Watch live turtles and sharks on the Virginia Aquarium webcam

May 27, 8:45 AMNorfolk Homeschooling ExaminerSherene Silverberg

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There are days when my children want to experience nature but I just don't have the time, or energy, to take them to a museum or park.   On those days, I often resort to live webcams.  The Virginia Aquarium now has  webcams where you can watch turtles and sharks live.

You can watch the sea turtles and fish in their 70,000-gallon Light Tower aquarium live.

The loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) are fed individually and their diet is supplemented with multivitamins. The largest turtle in the Aquarium is Camden, a loggerhead weighing just over 250 pounds with a shell three feet long. My children have always loved to watch Camden.  I'll bet your children will as well. Two Kemp’s ridley turtles, the most endangered turtle species, share the Light Tower Aquarium with the loggerheads.

The largest sharks you will see on the webcam of the Norfolk Canyon tank are Sand Tiger sharks (Carcharius taurus). The individual sharks are identified by unique physical characteristics, such as the number of notches on their dorsal fin. Weighing in at just over 200 pounds and measuring 8 feet long, the largest of the Aquarium's sharks is a female named Double Notch.

Sand tiger sharks are found throughout the world's temperate oceans. In the North Atlantic region they can be found from the Gulf of Maine to Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico. They are often found in shallow, sandy waters but can be found at depths over 600 feet as well.

The aquarium also has recorded videos on their website.  My favorite is the one of them training the harbor seals  however, my kids think the otters win for sheer cuteness reasons.