Great Lakes Aquarium
A Visit to
The Great Lakes Aquarium
Duluth, MN
August, 2007
My sons, Thomas and Matthew, and I joined Ken Balfanz and his boys, Patrick and Ryan, for a camping trip to the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. One of the stops during our trip was the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. The aquarium has a variety of displays emphasizing the ecology of the Great Lakes region.
One of the most interesting fish in the lakes of northern North America is the burbot. I actually did not know anything about this fish until I visiteg this aquarium. My first introduction to the burbot came just after walking in the door, where there is a huge modle of one hanging from the ceiling. I think my reaction was, ‘Why is there a cod in this aquarium?’
The burbot, Lota lota, also referred to as an eelpout, is interesting. They are indeed relatives of oceanic codfish, and some scientists suggest that they are remnants of when the great lakes were a part of a vast inland sea. They are not prized for much of anything. They are edible, as are cod, but not many people fish for them. Most are caught in late Winter through the ice when the fish move to shallower water to spawn. I think that they are a pretty cool looking fish.
The Aquarium has two levels in a very open floor plan. The center piece of the aquarium is set of three very tall tanks housing the fish of the great lakes. The hieght of these tanks is impressive. One tank holds mostly salmonids, including all the trout species found in the lakes (lake, rainbow/steelhead, brook and brown) and some salmon. The smallest of the three tanks holds smaller schooling fish that are the prey for the larger salmonids. The largest tank holds not only salmonids, but also huge sturgeon, burbot and other species found inteh lakes. Here are some images of this set of tanks.
The top of the tanks are viewable from the upper level of the aquarium. I was suprised by the number fo fish that hung out at the top of the tanks. Here are soem pictures of the upper viewing window. The first pictures features my boys, Thomas and Matthew. The second picture is Ryan Balfanz communing with the fish.
The upper level of the building has a lot of smaller displays and aquariums holding organisms native to the north woods ecosystem. One tank has an impressive collection of northern pike, muskelunge, bass and other game fish.
Another tank houses warm (relatively speaking) water species found in smaller bodies of water. This display also has turtles and birds in it. There are several small aquariums and terreriums featuring fish and amphinians that would not fare well in the larger displays. One tank listed several stream fish. Here are some pictures of the sculpin inthat tank.
Another tank houses small catfish. Tadpole madtoms were listed on the marquee, but all I found in the tank was this very nice bullhead. That does not surprise me, considering how shy madtoms are.
The amphibian displays included tansk for frogs and salamanders. Here is a mudpuppy, which is an aquatic salamander.
The Great Lakes Aquarium has several nice educational displays. One of my favorites is this art display of the feeding strategies of aquatic insects. The huge models of the mouth structures were very cool. My boys thought they were aliens.
There are some fun interactive displays to paly with. One is a big wave tank that lets you change factors that affect wave action and see what the resulting waves look like. Another is a scale model of the Great Lakes shipping system, complete with boats that kids can push through locks from lake Superior to the St. Lawrence River.
The facility also holds a classroom/lab whre school groups get some hands-on programming. We were there in August, so no school groups were there, but the classroom was open to look around in.
The main level is large an open. One end has two enclosures that are not aquariums. One is a very cool display holding river otters, and the other holds a bald eagle.
The Great Lakes Aquarium does a great job highlighting some of the unique wildlife of the ragion. One tank has paddle fish, another features artic grayling and there is even a touch tank for lake sturgeon. One of the sturgeon is an albino.
The one detractor for me about this aquarium are the displays of fish that are not found in the region. I suppose that the aquarium feels the need to show fish from other places around the world in order to keep local visitors coming back. The best of these was an area featuring seahorses. The collection of different seahorses was pretty good considering that the aquarium was not designed as a place for tropical marine fish, but the tanks the seahorses were in were rather plain and decorated with cheap plastic grass plants that were very unrealistic. It is always nice to watch seahorses though.
One fun display that was a bit out of place a the touch tank for freshwater stingrays. This pool is located up in the area dedicated to wildlife of the north woods. We enjooyed touching the stingrays, but I made a point of leting the kids know that these rays’ stingers had been removed. Freshwater rays, though docile, are able to deliver a powerfully painful sting. Teachig kids to pet them may not be a great idea. They might come across one that still has its stinger in a pet shop or in someone’s private aquarium.
Another tank that seemed out of place were two aquariums housing Amazon river fish. One tank held pirahna, a perennial favorite at aquariums, but there were not many in the tank, and they were smaller fish so were quite shy. The larger aquarium had a few species of South American ‘community’ fish, including some common tetras and some tank strain discus. The tanks were sparsly populated and filled with plastic plants, so the did not look very nice. Better display tanks are found in pet shops. I would like to have seen these aquariums used for more native fish. A tanks of shiners and dace would have been more appropriate.
I did like the displays featuring invasive species, which are a growing problem in the great lakes. One tank housed round gobies. These are actually beautiful creatures, but they are explosive reproducers and very efficiant predators of baby fish. Another invasive is the Eurasian Ruffe, a small perch that looks a lot like a walleye. These fish are also fast populators, and they are poor prey for large predatory fish.
One invasive that the aquarium houses but does not describe as an invasive is the common carp. I think that they have been around so long now that noone thinks of them as non-native… but they are not supposed to be here.
The August day when we were there was cold and windy. The aquarium has a great observation deck to see Duluth Harbour from, but the weather was too nasty to spend much time out there. From that deck you can get a good look at the man-made channel cut at the west end of the harbor to give Duluth a closer port entry from Lake Superior. The bridge is a lift bridge. When a ship passes throughthe entire road bed onthe bridge is lifted straight up.
The Great Lakes Aquarium is very educational, especially if you are not from the Great Lakes region and find yourself in northern Minnesota. Even when just passing through Duluth a stop for a couple hours to see the aquarium is worthwhile. For more information you can go to the aquarium’s official website: The Great Lakes Aquarium.
If you would like to leave a comment about your visit to the aquarium, please feel free to do so.
