Project 30: Sealife & Stuff

Task 25/30: Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Complete: November 15, 2008

I fear tourists. But I cannot believe my fear of crowds and such available "I'll just go another time" reasoning has kept me away from the aquarium for this long. A few weeks ago, my favorite munchkins gave me my initial tour of a place that one of them was sharing he has been to "799 times." I was quite amazed how full of an afternoon that we had, starting out midday. Monterey is really such a short drive, and in no time, we were parked and inside the building at the end of Cannery Row. The enthusiasm held by the boys was inspirational and I have noted since then that I'd love to be that excited about something again. Even in my adult sensibilities, I was definitely in a world of wonder where I found myself able to just gaze off and get lost. I miss my own personal aquarium, but I have always enjoyed the relaxing properties of circling fish and waving water. I found such a great appreciation for all of the wonderful wildlife that I got to partake in over the afternoon, as the boys dragged me from one room to the other. I bet I could spend an entire afternoon just sitting and watching the fish swim in those giant tanks. The otters were cool as always, but I found that there were other species that entertained me more. The octopus was active, and the birds were just beautiful. They are adding a seahorse exhibit and I can tell you that I will not live in Santa Cruz another 12 years before I go back to see that wonderful wonder. We ended our afternoon with a delicious meal where I was happy to splurge myself over good company and silly laughs to call this MISSION COMPLETE.

Now on to the pictures...

Jellyfish:






Kelp Forest:


Other Neat Creatures:








The Whole Set

I realized recently, I'm sort of attached to him.

This is an older picture - but he's at least 4 now. That's old for a fish.

My Fish is Still Alive!

He's at least 3 years old. Probably a bit over 3 now actually since I think I got him in summer of 2004. He has survived a small tank to a big tank to a small tank back to this one, and a whole lot of neglect along the way. He keeps growing now that I have been taking care of him the last 6 months. He even has tetras that have made it more than a month in there with him. We're not holding out hope for the little guys, but they sure drive Bella nuts darting all over the tank where she can't get them. Anyway, this guy is gorgeous. Even if he does spend all his time grossing up my tank, he is still a pretty fish who is persistent in his will to be in my life and doesn't ask for much more than an algae wafer or two every night and a clean filter every week. Other than that, he's pretty chill and I like him. He's big though. He kinda freaked out when she stayed with us I think. He definitely is big. 10 inches underneath from head to tip of his tail, and at least 2 inches across the wide part of his abdomen. His top fin has twelve rows of stripes counting up the the front of it, which is definitely more than the 10 I remember counting at some point a while ago, and he has had a bit of trouble with fin rot in the past too. It's funny to have all the little fish in there with him, the very giant big fish. He's neat. I love him.

Pretty Kitty Eyes the Fishies, January 2005