator. The snapping turtle was being unusually active as they paced the pool and sometimes challenged the basking alligator. Coolest experience with the species. The reticulated python was just coiled up but they had a good sized exhibit with climbing opportunities and a pool. They shared it with a monitor lizard. First time I’ve ever seen the large pythons mixed with something other than another snake.

Small World

Yes, that’s the name. No, Disney hasn’t sued them.

Most of this exhibit are small exhibits for neotropical mammals that really only work for the sloth, porcupine, and tamarins. The monkeys and sloths are at least moving to a new permanent home soon. Curious what happens to this place afterwards.

There are also three exhibits for meerkats, none remarkable. Feels like some could have gone to other species. Highlights were spiny mice and gerbils. Almost never see them. Having domestic ferrets is always kind of a disappointment when black-footed ferrets exist. The rabbit didn’t have enough space. Exhibit isn’t really suited for them. I think the area could work well in the future if it focused on the wild equivalents to common pet mammals with gerbils, chinchillas, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters, hedgehogs, and black-footed ferrets. Wouldn’t require too much of a rework.

The petting zoo was closed. The goats and pigs were still out in the yard.

Misc.

The zoo doesn’t name this area so I can’t be bothered to, either.

Most of this is older grottos that work for smaller animals like otters, stork, and the capybara and caiman mix but really don’t for bears. Or the cranes. But they have a weirdly small grotto. Bushbuck and bontebuck are uncommon enough it’s always nice to see them.

I did not see either of the endangered iguana species. The cayman blue iguanas have a massive enclosure that I doubt was built with them in mind. Spent a half hour looking and never caught a glimpse. I don’t think I had a chance.

There’s a row of exhibits with Philippine, Cuban, and Orinoco crocs with signage emphasizing the zoo’s history of croc breeding. Probably should’ve been reduced to two species for size. One of the enclosures felt way too cramped for a pair of adult crocs.

Gorilla exhibit was small but is set for an upgrade.



Gladys Porter was loaded with rare species, many of which were new for me. The river and islands theme is unique and well executed. Amazing that it’s as old as it is. The other half of the zoo has outdated outdoor exhibits that are thankfully set to be replaced and a very good aquarium / reptile house combo. Brownsville still punches well above its weight in the zoo world and is only poised to get better.

Unsure if there will be any further updates for this trip. Also unsure where I’m going next. Depends on how the job search goes and if I move in the next few months. Possibilities for an April or March trip are San Jose and Monterey Bay, Metro Seattle, and Central Pennsylvania. Whatever the case, see you soon-ish.

 

[Persephone]

Unexpected invite to a sea turtle rescue on South Padre Island. Doesn’t have a tag, thought I’d throw a species list and review up here.

Sea Turtle Inc, per their signage, is a long-time contributor to kemp’s ridley sea turtle conservation in one of the few areas they breed. They also run a sea turtle rehab center with four tanks. As of today there were four residents in three of the tanks. Beyond those, they also have a few turtles and fish in the permanent collection. These consist of an indoor tank with two columns and a bridge connecting them that was themed to a coral reef. Indoors there are also two terrariums for box turtles. Outside there are a few stock tanks holding unreleasable sea turtles and some fish, most notably filefish and drum. As for turtles, they had green, loggerhead, hawksbill, and kemp’s ridley. If you want to see all of the (plausibly held) American sea turtles in one place, this is your best option. It’s not a particularly remarkable facility. I wouldn’t go too far out of your way for it unless you’re a turtle mega-fan. But if you’re on South Padre it’s worth a stop.

Free Roaming: Domestic Cat

Coral Reef Tank: Pencil Urchin, Longspined Porcupine Fish, Cuban Hogfish, Blue Chromis, Royal Gramma, Atlantic Longnose Butterfly Fish, Blue Tang, Sergeant Major, Striped Mullet

Box Turtles: Three-Toed Box Turtle

Unknown: Drained Tank

Mangrove (Empty, Signed): Rockbeauty Angelfish, Striped Mullet, Indigo Hamlet, Porkfish

Stock Tanks (Signed By Resident Turtle)

Gerry: Green Sea Turtle, Atlantic Croaker, Striped Mullet, Skipjack

Cowgirl: Green Sea Turtle, Skipjack, Pinfish, Striped Mullet

Hang Ten: Kemp’s Sea Turtle, Atlantic Spadefish, Gulf Toadfish, Striped Mullet

Poppy: Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Black Drum, Red Drum, Striped Mullet

Merry Christmas: Green Sea Turtle, French Grunt, Scrawled Filefish, Spotlight Parrotfish, Foureye Butterflyfish, Peppermint Shrimp, Striped Mullet

Bagua: Hawksbill Sea Turtle

 

[Persephone]

New year but frankly I don’t feel like making a new thread. Visiting Happy Hollow Zoo and Monterey Bay Aquarium next weekend. I’m guessing the former’s just a quick little jaunt. Any advice for the latter?

