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The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium has been building a new building for a few years called the Skaggs Learning Center. They moved the Ford Expedition Asia exhibits into it, and expanded the habitats for many of the animals, as well as adding a few. It just opened last weekend on February 20th, so we decided we needed to come check it out. We love the aquarium and visit often.
Quick Details:
Length: Depends on how much you wander. We did about 3.75 miles, exploring the whole aquarium, plus our favorite parts and the new building twice.
Trail Type: Meander
Difficulty: DR2. Modern building.
Elevation Gain: 2 stories.
Restroom: Several.
Dogs? No.
Other Info: Fee area. Currently starting at $17.95 for adults.
To Get Here:
Take I15 to exit 291 for 12300 s. Go west to the first light and turn right on Lone Peak Parkway and it will be on the right very shortly.
The Adventure:
The aquarium and The Claw.
The new Sam & Aline Skaggs Science Learning Center. It just opened last weekend. The Skaggs are donating to fun education centers. We just recently saw another one at the Eccles Wildlife Center.
The Claw again. Now called the EECO stage, It is the crown jewel of the Rio Tinto Kennecott Plaza. It used to be the stage for U2 during their 360 Tour.
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Naturally, the first thing I wanted to see was the new building. As I mentioned, they have moved the Expedition Asia exhibit into it.
Fun art.
The new exhibit appears to be climate controlled, like the Journey to South America. So you have to pass through some ropes and it is warmer and more humid, which honestly makes sense.
Inside.
Ahh crap. I totally forgot what this is. I think it is the black tree monitor.
Prehensile tailed skink.
Fun trees. Somewhere in here is supposed to be a banyan tree.
Tree Kangaroo Habitat.
Oh my, look at that long ass tail!
Aww, he’s super cute.
After the tree kangaroos there is a little kiddy land… we opted to skip that and head up. But, in hindsight, you can loop through here to see the other exhibits on this floor including the small-clawed otters before heading up.
The ramp up. It is pretty similar to the Journey to South America exhibit.
Humidifiers.
Continuing up.
Domino cockroach.
They got another binturong. He/she is chillin in the back corner.
Big tree. Maybe this is the banyan? Or maybe just decoration.
Komodo dragon statue.
Actual Komodo dragon.
It’s habitat is significantly larger than before, which makes me super happy. My still image did not catch it, but all the plants were moving like there was wind in there. I wonder why that is?
More art.
Stairs back down. The stairs can be avoided by turning back and going back down the ramp that we came up. I am a little disappointed in that it is not as easy to loop through the exhibits in here using only ramps like it is the rest of the aquarium, but meh, it can still be done without stairs, but just a little extra effort. But we did not have any of our ADA friends or family today, so we can just use the stairs.
Some sort of turtle. I forget what he is exactly.
Little fish.
More art.
Another aquarium.
The new Asian small-clawed otters habitat. I love it! it appears to be a little bit bigger, and has a little river for them to enjoy as well.
They were not out at the moment. But, they have a bigger pool to swim in.
Another aquarium.
Another. This one was simulating a river.
I forget what this little guy is.
Back to the original building. This area used to be the box office, but is now pretty much a hallway.
Beautiful wings. This was left over from the Lantern Festival they had near Christmas. I am glad they found a place to keep them, hopefully permanently.
Next Stop Deep Sea Lab.
Jellyfish.
Moon jellies.
Penguins!
I love this bottom view.
One of the new macaroni penguins. These guys were introduced in April last year.
They are so fast! Actually, at 15 MPH they are a little slower then the other gentoo penguins.
Speaking of the gentoos. Here is one now. These guys can do 22 MPH.
More swimming.
Floating above.
Onto the Penguin Research Station. We skipped the small side room with some of the other deep sea creatures. We usually do. We have seen it, it's interesting, but we both just want to see the penguins!
I love these directional signs.
Penguins!
It is the beginning of mating season so there are piles and piles of pebbles.
Floating.
On of the macaroni’s and a gentoo. I wish both had their heads up so we can compare.
Anyway, according to the employee these 2 species do encounter each other in the wild, and just don’t bother each other. They do not interbreed.
Floating gentoo. Green armbands are for the girls. Boys have purple.
Macaroni. They have their own armbands that came from the aquarium they came from. They decided not to mess with them for now.
Aside from the obvious bright yellow feathers on their heads, they also have bigger, more pink beaks and different colored feet.
Zoom!
Sometimes I can make out their names on the armbands, but today was not really working.
Zoom.
Above and below the surface.
I caught the beginning of a jump out of the water. They kind of do the dolphin jump thing.
The surface.
These guys are sleeping.
Above and below again. This one showing the refraction.
Wait a minute, this guy has an orange armband? It took us a minute but eventually we decided it is probably one of the babies! But that is our guess. 4 babies were born last year, and all 4 survived!
The other side.
Zoom!
Stuck on the ledge. They know how to and can get down, sometime it just takes them a minute to remember/figure out how.
Looking for pebbles, and the other one has a pink band, he must be another baby.
Where the old Expedition Asia exhibit was before it moved. They are doing something with the space, but as far as I can tell, they have not announced what.
The main lobby area.
Light art. And the top of the Utah exhibit.
Next up: Journey to South America.
Poison dart frogs.
I forget what these ones are.
This one too.
