2023 Road Trip: Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium (5/28/2023)

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium, said to be the largest immersive wildlife attraction in the world, is also a Roadside America attraction. We had paid advance timed-entry tickets and were ready to go when they opened at 9:00.

The Wonders of Wildlife is connected to the flagship
Bass Pro Shop, of which Johnny Morris is founder and CEO;
the sculpture is a casting (2008) of a Istiompax indica/
Black Marlin caught in Australia in 1996

The facility first opened in 2001 as The American National Fish and Wildlife Living Museum and Aquarium, then closed in 2007 for expansion. It did not reopen until 2017, now offering an experience that "celebrates those who hunt, fish and act as stewards of the land and water."

We decided to explore the aquarium first;
this is Open Ocean with Caranx hippos/
Crevalle Jacks

Hmm, these are taxidermied fish along the wall
in Heritage Fishing Hall

Megaptera novaeangliae/Humpback Whale and calf;
these cannot possibly be taxidermied?

"Tracker" Tuna Diorama display's the deep-sea
fishing boat of Johnny Morris (KSS)

Great Barrier Reef tank

Fishing trophies

Fishing gear

Bait Ball where 6,000 herring swim in formation,
and it seems they occasionally put a shark in there

Paterois volitans/Red Lionfish

Shipwreck Reef

Gorgasia preclara/Splendid Garden Eels

Scarus coeruleus/Clown Triggerfish (KSS)

Kent on the bridge to the Treehouse

Swamp at Night: Pantherophis guttatus/Corn Snake

Tarantula (KSS)

Seem beneath the floor: Sistrurus miliarius sp/
Pygmy Rattlesnake

Mangroves: Stingray

Amphiprion percula/Clown Anemonefish
and a melanistic variant (black)

Touch Experience: Protoreaster nodosus/
Chocolate Chip Sea Star

 

Amazon: Iguana iguana/Green Iguana (KSS)

Pygocentrus nattereri/Red Piranha

A repeated sentiment

Bass Fishing Hall of Fame

Catostylus mosaicus/Jelly Blubber (KSS)

Phyllorhiza punctata/Australian Spotted Jellies

Chrysaora plocamia/South American Sea Nettles

Shark Alley: Tamiko in Giant Shark Jaws (KSS)

Coral Reefs

Seashell Collection

Marvels of the Deep: Dahlia anemone/
Northern Red Sea Anemone attached to the glass

Northern Red Sea Anemone (KSS)

River Monsters: Alligator mississippiensis/American
Alligator albino or leucistic variant (KSS)

An extensive fishing lure collection (KSS)

To get to the Wildlife Galleries, we passed through the Nature's Best Photography Exhibit:

Take a good look at this photograph: we are looking
straight down on the back of zebras

Gorilla (KSS)

Looking down into the Bass Pro Shop

Next: Wonders of Wildlife Museum.