CN Tower

Welcome to the world famous CN Tower in downtown Toronto

The CN Tower is celebrating 45 years this season.  It opened to the public on June 26, 1976

The CN Tower is one of the most popular attractions in downtown Toronto, thus if you visit during peak periods, you might find a little bit of a wait to go up in the tower.

Luckily they have this mountie moose to keep you company while you wait.

The blue elevators to the Indoor Lookout Level at 1,135 ft.

Here you can view Toronto indoors through thick glass windows.

Just below the Indoor Lookout Level is the Outdoor Observation Terrace which is at 1,122 ft

While you are outdoors, your view of Toronto is impeded upon by protective metal fencing.  Unfortunately, you have to protect people from themselves.

Also on this level is the glass floors that allow you to see straight down

It is said that the glass is strong enough to hold 33 adult bull moose at the same time.

This desk is where you access the Sky Pod, which is located at 1,465 ft.  There is an additional elevator to take you up there.

This is where we just came from (zoomed in)

Zoomed out you can see just how much higher up we are now.

The views are much better up here.

Union Station visible in the lower left 

SkyDome - home of the Toronto Bluejays (MLB) and the Round House Train Museum (on the left)

Sunset over Toronto

Scotiabank Arena - Home of the Toronto Raptors (NBA)

Toronto is very pretty all light up at night.

At night they light the tower up with LED lights.  It have to admit, it makes it a little hard to see the city when standing on the Outdoor Observation Terrace

Time to head back down

If you find yourself in Toronto, you have to visit the CN Tower.

Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

Welcome to Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, located in downtown Toronto under the CN Tower.

You enter the aquarium on the top level and get a look down into the "hands on" area

A large pillar of Alewives greet you as your begin your quest.

Longnose gar 

Sea raven (I had never seen one of these before)

This is an honest to goodness BLUE North American Lobster.  Yes, they are real.

  

Giant spiny crab

Common sea star

  

Giant octopus.

  

Pacific Kelp Aquarium.  Look how long that seaweed is.  Most of the fist in this aquarium are surfperch.

Clonal anemone.  I honestly didn't realize they came in so many different colors.

  

There was a diver in the Coral Aquarium

  

Loved the different varieties of fish in this aquarium.

Time to head into the Deep Ocean Tunnel.  First up we see a school of yellowtail snappers.

Sand tiger shark

Sawfish

Goliath and Giant Grouper

  

Sand tiger shark

Black tip reef shark (foreground)

A giant school of fish

A giant ray

Sea turtle

Ray Lagoon

That's a bonnet head shark (and it is full grown)

More rays

Touch pool of horseshoe crabs

Lionfish

Electric Eel

  

Longsnout seahorse

  

European cuttlefish

  

Archerfish (they actually shoot streams of water at their prey)

  

Sarcastic Fringehead

  

Red-bellied piranha 

     

Fresh water stingrays

   

Pacific sea nettles

Moon jellyfish

Medusa jellyfish

Polyp and Ephyrae (basically these are baby jellyfish)

  

Upside-down jellyfish

   

Atlantic sea nettles

The tour of the aquarium ends with a walk through the pump room

It's pretty massive

A look at the top of the big aquariums as you exit.