 

[StoppableSan]

New year but frankly I don’t feel like making a new thread. Visiting Happy Hollow Zoo and Monterey Bay Aquarium next weekend. I’m guessing the former’s just a quick little jaunt. Any advice for the latter?

I found the current schedule for Monterey Bay's Laysan Albatross encounter in the Kelp Forest exhibit, though the day I went, since the presentations are meant to be 100% voluntary for Makana, she ended up deciding not to come out.

Past that, I'd circle back to different galleries throughout the day depending on crowds, I actually had Into the Deep/the Open Sea all to myself close to closing time! I'd also check out the cusk eels in the Monterey Bay Habitats, and near the penguin exhibit there's a top-down view of the main tank in the Monterey Bay Habitats gallery. The sea otter exhibit's currently closed for maintenance, but that being said I'm not entirely sure how long it'll be closed.

 

[DavidBrown]

New year but frankly I don’t feel like making a new thread. Visiting Happy Hollow Zoo and Monterey Bay Aquarium next weekend. I’m guessing the former’s just a quick little jaunt. Any advice for the latter?

Make sure to go outside and look for wild sea otters, harbor seals, common murres, cormorants, and sea lions from the Monterey Aquarium deck. There are usually education staff out there to interpret it. You might also see grey whales passing by if you get lucky.

I have not been to Happy Hollow for a few years because my niece and nephew have outgrown it, but it is a nice little zoo. It is arranged in two parts, the main zoo and then there are more animals up in the farm area, including lemurs and giant anteaters (last I checked). Highlights of the zoo are jaguar, capybaras, fossa, and several lemur species.

 

[Persephone]

Happy Hollow Park & Zoo is closed due to inclement weather. 0.2 inches of rain. They announced the closure about fifteen minutes before they opened. I have taken immeasurable psychic damage from this.

 

[JVM]

Happy Hollow Park & Zoo is closed due to inclement weather. 0.2 inches of rain. They announced the closure about fifteen minutes before they opened. I have taken immeasurable psychic damage from this.

Are you able to reschedule or is this a loss for the trip?

 

[Persephone]

Are you able to reschedule or is this a loss for the trip?

Happy Hollow Park & Zoo

I managed to get out, although it turned a quiet morning into a rather busy one. The zoo is split into four sections. Two are a children’s amusement park and were skipped for time and lack of interest. The only ride I saw was a standard animal carousel, which actually did have some fun species choices and a high level of craftsmanship.

The zoo itself consists of two parts: The Zoo On The Hill and The Zoo In The Hollow.

The zoo on the hill is a fairly standard petting zoo with a few domestics, some parrots on sticks, red ruffed lemurs, and giant anteaters. The Narragansett turkeys were odd looking, pretty, and fairly active by domestic turkey standards. They shared a good sized yard with chickens. I liked them. Unironically one of my favorite parts of the zoo. The giant anteater habitat could’ve stood to be a little larger but was acceptable.

Most of the exhibits were actually good size for the species, with two or three exceptions (and the parrots). They did a good job picking smaller, interesting animals like red pandas, Parma wallabies, meerkats, and lemurs. Even their bigger animals like peccaries, capybara, and alligators don’t usually need massive enclosures. I did think that the capys are the other species, alongside the anteater, that could have had a slightly bigger exhibit.

The Fossa are probably the closest thing the zoo has to a major rarity and they’re off exhibit due to habitat maintenance. The aviary was also closed due to avian influenza, which was unfortunate because the signage wasn’t viewable from the outside. I did get to hear a whistling duck whistle. That was kind of cool.

Jaguars might be the prettiest cat, and like all the other spotted cats they routinely draw the short straw in enclosure size. The lot across from them is currently empty. Just combining the two and maybe the current capy area could make a really nice exhibit. Maybe move the capys up the hill and give them and the anteater the turkey / chicken yard. Just spitballing here.