The rope bridge was not occupied, so I decided to freak myself out and cross it again haha.
It is only 1 story up, and is definitely secure, but it still freaks me out a little bit.
The other side.
Huge frog. I forget what kind he is.
Turtle.
Toucan.
Sloth!
Big lizard.
I forget what these are.
Little waterfall, and you can juuuust make out a turtle underneath.
Anaconda.
Turtle. We haven’t seen the caiman in a little while. I hope he’s okay.
Electric eel.
Piranha.
The lobby again. I love the little otter banner.
Discover Utah.I love the faux hoodoos.
And a faux arch.
Gopher snake.
Frog.
On to the North American river otters. Another one of my absolute favorites. I love watching them play. I have yet to see one in the wild. I hope I do one day.
He or she is doing summersaults. They do have 2, a male and a female, but they are only letting one out at a time while they get to know each other.
Found a snack.
Waterfall in the enclosure.
Floating.
Tiger salamander. We see these guys in larval form all the time in places like Cecret Lake. I have not yet seen an adult in the wild.
Fun orca statues.
The lobby again.
Megalodon jaw.
Onto Ocean Explorer.
The first of two tide pools.
This one has anemones and sea stars.
Giant octopus. I have never seen much more than it just stuck to the glass.
Another tide pool. This one has rays.
Upside-down jellies.
Closer.
Into the sharks exhibit.
The shark tube!
Giant ray.
He came in and just parked it in front of us.
Shark and weird… my camera picked up the Oceans Ballroom on the other side of the tank today. I don’t think that has ever happened before now. I am going to guess that maybe it is lit up for an event right now.
The ray again.
Shark!
Turtle and shark.
Shark.
Turtle. He seemed to be struggling a bit, and seemed front heavy. I hope he is okay.
Up to the main view point.
Lots of sharks.
Giant shovelnose ray.
Shark.
Another.
Well, that is the whole thing. If you do it in the same order we did, it is all ramps, with no stairs. Well, the original building. The new building I am gonna have to play around with a bit more to see if I can figure that out better.
Now, we like to revisit our favorites again.
Back to Discover Utah. The little otter sign addition is new.
The George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation Otter Outpost. Whew, a mouthful. But, the Eccles have put so much back into our community, I appreciate it all.
Sadly, the otters were both backstage at the moment. :(
There are piles of food though, so I suspect they are about to let the next otter out. But… I am impatient.
Next we went to see our favorite, the penguins.
Floating.
They are still being super active. Yay.
Howdy.
Zoom!
I don’t know how to describe this, they look like birds in the air, and they are birds, just in water.
Floating above.
Gentoo and macaroni penguins.
Birds of the sea.
Creatures of the deep. Lit up. You can’t see much of it when it is not lit.
Back to the upper penguin viewing area.
Male and female gentoo penguins.
Above and below the surface, showing refraction.
Floating.
Land.
Well aren’t you just adorable.
Diving in.
Just doing penguin things.
Zoom!
Turquoise band. Must be another baby.
Probably my best shot of a gentoo today.
More on land.
Macaroni.
Above and below the surface.
Fun refraction.
Zoom!
The ones on land again.
Pebbles.
Floating.
The main lobby again. We took a quick shortcut down the stairs. But you can go back down through the penguins, or the Journey Through South America to take ramps. Or, there is an elevator just to the left.
Me with the pretty wings again. I… have ideas on how to take a better picture with them. But, this is still fun.
Back to the new Asian Expedition.
The tree kangaroo is sunning itself.
Turtle.
The Asian small-clawed otters came out! Hooray! I love their new habitat.
Hello cutey!
Swimming.
Climbing.
So cute.
Super cute. I am glad we ended up getting to see them today.
Over looking the waterfall.
Swimming in their pool.
It found something to nom on,
Then he disappeared into this pile of hay. It was fun watching the hay moved as he wiggled about inside.
The other one is still swimming around.
Here comes the other one.
Just doing adorable little otter things.
I managed to peel myself away haha. The bottom of the binturong exhibit to the right.
Heading up to the 2nd floor.
Leaf patterns in the floor.
You can see The Claw outside.
The binturong again.
Coconut crab. We couldn’t see him last time.
They did something wonky with the exhibit, and you see more reflection than inside.
Sadly, both times around the clouded leopards were not out.
The Komodo dragon. I have not seen him do anything but sleep so far. But I mean, that is pretty much what my dogs do 90% of the time too so, yeah.
Maybe banyan tree? Or just a decoration?
Another weird fish thingy.
A new outdoor exhibit. If I remember correctly, it will be for the clouded leopards. I guess there is a tunnel between here and the indoor exhibit.
Back to the original building.
A better view of the pretty wings.
After a quick skim through the gift shop, which you no longer HAVE to exit through (which is a delightful surprise), we called it a day and went to go find some food.
Little footprints. They look like otter. Cute.
The Claw.
The new Skaggs Learning Center building.
The Claw. It is the centerpiece for the Rio Tinto Kennecott Plaza.
The front.
One last view of the whole thing.
Another fun day at the aquarium! I love the new Skaggs Learning Center and the definitely upgraded Expedition Asia exhibits! I love that the animals have more room. I like the new additions as well. 10 squirrels today.
As for difficulty, it is a modern building, so DR2.
Dogs are not allowed, so be sure to leave Fido home.
