Random Rambler: Loveland Living Planet Aquarium

The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium is a great aquarium located in Draper. It features a lot of the things you would expect in an aquarium such as fish, sharks and stingrays, however it also features quite a few things you may not expect like otters and penguins and sloths! It is a nice place to spend a day when the weather outside is yucky. It has several exhibits with a lot of diverse life to enjoy. We've been before, but it's fun so we come back.

We normally spend our New Years Day holiday out on a trail, but the weather was just too much today so we decided to come here instead.

Quick Details

Time Needed: At least an hour.
Interesting Things: It’s not just fish.
Other Info: Hours 10-6. Adult tickets start at $19.95

To Get Here:

Take i15 to exit 291 123rd south in Draper. Head west, turn right on Lone Peak Highway (first stop light after lights related to the freeway). Go about 3/10th of a mile and turn right into the aquarium.

The aquarium and it’s Claw from the freeway (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

The Adventure:

The new entrance since they expanded.

Some fun Christmasy photo boxes.

I didn’t quite remember the setup correctly as I planned to do the exhibit that leads up to the Penguin Research Station. That is actually Antarctic Adventure… But no problem we started with Ocean Explorer.

Some sea anemone.

Giant octopus.

Tropical fish.

Some stingrays.

Mantis Shrimp.

The shark tube. It was quite busy today so, not really a chance of getting it empty.

Shark swimming above.

A huge stingray.

Closer.

Sea turtle.

Shark.

Closer view of the sea turtle.

We thought these looked funny. We couldn’t find an exact match on the sign, but think it might be one of the unicorn fish, considering well, the big nose.

Shark, turtle, and ray.

Up in the shark habitat which is the same tank as the shark tube just, above it, we found a shovel nose ray.

Shark and string ray.

Another turtle.

Another shark. I think it is a blacktip reef shark.

Then we moved on to Antarctic Adventure.

Moon jellies.

I forget what kind of jellyfish these are.

These too. But they are fun.

Onto the penguins!!! Here is the lower view.

We both just love the penguins.

Quick stop in the Deep Sea Lab where we found these shrimp. Most of the other displays were too dark to get pictures.

Then to the upper penguin display.

They were being quite active and playful at the moment.

Zoom zoom!

I commented to Landis that they changed the armbands. They used to have their names on them. The employee who was standing nearby informed me that the penguins learned how to take the old armbands off so they had so come up with something else. Now they have a color system. If they have a color and a black band that one is the male in that pair. So that would make this one a female. If there is a key so the public can figure out who is who, I didn’t see one and I didn’t ask about it.

Float mode. These are Gentoo Penguins, by the way.

They can swim up to 22 miles per hour. They are the fastest swimming penguins.

Hello!

Spotted a male.

Zoom!

I try to be mindful of my surroundings and not take up space for too long so others can enjoy stuff too. It was a little busy in here when we first arrived but it thinned out quite a bit, so I felt totally fine staying put until it got busy again.

I timed this one terribly. The one on the left is about to pop up onto the surface.

There he is. At 30 inches tall, Gentoo Penguins are the 3rd tallest penguins after Emperor, and King Penguins.

I love watching them run. They tend to put their wings back like this. It’s cute.

Gentoo Penguins are found in The Falkland Islands and other Sub-Antarctic islands.

They are really being super active today! Do penguins get zoomies like dogs? Cause this is what it seems like. Penguin zoomies.

Okay, kind of gross, but it’s natural. This is what it looks like when one of them poops.

Just enjoying watching them swim.

She came to say hello.

2 speeds. Leisure and zoom!

I just love them. Well it is starting to get crowded again so I backed off.

Then of course they started jumping out of the water like dolphins, but I failed to catch it. Sigh.

Then we went on to Expedition Asia.

Where the binturong was hanging out. Also called bearcats but they are neither bear nor cat.

Unfortunately the clouded leopard and the Asian small-clawed otters were not out.

Burmese mountain tortoise.

I’m not sure what kind of lizard this is.

Then we worked our way over to Journey to South America.

Which is a humid jungle, quite a bit bigger than the one we saw at Tracy Aviary.

It took us a minute to locate the sloths. Not sure if they are both in there or if the other one is better hidden.

Keel-bill toucan. Definitely not the same kind as the one we saw at Tracy Aviary.

This is the first time I have seen this, they emit some mist above the river giants.

Not sure if this is another toucan or something else.

Bazillion prehensile-tailed porcupine. Quite a bit different than our local porcupines.

River giants.

I think these were some kind of cockroach.

We found a random turtle in one of the pools.

Black spot piranha.

We thought this display was empty until we suddenly spotted this guy. Dwarf caiman.

There is a ledge to step on to see above the water.

Little waterfall.

Sleeping Beauty costumes. on loan from I think it says Capital Theater. Pretty.

Next stop, Discover Utah!

I love the recreated slot canyon, arches, and hoodoos.

Frogs.

The desert tortoise was hiding in a corner. We haven't had any luck seeing one of these but our best chance was out near Snow Canyon State Park.

I forget what these are.

Onto the North American river otters! My favorite!

They are quick little buggers!

We have been here quite a few times and this is the first time I saw them use their outdoor space.

Otters like to play in the snow… who knew?

Heading back inside.

Oh they are so cute!

Swimming.

Getting back out.

Back outside to play in the snow!

Oh, he found a treat dispenser.

Quick video.

I have yet to see an otter in the wild. I hope that changes one day.

Heading for the water.

Splash.

I love these guys.

hahaha.

My treatses!

I managed to peel myself away to see other things.

Tiger salamanders! I have never seen adults like this but I have seen them in their larval form in places like Cecret Lake.

There are 4 in this tank do you see them all? One of them is kind of hidden.

I love these signs.

We decided to see the penguins again.

They are still being pretty active.

Them walking around.

I caught one popping up out of the water.

Hello!

Then the lights went out. They try to simulate the amount of sunlight they would get in their natural habitat this time of year.

Cute penguin crossing sign. Landis could think of at least one place that it might exist in a public setting.

Fun whale statues. They are usually covered in people so I was surprised to find it empty. We totally should have gone in and taken pictures like we did at the Seattle Aquarium.

Then we went back to the river otters.

Looks like he is heading back outside.

Back into the water.

Back into the snow.

Then we decided to see if we could see the Asian small-clawed otters again. No luck there however…

The clouded leopard made an appearance.

Very handsome!

Stalking through the jungle.

Back into the den.

Wait… gotta poop. Seriously it turned back to squat elsewhere. We're not so different are we?

I am glad he/she made an appearance.

Banggai.

Well, we saw everything, and our favorites a couple of times, so we decided to head on out.

The claw. This was the stage for a U2 360 degree world tour from 2009 - 2011. I can't recall how or why the aquarium came into it's possession. It’s funny people either love it, or absolutely hate it and call it an eyesore. I think it’s neat.

The entrance again.

The aquarium from the parking lot.

The Claw again.

Well that was a fun day! We do love coming and visiting our penguin and otter friends. Plus all of the other stuff to see. It was a little busier than I would have liked but it was a holiday weekend and the kids are out of school. Plus I am sure a lot of people did what we did and avoided the gross weather to come here instead, so I can’t be too frosty about that. Overall it was fun. 9 out of 10 squirrels. Losing 1 for how crowded it was today.