It’s not my biggest review but this really isn’t the biggest zoo.

Kelley park looked interesting but I am in a bit too much of a time crunch to visit.

 

[Persephone]

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Going in this was the facility I was the most excited for on my entire AZA quest. And uh. Listen, it’s still a world class aquarium that does more for deep sea science than anyone but NOAA (and probably more than them after DOGE is done). I just think I overhyped it a bit in my head. A few stars being gone or off-display hurt it further.

Before I get started, I want to say that online reservations are strongly encouraged but not technically required. I was able to reserve one day-of. If it was busier I might not have been able to. Tickets cost $65, No AZA discount. That’s very steep. I’m sure anyone here would be willing to pay it but it’s a lot to ask of the public. At least memberships are fairly cheap. Pays for itself after two visits.

Hovden Cannery

MBA is built inside of a former cannery. The Monterey Bay Area processed two million tons of sardines. It was the backbone of the local economy. Until it wasn’t. When the fishery collapsed, the jobs left with it. There’s a cogent warning here about the dangers of fishery collapse elsewhere that I feel is never quite elaborated upon enough in signage visitors are likely to encounter. I’ll have suggestions for fixing that later.

The entry gallery has two things other than cannery related displays. One is a sea otter exhibit. It was open after a recent closure. The two otters were very active and had a few toys they were playing with. There were also a few reef fish in the tank. The tank was fairly large and very well landscaped with plants, rocks, and moss. The land area was a little small. The otters only used the depth once while I was watching.

There’d also an auditorium. I watched a fifteen minute program ostensibly about making Into the Deep. It was more about black water diving and the daily vertical migration to the surface. It feels like the latter really should have been part of Into The Deep’s signage itself. We’ll get to that. I majored in Marine Science in undergrad and I generally feel like the aquarium’s signage, while definitely above average for the industry, could have been a little punchier towards broader themes.

The Open Sea

This gallery holds Monterey Bay’s biggest tank. It’s where many of the aquarium’s past heavy hitters, from white sharks to ocean sunfish, have resided. And it’s a very interesting signature tank in that it’s not depicting a coastal or reef environment. There’s no decor at all. Just blue walls presenting the illusion of an endless sea. There are currently six species inside. A juvenile scalloped hammerhead, dolphin fish, yellowfin tuna, pelagic stingrays, a smaller fish I forgot, and pacific sardines. There used to be sea turtles and ocean sunfish. They’re currently absent. And their absence is keenly felt. The tuna are fascinating and rare in aquaria but they feel like the top of the second string for a world class aquarium’s signature tank, not the headliner. Maybe the scalloped hammerhead will grow into the role but right now they just aren’t big enough to immediately capture attention or justify the entrance price to the general public.

The actual star of the tank is the giant school of sardines. It was the largest school of fish I’ve seen in an aquarium and it was endlessly fascinating to watch them swirl around, parting as predators approach, and acting for all the world like a singular intelligence.

The first part of The Open Sea might honestly be better than the main tank. After two fascinating displays of schooling fish, including herring that I only realized were real and not a screen when one swam sideways, there is a gallery of jellies. Monterey Bay Aquarium pioneered the care of jellyfish in aquaria. Thirty years later they still probably have the best display in the country, even excluding the species in Into The Deep. Ripley’s uses color and tank design to make fairly common species into fascinating pieces of living art. MBA ignores all of that. All the backgrounds are the same shade of blue. The emphasis is on all the different kinds of jellyfish they have. These included the largest moon jellies I’ve ever seen and multiple tanks of countless babies absolutely filling the space they were given. There was more biomass in the sea nettle tank than all but one jelly tank I’ve seen elsewhere. The comb jellies were a delight to watch. Magical gallery.

The signage was… fine. Good for the species, bad for themes. Except in the main tank where signage was exceedingly minimal. I personally would have emphasized more the oddities of jellies in the first half, talking about how they function without brains, vertical migration, etc. Maybe have a similar explanation for why schooling fish act like that. After the main tank there’s a children’s play area. There’s literally another, bigger one across the bridge. I personally would have replaced it with a space on fishery depletion linking the fate of Monterey’s sardines to the uncertain future of large tuna like the ones you just saw and how the aquarium tracks sustainable seafood.

Oh uh there’s also a puffin exhibit that’s decently sized. Georgia Aquarium has a larger one and it doesn’t feel like they have quite enough flight space for birds of their size. It didn’t really bother me though and seabirds are great so it’s a point in the aquarium’s favor.

