Charlin and the Year of the Dragon

On the very first day of the Year of the Dragon, Jerome and I walked to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. On the way, we encountered...

...some unusual wildlife (it's an anteater plushie under a bush...no idea how it got there)...

...beautiful scenery...

...and a yellow submarine (I think it's actually a furbished and painted gas container, but I am not sure).

Anyway, a mile and a half later, we got to the aquarium, just as it started to rain and just before it opened.

We're here!

The aquarium staff were very helpful and friendly. Most of them also thought Jerome was funny.

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, multiple windows look out to the harbor, so the views both outside and inside are fantastic.

Pretty, rainy day

The aquarium was about to feed its Open Ocean exhibit, so Jerome and I quickly made our way over to the tank.

Jerome and about a zillion sardines

Actually, the docent stated the exhibit only had about 18,000 sardines. Either way, the Open Ocean exhibit is easily one of the most impressive displays in the aquarium, if not the world.

  Jerome in front of one million gallons of water

The feeding session offered an exotic perspective of animal care. Since it's a cold water exhibit, not all the animals need to eat every day. On Monday, the aquarium fed the mola-mola, turtles, and sardines. The sardines were the most impressive. They would rush at the fish pellets much like a flock of pigeons toward breadcrumbs, but quickly dart away when a larger animal swam near. The lights would catch on their sides, which were bright and silvery, resulting in a beautiful, but surreal, show. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, the effect was almost like a living firework of 18,000 sparks.

Immediately underneath the exhibit was the seahorse display. Seahorses are intriguing, but difficult to show, since they are sensitive to changing lights, difficult to see, and non-active (compared to say, sea otters or tuna). However, the gallery showed the animals impressively. The gallery also showcased some seahorse cousins, which worked out well, considering it was the year of the dragon.

Seeing a sea dragon on the first day of the Year of the Dragon HAS to be lucky.

Right?

The gallery contained some hands-on features as well.

Just like Aquaman

Many of the other exhibits featured beautiful views of local wildlife.

 Like a movie set...

While the exhibits are attractive, some do have rules.

I think they did that on purpose

Jerome suggested I use flash anyway. The locals did not approve.

HELP!!!

The cephalopod adventures continued when a staff member told me they were feeding the baby cuttlefish. 

 

 After the show

Jerome and I then settled down for some old-fashioned exploration.

 

I can see your future.

Or some garden eels.

 

My precious pearl

 

A beautiful ocean view

 

Jerome goes for a closer look

 

Seriously, who figured out you could eat these?

 

I think this is one of the prettiest eels I have ever seen

We then found ourselves on the Starship Enterprise...

Prepare to warp

 ...or we visited the deep sea exhibit.

Back at the surface, I stopped for an apple juice and a view.

Pretty...

We then focused on the inside of the aquarium. Originally, the building was a cannery. So quite a bit of the first floor was dedicated to the history of the canning and fishing industries in Monterey. The displays included an original fish tub used to carry sardines.

 Wait, what?

A model conveyer belt dominated a later part of the area.

 Oh nooooo!

The rest of the display modeled the various stages of canning, ending at large baskets used to transport the cans.

 Heh, I escaped

The aquarium was a lot of fun, but the day was almost over. Still, we had one more place to go.

 Chinese food!

It was the Year of the Dragon, after all. So we enjoyed yummy egg flower soup, fried rice, chow mein, and sweet & sour chicken. It was good, but I wanted the year to be sweet.

 Cake!

Some fresh chocolate cake completed a very good day.

Until next time, peace out, mah ninjas!