Visiting the North Carolina Aquarium

One a recent visit to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, we had to opportunity to visit The Aquarium in Manteo with the friends we were there with.  Of course we had to get eaten by the Great White at the door...lol

Checking out fish native to the Outer Banks

The otter kept running and hiding.  The kids thought it was funny.

Lots and lots of turtles

They even had the sea turtle rescue open this time.  Our last visit 2 years ago, this was not up and running.  So Lydia was very excited!

These are sea turtles that were rescued on the beaches in the OBX.  They are getting stronger so they can be re-released.

They had a nice display on sea turtles there.  We learned quite a bit.

They even have a sea turtle hospital the kids can play in.  They would take a plastic turtle and go through the steps from diagnosis, to treatment and then recovery.

Each step had a short video so that you knew what you were doing.  They had equipment for the kids to really pretend they were marine biologists.

Releasing her healed sea turtle

And then it was on to see more marine life.

I wonder if that shark realized she had dissected a relative just a couple weeks before?

Touch tank...Caty just wasn't sure about touching a starfish.

Hanging out at the shark tank...

They earned their Marine Biologist patches by answering questions from things they read throughout the museum.

And then they mined for shark teeth in sand.

This was the last weekend for the dinosaur display....

The favorite part of this trip was definitely the turtle hospital.  Both girls loved playing in there.

If you get a chance and you are in the Outer Banks, we highly recommend a visit to the North Carolina Aquarium - Manteo.