Loveland Living Planet Aquarium

 The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium is a fantastic little aquarium located in Draper. It has a bunch of fun exhibits that extend beyond just aquatic creatures. We love the penguins and the otters, so we have memberships and visit fairly often. Since today we had a fun May blizzard that was similar to a snowstorm we might get in January we decided it was a better option than fighting the snow on a trail today.

Quick Details:

Length: I tracked it once and it is about a mile and a half to two miles depending on how much you decided to explore. Plan on about 2 hours.
Trail Type: Indoor loop.
Difficulty: There is a loop that has absolutely no stairs so DR2.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: Yes, several.
Dogs? No.
Other Info: Fee area. $18-$28 per adult.

To Get Here:

Take I15 to exit 291, 12300 s. Go west to the first light and turn right on Lone Peak Parkway and it will be on the right very shortly.

Well holy crap, it is like a January storm right now (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP))

The Adventure:

The Claw. Former U2 Stage. I am not sure how the aquarium came to own it.

I think this is a boat tailed grackle. He does not seem too thrilled with the snow coming down.

The Claw again.

We decided to go “backwards” from what we normally do and stared in the Journey to South America Exhibit. Most likely because we were a little cold and that exhibit is warm and humid.

Piranha. My lens was a little foggy from the extreme temperature difference.

Turtles.

Not the best shot of the caiman.

River giants.

The sloths hand.

Snake.

Big frog.

Onto Expedition Asia.

Komodo dragon. He looks like he has grown some.

Komodo Dragon statue photo op spot.

Komodo Dragon again.

The aquarium announced a new Asian Short Clawed Otter. And suddenly, after over a year of not seeing them, here they are! I have a sneaking suspicion that they acquired 3 new short clawed otters, But that is just my awful conspiracy theory based on the fact that I haven't seen them in so long. However, I am super happy to see these cute guys again!

Oh my goodness, they are so freaking cute!

Out of the water.

Oops. I caught one pooping.

However it was a little interesting that they are kind of like cats and want to bury it.

Sadly the binturong is no longer here, and all of it’s signage has been removed as well. I was hoping they moved him, but… no such luck. So I assume he died.

The clouded leopard.

Super cute.

Burmese mountain tortoise.

We then made our way down to the Penguin Research Station.

Hello my adorable friends!

I love watching them run. Wings back. So cute.

They are still gathering pebbles.

Getting ready to dive.

Splash!

Swimming.

So cute.

The lower view point.

Turning around.

Pretty sure this art is new.

Giant squid statue.

Moon jellies.

I forget what kind of jellies these are.

The orca statues for taking pictures. We found something similar at the Seattle Aquarium.

After this we headed to the Discover Utah exhibit.

The river otters were not out and about today. Sad.

I never noticed this before but it appears to have been funded by the George S and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, like quite a few other things in the valley. Like the Eccles Wildlife Education Center and more recently found by me the George S Eccles 2002 Legacy Bridge among other things.

Bees.

Frogs.

Fish.

Brine shrimp. Pretty much that only thing that can survive in the Great Salt Lake.

Tiger salamanders. I have never seen an adult one in the wild, but I have seen them in their earlier phases.

A little closer.

More fish.

Desert tortoise. I had high hopes of seeing one of these in St George, but no luck.

I love the faux arches in here.

Great basin gopher snake. We have run into a few of these guys. Including recently on the Buffalo Point Trail.

Great Basin spadefoot Toad, Red-spotted toad, and Canyon tree frog. I had no idea we had tree frogs. I have heard frogs in the wild, but I have not seen one yet.

Tarantula. I saw one of these at Tuacahn once. I have also seen them in Bell Canyon and near Rocky Mouth Falls so yeah, they are not just in the desert.

Another little arch. This one reminds me of Two Bridges.

The megalodon jaw as we make our way over to Ocean Explorer.

Sea stars and anemone in the tide pools.

Hooray! The giant pacific octopus is being active right now. Usually he is squished up in a corner and hard to spot.

Super cool.

Decent shots of his head.

It’s really neat to see the suckers moving along the glass.

Cuttlefish.

Fish.

Clown fish.

Various sea horses.

I forget what these are. I know they can spit water to knock insects down.

Some kind of ray in another tide pool.

Another kind that is much better camouflaged. It took me a second to notice him.

Both types again.

Another fish of some type.

And another.

Sadly, the Sexy dancer shrimp appear to be gone. They were super fun.

Upside down jellies.

The mantis shrimp.

The Shark Tunnel!

Shark.

I think this is a southern stingray. Absolutely huge!

They have two types of sea turtles so I am not sure if it is a green sea turtle or a loggerhead sea turtle.

He is cute though.

Another shark.

Up in the upper Shark Habitat. The Shark Tunnel is reflective on this side and practically invisible.

Another shark.

I believe this is a unicorn fish.

More sharks.

We got a kick out of the fact that the sign “The Truth Behind The Teeth” was sponsored by a dentist.

Turtle.

More sharks.

Well, that concluded all of the exhibits in the aquarium. As usual we decided to visit our favorites again. Since the Asian shot clawed otters were active today we decided to revisit that first. Of course this meant heading up the stairs, unless we decided to take a longer route. But I mean, we’ve got legs so we can do that. Or there is an elevator if you can’t.

Ahh! They are so cute!

They are also very quick!

I just want to take one home with me! But I know I probably cannot provide the kind of environment they need.

Again, very quick.

A couple times I got a decent shot.

Super cute.

I just want to snuggle them.

Two of them for a split second.

I loves them.

Coming out of their behind the scenes enclosure.

Super cute.

Moved on to the clouded leopard.

Oh! There are two! I haven't seen more than one at a time for a little while at least.

Back to the other one.

Next we went back to the Penguin Research Station to see our penguin friends again.

Penguins of the world.

Their relative sizes. The aquarium has Gentoo Penguins which are the third tallest.

Penguins!

Uhm… it looked like this couple were getting it on for a minute.

A swimmer.

More penguins.

This guy appears to have cliffed himself.

A little disagreement between this couple.

The cliffed guy again trying to figure out how to get down.

Making some progress.

Still gathering pebbles, or so I thought.

Eventually I determined that he is just rearranging his pebbles.

More penguins.

Eventually I managed to tear myself away.

Fun penguin xing sign.

Well that was a fun day at the aquarium. I was super happy to see the Asian short clawed otters again, and the giant pacific octopus being active, the clouded leopards, and of course the penguins still being quirky in their mating season. I was a little sad that the river otters did not come out to play today though. Also, considering the weather, it wasn’t too crazy today. Going with 8 out of 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, as I mentioned there is a loop you can do that is all ramps so DR2. Plus there is an elevator if you decided you want to see something else and avoid some sections.

Dogs are not allowed. Please leave Fido at home for this.