Cleaning diver, Boston Aquarium

A diver in the seawater tank, cleaning the artificial coral with various scrubbing brushes.

Reef fish, Boston Aquarium

Reef-dwelling fish swim around the crenellations of their artificial home in the giant sea tank at the Boston aquarium.

Central tank spiral, Boston Aquarium

The other feature that dominates the whole aquarium in Boston is the giant central seawater tank, with its multi-story spiral of rampway curving around its windows. People stand silhouetted at the glass, examining its contents on their journey.

Fighting for fish, Boston Aquarium

The penguins are quite aggressive with their lunch, fighting over the fish the staff give out. With deft flicks of the wrist, they will try to get it into their intended bird, but it does not quite always work out as intended.

Feeding the penguins, Boston Aquarium

Feeding the penguins is quite a lengthy and involved operation at the Boston Aquarium. Two staff manage the large and unruly gang of African Penguins together: one handing out the fish to the penguins one by one, while the other takes notes on a waterproof slate, documenting just how many fish go into each bird to make sure they all are getting what they need. Special colored cups seem to be for birds with special needs as well.

Penguin food, Boston Aquarium

These trays, like buoyant plastic boats, are laid out full of fish to be fed to the penguins by the aquarium staff.

Messy penguin, Boston Aquarium

The largest penguin enclosure in the Boston Aquarium, holding most of the penguins and dominating the whole bottom floor as you enter the building, is filled with African penguins. Most are rather sleeker than this one, though, which looks quite a mess as it appears to be in the middle of a molt.