As luck would have it, we scheduled our day of wandering around downtown Portland, Oregon to coincide with opening day of the Portland Aquarium. To be clear, this is actually an art-quarium rather than live animals, all drawn by the delightfully talented Mike Bennett.
As part of your admission, you receive a compendium that documents the five biomes you’ll explore and some of the over a hundred cartoon species you’ll encounter in those rooms. Each species includes both a photo and a drawing, along with information about the species and their geography. Some species include side comments, like the Giant Pacific Octopus (pictured below) has a note that reads “My favorite animal without a backbone!” And, conveniently, there’s a checkbox by each one so you can track which creatures you’ve found. (Yes, my compendium is unmarked; our group collaborated on one checklist.)
The inside cover of the compendium includes instructions for exploring Bennett’s Bay – among other things, don’t go backwards! This is a one-way trip through the various biomes, with the compendium organized in the order you’ll encounter them. And while most animals get a sixth or eighth of a page, sea otters and the effort to bring them back to Oregon have a full page spread.
Presumably because it was opening day, we were offered free star(fish)-shaped doughnuts as we moved from the aquarium into the gift shop. While I was tempted by various animals – such as a snail or turtle – holding a “slow down” message, the yard sign that came home with us was a rainbow, which seems appropriate during Pride Month. I’m delighted that stickers have made a comeback, especially since the fit shop had stickers from both this exhibit and some previous ones.
Two minor things to take into account when you visit the Portland Aquarium: keep an eye out for a missing goldfish named Gilly (she makes appearance in several places) and definitely use the bathroom while you’re in the gift shop.