Into The Deep

Only Monterey Bay Aquarium, with its associated research institution, could have dreamed of building this. Into The Deep is the most ambitious aquarium exhibit in the United States since Ocean Voyager. It’s also a temporary exhibit and one that I’m not sure has enough public interest to justify the difficulties in keeping it stocked long term.

It was fascinating to actually see the species I’d only read about in school, from siphonophores to predatory tunicates to bone worms. Side note: I’m not entirely sure I saw the bone worms. They were red in the photographs. The only worm-like things I saw were white.

The gallery is filled with oddities like hagfish, predatory tunicates, Japanese porcupine crabs, and elephant fish. The latter and the spider crabs seemed to get one of the biggest reactions from other visitors of any species in the aquarium. There’s also a touch tank for giant isopods. If the water wasn’t a hair above freezing I could have pet them for hours.

The signage focuses more on the physical geography of the deep sea. I get that makes it easier when you can’t guarantee what species will be available. I still think focusing on broader themes like daily migration, filter feeding, scavenging, and bioluminescence to explain why deep sea animal’s oddities make perfect sense in context would have been good. There’s some of that like explaining why so many species are red or how individuals filter feed. Just feel like it could’ve been brought together a little more clearly.

Overall, though? Fantastic exhibit. Astounding that it exists at all. Here’s hoping it lasts for a bit longer than I suspect it will.

The Great Tidepool

There are viewing decks throughout the building for the tidepool and ocean behind the aquarium. I only saw cormorants, seagulls, and a heron but supposedly larger animals can be seen from time to time. There are also a few tanks for local fresh and saltwater species. It was a neat addition and one that helps ground the place to the sea.

Kelp Forest

Another historically significant exhibit, alongside the jellies in Open Sea and Into the Deep in general. It’s astounding that they’ve kept real giant kelp alive for decades at this point. Everywhere I looked in the tank I saw something new I’d missed before. I suspect I could spend all day in there and not see everything. Aside from the kelp itself the tank plays host to leopard sharks, giant sea bass, and many other signed and unsigned species. Species-level signage was terrible, signage on the kelp itself was passable. There’s a third floor of the aquarium that has a BTS look at the mechanics of keeping the forest alive. Worth the climb.

This is where the Laysan albatross chat happens but the albatross opted not to participate today. Between this and the loss of the ocean sunfish I did not get to see the two species I was most excited for at the aquarium. But such is life.

Monterey Bay Habitats

This is the best or second best gallery in the aquarium. Dominates Open Sea. Every little corner of it is filled with fun local species, many of which I didn’t know existed, that can create moments of quiet wonder. My favorites were the cusk-eels, fat inkeeper worms, piddock clams, and sea hare. Lots of aquariums have collections of smaller local species away from the larger tanks and this was the best I’ve seen by a mile, even before factoring in the aviary.

I got to see both of the giant pacific octopus moving around their fairly large and complex tanks. Wonderful creatures. I fully understand why they’re as popular as they are.

The main tank of Monterey Bay Habitats is meant to blend in with the kelp forest. They are not connected, but it took me a while to realize that. They share some of their species like giant sea bass and leopard sharks. The former are suitably enormous. A worthy counterpart to the goliath groupers of Atlantic aquariums. The tank also holds sevengill sharks, which are different enough from other sharks to look subtly wrong and incredibly interesting. There were multiple large flatfish, some of which moved through the water column. Add in white sturgeon, another shark species, and a solid roster of mid-sized fish into a 100,000 - 200,000 gallon tank and you have a recipe for greatness. I enjoyed the tank more than Open Sea on just about every level.

The aviary is one of the only ones in North America to display shore birds. I got to see them fed and they really are adorable and fascinating. Some got within inches of me. None seemed to fear the guests much at all. I was absolutely not expecting this to be open due to avian influenza and being able to experience it in full was the best unexpected surprise of the trip. There are also cool species like sea hares, bat rays, and guitarfish beneath the surface. There’s a touch tank for the guitarfish and rays that has visual continuity with the aviary tank. None of the animals were eager to get close to the kids. There’s also another, more typical touch tank that had invertebrates and kelp. It was fun to touch the kelp. A tank afterwards had some enormous sea cucumbers. Maybe the biggest I’ve ever seen.

