Friday Shoot-Out: Aquariums

The idea of the Friday My Town Shoot-Out is to post photos of your local community every Friday. This week's assignment was chosen by ChefE from Princeton, New Jersey.

Photos taken in Newport, Oregon, one hour from Corvallis.

Luckily we live near the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, which lies on the coast road of Highway 101, stretching from California through Washington; if you ever travel this scenic road you should stop in Newport and take in the sights.

This aquarium is a favorite place of mine; on my birthday last year it was where I wanted to go.

Photo of Keiko in the Oregon Coast Aquarium by Jesse Anstead

In the mid 90's the Oregon Coast Aquarium underwent a $7 million dollar renovation to create a living space for Keiko, the orca who starred in Free Willy. Before Keiko's controversial release off the coast of Iceland in 2003, he was restored to health here in Newport, gaining one ton of weight and charming millions of people. He was a fabulous animal.


After Keiko left, his enormous living quarters were remodeled into a tunnel-through-the-water extravaganza named "Passages of the Deep". Here you stroll through a plexiglass tunnel with fish swimming above, below, and around. This picture shows a rockfish peering down.

Walking under a shark.

Other exhibits in the aquarium include pillar-like tanks that you can walk around. This is a lion fish.

A glass artist was commissioned to create sculptural pieces displayed in many of the tanks.

Stingrays love the glass art!

Jellyfish are mesmerizing, and even with a pocket-sized digital camera such as mine you can get nice pictures of them.

The hands-on exhibit for kids is just as much fun for adults.

After your trip to the aquarium you can visit the nearby Rogue brewery, where they serve a good chowder and a nice plate of fish and chips alongside their great beer. Or maybe just get a salad if you can't imagine eating one of those beautiful fish you just saw.