Before I left Osaka, I took a quick detour to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.

Between the rail stop and the aquarium entrance, there were themed paintings on flower boxes and the like.

The aquarium building itself looks a bit like a whale tail.  This is probably not an accident.

The entry area contained this adorable toothy anglerfish sculpture.

Most of my favorite things in the Osaka Aquarium were not fish at all.  For example, this little guy is an otter.  He was doing barrel rolls in the water.

Nearby is a seal doing seal things.

The aquarium is home to an entire tiny colony of Gentoo penguins.

…and one juvenile whale shark.

This spotted fish was the main reason I wanted to come to the aquarium.  I hadn’t ever seen a whale shark up close before.

The whale shark swims in the aquarium’s Pacific Ocean tank, which is also home to bluefin tuna and many other very large fishies.

This seal was very interested in what was happening on our side of the glass.

Bio-luminescent jellyfish, as seen through very thick glass.

My brain keeps wanting to label these cuttlefish as “scuttlefish.”  Do you suppose there’s a cuttlefish in charge, telling them which direction to point?

This crab is facing a tank wall which appears mirrored because of the light inside the tank.  In my head, I hear his little crabby voice doing his best Pacino impression. “You talking to ME?!”

Approaching the exit, there was a small group of very smelly Rockhopper penguins.

…and one very chubby seal.

I also took a bunch of other fish pictures, but the photos in this post are the ones which I thought were the most visually interesting.

Have you ever been to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan?  Have you ever seen a whale shark up close?