Splash Zone

About a quarter of the aquarium is a dedicated kid’s area. There are a few supporting aquariums to kelp forest, including a few with morays and one with a smaller octopus species. There’s also yet another touch tank with kelp and invertebrates that felt redundant. This one had a non-touch display for a fairly active whelk.

I walked past a lot of the coral reef displays since the species looked common and they were crowded with kids. MBA suffers a lot from having cool species in small tanks that can be awkward to see with any sort of crowding.

The highlights of the gallery for me were sea slugs and leaping blennies. I’ve seen mud skippers before but these were way more active and had a wave feature to sometimes force them to move. Some of the coolest fish in the aquarium. The sea slugs are missable if you take the “wrong” path and go straight to the penguins.

Speaking of it’s a functional penguin enclosure. A bit on the small size in space and number of animals. It makes sense that this was supposed to be a temporary exhibit. I imagine MBA would’ve done a fair bit more if they knew they were going to permanently host the birds.



MBA is absolutely loaded with fascinating smaller species, fish and invertebrates alike. Almost none of its decisions would make sense for a conventional aquarium. Focusing on open seas rather than the shallows, an entire deep sea wing, a living kelp forest, etc. It is unapologetically weird and I love it.

Is it the best aquarium in the United States?

…okay so I haven’t been to Dallas. I can really only compare it to Shedd and Georgia, which I’ve heard referred to as forming the big three American aquariums alongside MBA. Maybe it’s familiarity breeding contempt but I don’t really get the case for Shedd being #1 in anything but pure species count.

Georgia is a really interesting comparison since they feel like they have such antithetical design choices. Georgia is all spectacle and mass appeal. Whale sharks, manta rays, and five (?) species of marine mammal. All the galleries are sponsored by corporations and the whole place was a billionaire’s pet project.

MBA’s larger species are almost all local and either rehabbed or taken from fishing quotas. Their previous star, the sunfish, were in the aquarium to be raised for release. They directly fund conservation and research work from dinner plates to the deep sea. For decades they have constantly pushed the frontier of what species can be kept in aquaria from kelp to jellyfish to whale sharks. The only gallery named after a corporation is the one that killed all the sardines and left behind a ruin for the aquarium to inhabit. All the others are sponsored by individuals who have plaques rather than naming rights. The aquarium has a huge emphasis on cool, small species over big flashy ones.

Monterey Bay is everything the aquarium industry claims they can be, all the good they claim they can do, and Georgia is, in many ways, the epitome of what the industry actually is.


…but like, Georgia is just a better aquarium from a guest perspective. Into The Deep and Monterey Bay Habitats are phenomenal but when you put them up against Sharks! and Ocean Voyager, 99% of the general public are taking the latter. And, yeah, I would too. Monterey Bay with sunfish is closer but without them it’s a fairly clear second place. It’s quiet wonder against jaw dropping awe.

 

[Persephone]

Over Memorial Day Weekend I’m planning a Central Pennsylvania trip to hit Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland, Lehigh Valley Zoo, and ZooAmerica. All three of these are really small facilities so I’m looking for more things to do in Northern Ohio / Central Pennsylvania.

Already planning to do Hershey Park. Wondering if there are other noteworthy parks or other tourist attractions worth my time. Will have a car the entire trip this time around.

 

[JVM]

Over Memorial Day Weekend I’m planning a Central Pennsylvania trip to hit Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland, Lehigh Valley Zoo, and ZooAmerica. All three of these are really small facilities so I’m looking for more things to do in Northern Ohio / Central Pennsylvania.

Already planning to do Hershey Park. Wondering if there are other noteworthy parks or other tourist attractions worth my time. Will have a car the entire trip this time around.

There's the Wolf Sanctuary of PA near Hershey and I've often been recommended by a friend who lives by Lehigh the Crayola Experience. I've not personally done either but been planning a similar trip as you can tall so look forward to your thoughts.

 

[Astrotom3000]

All three of these are really small facilities so I’m looking for more things to do in Northern Ohio / Central Pennsylvania.

The three places you mentioned are all more so in Eastern PA, especially the Lehigh Valley Zoo (which is only about 45 mins from the NJ border). Depending on how you define Central PA, this seems quite far from your targeted area.

