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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
This head is from a casting of a dunkleostreus terrilli armored fish that hung out in what is now Ohio about 400 million years ago. It ate sharks, nautilus mollusks and other aquatic creatures. It was probably 30 or 40 feet long, slightly less than half the length of today’s 98-foot blue whales. Still, what a catch.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
The exhibit begins with the fire – you can touch the red tape to feel the heat.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
The displays explain about the waters – and the critters – that were here before the glaciers created Lake Superior.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
Chamber Nautilus, one of the longest living cephalopods – the family that includes squids and octopuses, live in tropical waters and can live to 15 years.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
They don’t care for the light and head to deep waters during the day.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
This is the fossil of an ancient soft-shelled turtle.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
The fossil of an ancient soft-shelled turtle.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
Among the visitors at the opening were Duluth Mayor Don Ness with his son, Owen, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Yvonne Prettner-Solon and aquarium board member Dennis Lamkin. Owen quickly discovered the dinosaur shadow puppets and then took time out to hear his dad’s congratulations on the new exhibit.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
Duluth Mayor Don Ness with his son, Owen.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
This head is from a casting of a dunkleostreus terrilli armored fish that hung out in what is now Ohio about 400 million years ago. It ate sharks, nautilus mollusks and other aquatic creatures. It was probably 30 or 40 feet long, slightly less than half the length of today’s 98-foot blue whales. Still, what a catch.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Great Lakes Aquarium's New Exhibit
This is Ralph, the green heron. He isn’t in the new exhibit, but he has been at the aquarium as one of its live birds since it opened. He was brought in as an adult, so he may be about 14 years old. The oldest wild green heron recorded was a banded bird that was recaptured at 8 years old. So, way to go, Ralph. You can see him and other shore birds and ducks in the south shore exhibit.
Last night was the official opening reception at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth for a new exhibit – Fire, Ice and the Rise of Life. The aquarium’s newest permanent exhibit greets visitors at the top of the escalator and examines the origins of life on the planet and in our neighborhood.
Among the cool live critters are nautilus mollusks, a snapping turtle, a South American lungfish (looks like an eel) and some arctic graylings with a couple of baby sturgeon hiding in there.
The most impressive displays, though, might be the two huge fossil representations – a soft-shelled turtle in a nearly half-a-ton stone and a casting of the head of a dunkleosteus. All area fishermen will get excited thinking about that lunker on the end of a line – though I wouldn’t want to land it.
The aquarium is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and guests can stay until 7 p.m.