Aquarium With the Water That Which Tastes Bad

I recently found there is a freshwater aquarium a couple hours away, along the Mississippi in DuBuque. Granted, the water tastes all wrong, not having the salt of our mother from whence we all came and shall one day return. But it's the closest I'm going to get to aquatic species out here.

They have fish and surprisingly for this oceanic observer, amphibians; feathered and non-feathered reptiles; and mammals. But we began with a little lesson in alluvial soil erosion.

Mississippi fish are big! Each was at least five feet long.

This guy is just sitting there waiting for the owner of the boat to return...

They aren't as smart as their marine cousins, but they have a whole lot more fun.

Yes! At this aquarium, you get to touch the sturgeon head!