Lehigh Valley Zoo

The Lehigh Valley Zoo is located within a large nature park known as the Trexler Nature Preserve. They have bison and elk exhibits outside the zoo you can access for free. The park also offers plenty of hiking trails and other recreational opportunities. It's a beautiful park and I visited it last May. The whole park, zoo included, could take up a full day.

there are other noteworthy parks or other tourist attractions worth my time

In the general vicinity of the places you already mentioned, there is also the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and Dorney Park in Allentown (which is not far from Lehigh Valley Zoo).

the Crayola Experience

That is all the way out in Easton, which is right on the NJ border, so it might be out of way based on Persephone's criteria.

 

[JVM]

That is all the way out in Easton, which is right on the NJ border, so it might be out of way based on Persephone's criteria.

That is correct. I mentioned it based on proximity to the Lehigh Valley Zoo as a friend of mine lives in Easton and has cited Lehigh Valley as their local facility on multiple occasions. I knew they were more eastern than central but I really did not realize just how close to the state border they actually are, wow!

 

[Persephone]

Hersheypark

This is actually the first theme park I’ve gone to for this list. I’ve been to DAK and EPCOT before, but I started over when I began the challenge and plan to visit both again.

All the other AZA accredited theme parks have a clear tie to animals, sometimes terrestrial but usually marine. And then there’s Hersheypark which is basically just an amusement park with a small zoo in the back.

ZooAmerica

When I say “small” zoo I really mean it. If we only count ZooAmerica this is easily top five smallest accredited zoos I’ve been to (excluding museums, aquariums, and butterfly houses).

I suppose they make the best use of their space that they could, although there are probably still two expansion plots. There isn’t really much effort to isolate this place from the noise of the adjacent park. The three air launch towers next door can be heard throughout most of ZooAmerica and Storm Runner’s pretty visible. There’s also the factory looming over the back half.

Despite this, the zoo is pretty well planted and most all of the exhibits have a grass cover. It’s aesthetically pleasing as long as you ignore literally anything outside the zoo’s boundaries.

There are five areas but three of them are pretty much indistinguishable so I’m ignoring them.

Southern Swamps feels dated. The spoonbill aviary in particular just isn’t something I could see a zoo building today. There would at least be a little more height to it. Everything else is probably fine for its inhabitants so long as they aren’t keeping adult gators in the exhibit. Their habitat was closed for maintenance so I couldn’t tell. None of the species were particularly rare but spoonbills are pretty great and gators / snapping turtles are a classic pair. I actually got to see the alligator snapping turtle basking, which might be a first for me.

The American marten is off exhibit, which is a shame as it’s probably their biggest rarity. The thick billed parrots were being active and vocal both passes I made. They’re gorgeous birds and their aviary is pretty good with the climbable mesh, multiple posts, and above average size.

The southwest building is my favorite part of the zoo. There’s a very dynamic aviary with a big flock of Gambel’s quail and a few roadrunners. Both are very active birds that are almost always up to something. The tortoises and burrowing owl round out the exhibit. The herp collection is basic but those species are common for a reason. The mammal collection is just really good though. Nine-banded armadillo, ocelot, vampire bat, white-tailed coati, ringtail, and black-footed ferret. Other than the ringtail these are all pretty common. But they’re all pretty great display animals, especially in nocturnal houses, and I don’t think I would actually substitute any of them for another southwestern mammal if I had total control.

The bobcat exhibit had good verticality and the cats were cuddling. I had a similar experience with the cougars later. The river otter exhibit doesn’t have a lot of water space. It’s a little odd given how much water there is in the zoo. I know they probably can’t give otters creek access but I do hope they get a bigger plot in the future.

I’m used to seeing wild animals in zoos. These are usually squirrels, rabbits, and Canada geese. I certainly saw geese and rabbits at ZooAmerica. The zoo is also home to ten to one hundred black vultures that they haven’t figured out how to get rid of. They were swarming around the black bear exhibit and were pretty fascinating to watch.

The black bear exhibit is also good but not exceptional. This goes for almost every megafauna exhibit (deer, wolves, pronghorn, elk, mountain lion). Maybe the cougar exhibit could be expanded but the big rock climbing structure puts it above average for the species.

There’s a fairly large prairie dog exhibit but I did not see any prairie dogs on either sweep. I’m not sure if that’s because of the vulture infestation. Oh, and the turkeys and most of the raptors were off exhibit for HPAI reasons.

I really liked the porcupines. Their exhibit encourages them to climb to a prominent position and there isn’t mesh netting so you get a pretty good view. They’re large, visually intriguing animals and a good addition to the zoo.

