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Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Happy Feet at the Melbourne Aquarium

Melbourne Aquarium on the banks of the Yarra River

I had the pleasure of visiting the newly upgraded Melbourne Aquarium while  on vacation in Australia last week.  The privately-run aquarium was opened in 2000 and has recently been expanded with the construction of  a new $30m Antarctic penguin exhibit - http://www.melbourneaquarium.com.au/home - perfect timing given the recent release of the Happy Feet movie which is a big hit with visitors!

A penguin orienting visitors to the new exhibit.

The cleverly coordinated approach to the gallery - a fun mix of facts and features

The new penguin exhibit gallery, complete with the bow of  legendary Antarctic supply ship, the icebreaker "Nella Dan" in corner of exhibit.
Penguins feeding
As I explained to Melbourne aquarium staff, while we occasionally receive feedback about why we don't have penguins on exhibit (most visitors realize they do not naturally occur in the North Pacific!), our visitors are similarly delighted to be able to have the same kinds of up close interactions with puffins!
...still, as these images attest, penguins are pretty cute - may be we need to work on a good script for a puffin movie?

PS - and now for the interactive bit... Anyone want to identify what kinds of penguins these are?





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