Pet the fishies!

I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium last weekend. I looooove the aquarium! Love looking at the fish. I go as often as I get the chance. The last time was 2 years ago. It's been even longer since Jenny's been to the aquarium, about 10 years by my estimate! So it's definitely been too long for both of us! Last time I went was also a little disappointing since it was a mere week before the opening of their new shark exhibit. Everything was all set. The signs were there. But we couldn't see the sharks! Boo. So I was so glad when Jenny emailed me the other week and asked if I wanted to go to Monterey! (She was especially excited about the pet tanks.) We've been talking about how we should take a trip there for years now since it seems like a good mid-point between the doldrums (Davis) and Santa Barbara.

The aquarium was amazing, as always. My favorite exhibit is the jellyfish. But I also really love the circular tank of anchovies set into one of the ceilings. Those anchovies just swim round and round and round! Jenny et al. kept trying to find anchovies going the wrong way. There are usually a few trying to break free. Their favorite was the dead one floating at the top... (I think that's the only time I've ever seen a dead fish at the aquarium, actually.)

I played photographer while we wandered around the fish. Some of my pictures actually turned out pretty well. I'm really surprised! The aquarium is really dark, but only morons (and there were a few of them) use the flash since it will only reflect off the glass. But even still, some of my pictures are sort-of-kind-of in focus! Yay! Everyone's so impressed that these great pictures came from my teensy digital camera! What can I say, I wield it well! (Actually, one labmate asked if I'd taken one of them from through the glass. "No," I responded, "I jumped into the tank with my not-water-proof camera for that one!") I've put a few of my favorites here, but you should go check out the rest of them too! I made the one of the fish in the kelp forest my desktop background in lab, so now I have a hard time getting work done since I keep gazing at the fishies!

I will leave you with my sister's brilliant observation: "Going to the aquarium is like all-natural birth control."