Listen this isn’t a great zoo. It’s barely a good one. But it makes good use of its space and has an interesting collection of animals in decent-or-better exhibits. Besides, there’s a whole theme park next door to explore.

Aquatheater

I don’t think this is technically AZA accredited. I really hope it isn’t. The theater is really loud from background noise, the land area is small, and the pool frankly isn’t that big or complex. There was a show with three seals and a sea lion. I also saw a second sea lion later on from the monorail. It was fun to see the seals rolling and galumphing. The sea lion was big. I don’t know it wasn’t a bad show but I kind of wish they didn’t have this, at least not in its current location.

Hersheypark General Observations

The app is worse than useless. Listed times were often three times greater than what they actually were, which gets pretty scummy when you realize that it’s probably meant to make people panic and pay for fast track.

The food I had ranged from genuinely good to decent. It was overpriced but I didn’t feel like I was the victim of a crime. Definitely better than my local six flags. The park itself isn’t really themed in any meaningful way. Sometimes there’s a western facade or a candy brand slapped onto the ride name but that’s as far as it goes. Well, mostly. There’s a dark coaster and a dark ride. The coaster had nothing to do with candy and will be discussed later. The dark ride’s wikipedia synopsis sounds absolutely bonkers but I didn’t get a chance to ride it.

Waiting in line for more than an hour is really brutal as a solo traveler. There aren’t single rider lines and with no one to talk to the coaster at the end can’t possibly be worth it. I couldn’t even mess around on my phone because I needed to preserve battery to check wait times (before I realized that was pointless). This only happened once but it basically deterred me from riding many rides afterwards.

The Rides

I started with Laff Track as it seemed from my research that it usually had the longest wait. Don’t do that. The ride isn’t worth it. I actually got distracted mid ride and then remembered I was on a roller coaster. The only way to get this ride with a decent line is to rope drop it or pay to skip it. Neither of these options are worth the (opportunity) cost.

Fahreheit is a fun little ride if you like positives and hangtime. I feel like there are better options for both in the park, though, all with better capacity to boot.

The monorail was only running one train. It’s not overly long and the views are fine at best.

Kissing Tower suffers from having curved windows that kind of ruins the view. It was a walk on though and I’m guessing it always is given it’s location and capacity.

Comet is a nice little classic woody. I probably should have done one of the hypers instead but I like historic rides. The restraint kind of punished my gut, though. Maybe skip this one if you’re on the larger side.

Wildcat’s Revenge is the only coaster I rode multiple times. I regret nothing. I laughed the whole way through on my first ride and enjoyed every moment of the second. You spend more time out of your seat than in it. I didn’t get to ride either of the hypers or storm rider but I’m still confident it’s the best ride in the park.

I probably could have fit in at least one of the hypers and/or storm runner if the park wasn’t filled to the gills with students on field trips. If you really want to ride every coaster, though, you probably will need to pay for fast track. Which is kind of the point. Use inflated posted waits to make people buy fast track, which increases the standby line’s length, which leads to more people buying Fast Track, until you’ve basically made an upcharge necessary to have a good time at your park. It’s ingenious. I hate it.

Going to a few museums in Allentown tomorrow. Then Lehigh Valley Zoo, Reptiland, and Fort Wayne Zoo in the following days.

 

[DavidBrown]

Nine-banded armadillo, ocelot, vampire bat, white-tailed coati, ringtail, and black-footed ferret. Other than the ringtail these are all pretty common

BFFs and vampire bats are quite rare, at least in west coast zoos where there are none.

 

[Persephone]

Allentown Art Museum

Allentown is a bigger city than I’d thought and actually had a good sized, walkable downtown. I wasn’t sure that would be the case given the city’s size.

There is a free art museum downtown (with free parking). Art museums really aren’t my thing but I was into this one. It had a gorgeous collection of stained glass, including some windows that seem to change from the colors of the day to night as the light behind them fade. There is also a room of (replica) Frank Lloyd Wright furniture, some cool textiles, and one artifact that produces one of the most interesting auditory effects I’ve ever heard when you speak towards it from about five feet away.

I wish some of the signage was more detailed but I really enjoyed my time there. Unfortunately, I only saw one of the three floors when my friend’s health took a turn for the worse. But what I saw was well worth a stop if you’re in the area for the Lehigh Valley Zoo. Kind of wish I had more time in Allentown to properly explore downtown and the museums.

Short update today. Lehigh Valley Zoo and maybe the rest of the art museum tomorrow.