Aquarium 2

 Here is another helping of Jellyfish from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. When I was doing a search to identify what species this is Google's Gemini could only tell me it is a Jellyfish which wasn't much help. There were lots of similar photos online from other visitors to the aquarium, proving that it really is one of the most popular exhibits there.

From the Monterey Bay Aquarium website I learned that this is a Sea Nettle and while many  varieties of jellyfish don't sting this one does. It hunts prey by trailing its long tentacles and frilly "mouth-arms". As prey  creatures (which include young pollock, larval fish, zooplankton and other jellies) touch the tentacles they receive a paralysing sting and then stick tight before being moved to the mouth-arms and then finally into the sea nettle's mouth to be consumed. The bell grows to around 45cm (almost 18" in old money) and the mouth-arms reach 3.6 - 4.6 metres (12- 15 feet). Despite their fearsome reputation they really are quite beautiful and as I said in my last post it is very relaxing watching them.

I will return to jellyfish in my next post so if you have enjoyed these shot please come back for more.

But here is a little bonus for you. As mentioned in the last post I wanted to share a photo of my mate Mark... who is a Hammerhead Shark. There is a children's story My Mate Mark is a Hammerhead Shark by Jeanne Willis. I enjoy reading it with my grandchildren, or at least my eldest grandchild who is 3. At the aquarium he was really excited to see this shark and he could relate it to the character in the story. If you have kids or grandkids its definitely worth a read. Although they can appear quite menacing and like the jellyfish above have a bit of a reputation in this photo he appears as if he is smiling and that makes him seem much less threatening.

Aquarium 1

I have been to various aquariums and while I love water and I am fascinated by the undersea world I didn't think I needed to visit another aquarium while I was on holiday. I figured that there would be better ways of spending my time, seeing something new, and probably for a lot less money. However, I was persuaded that the aquarium at Monterey would be different and that I should go along.

I was so glad I did, I ended up staying almost 5 hours and was among the last people to leave when the place closed at the end of the day. Bear in mind that my grandsons aged 3 and 1 were there too and they didn't get bored at all because there was so much to see.

I loved being able to go outside and watch sealions and sea otters and different varieties of sea birds, I loved the collection of rescued birds in the aviary and the touch tanks were so much fun. The kelp forest was magical and the shoal of sardines swimming around my head in one of the displays was surreal. However the part that surprised me most was the collection of jellyfish.

I think up to now my favourite marine creatures have been (and maybe still are) seahorses, however seeing the displays of jellyfish has really put them in contention for top spot. I could have stood for so much longer watching them because they are so calming, despite the large number of visitors and the heat the slow rise and fall of these pulsating sea creatures, beautifully lit as they were was able to transcend all of that.

Of course I took a lot of photos and here are just a few of them...

These I believe are Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), I will post some photos of different species in the next few days and in one of my next posts I will include a random shot of "my mate Mark" (iykyk) so be sure to look out for that.

Under The Sea

I may be wrong but of all the blog posts I have done so far I don't think I have posted pictures of fish previously and so this is a first...

I hadn't intended to take any pictures of fish but as we sheltered in the aquarium while the rain came down in sheets I took the opportunity to get a few good shots. While there were a few beautiful, colourful fish as you can see, but there were also some interesting corals too.

It was funny, if a little predictable that everyone, without fail, called the final fish... Nemo!