Fish
Fishnado
This school of fish were swimming in a mesmerizing, circular formation in a large, cylindrical tank at the Wonders Of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri.
The “Fishnado” title is playing off the fish cluster’s shape and circular movement similar to a tornado. This tank was probably 20 feet tall; spanning two floors of the aquarium. There was no noticeable pause in their motion which made it a dramatic and mesmerizing sight.
The light through much of the exhibits was kept pretty low; I assume to simulate the conditions of being deep under water. It was difficult for my aging eyes and presented all kinds of challenges for the camera. If you look closely, you will notice the fish are not very sharp or detailed even though I did my best to digitally enhance this image.
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Fish Lips
The water was so cold, his lips were turning blue. This large, ancient looking catfish is resting in his favorite underwater shelter on the bottom of a freshwater aquarium display at a large sporting goods retailer.
Found Him
A little marine life for you, courtesy of the Indianapolis Zoo. This is a Clownfish; also known as an Anemonefish. Of course, if you ask any child, they’ll tell you, “It’s Nemo!”
You have to love the vivid color of this fish. This photo turned out better than I expected, but I wish the focus was a bit sharper on the fish – in part, due to the very low light conditions. The ISO was cranked up to 3200.
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Freshwater Gar
A little synchronized swimming demonstration by two Freshwater Gar (or Garpike) in a marine display at Cabella’s in Kansas City. OK, they weren’t actually performing, I just happened to catch two gliding by, side by side.
According to Wikipedia: Gar bodies are elongated, heavily armored with ganoid scales, and fronted by similarly elongated jaws filled with long, sharp teeth. Their tails are heterocercal, and the dorsal fins are close to the tail. As their vascularised swim bladders can function as lungs, most gars surface periodically to take a gulp of air, doing so more frequently in stagnant or warm water when the concentration of oxygen in the water is low. They also appear to surface in fast-moving rapids. As a result, they are extremely hardy and able to tolerate conditions that would kill most other fish.
This was a difficult image to capture. The scene wasn’t as bright as it looks here. In order to get this shot at f/6.7 I had to kick up the ISO to 3200 and the shutter speed down to 1/20tth of a second. Of course, handheld with no flash through. I don’t think I’ve ever shot at ISO 3200 before. (Even in low light conditions, I try to keep the ISO no higher than 800.) If you look closely, you’ll notice the image is not quite as sharp as I’d like and there’s a bit of digital noise…but not enough to discard the image.
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Shark Tank Trident
Sharks swim in and out of this scene I photographed at the Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Barnacle Buddies
We spotted these colorful characters on a recent trip to the SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. The fish seemed indifferent but the eel was quick to smile for the camera.
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