Before we really got started on the tanks, we spotted a little invertibrate station that had been set up off to the side. We went over to have a look. Audrey was very interested in the crabs that were crawling around inside the tank. While trying to explain to Audrey what was going on in the tank, I called some of the little spiny/shelled critters "fish". I was emphatically told that they weren't fish. (Oh heaven forbid!!) Anyone who remembers me as a child knows that at one time in my life, I probably knew more than all three of the workers combined about the animals they were displaying. I explained kindly that, to Audrey, just about everything living in the water is a fish at this point in her life.
One of the workers pulled out a sea urchin and invited Audrey to touch it. After a moments hesitation, she touched it and then tried to pull one of its spines off. It's interesting how a gentle prompting of "softly" can turn into "SOFTLY!!!" when under pressure. After the little guy got put back into the tank, Audrey decided herself that she was done and climbed back into her stroller.
The ray tank was fun. It took Audrey a few moments to realize that she needed to look longer than 2 seconds in order to see anything interesting. Here is Dad pointing out what she's missing.
I love this shot. Mainly because she was completely unaware of how close the ray was to her, having just seen a different one pass by.
Topside view. She almost didn't seem to realize that these were the same animals that she'd been seeing the bottom side of before. The rays get some sort of amusement out of coming close to the glass and flapping their wings out of the water. I wonder if they breach like that out in the wild?
"Hi fishies!"
Yes, I know. Same tank, but Ben wanted to get some Mommy shots in too.
Just before Ben took this shot, Audrey had reached out and touched the water. I think she didn't realize that the fish were actually swimming and not floating in mid-air. She looked at her hand and said, "Ewww!" LOL!
For some reason, all the rays seem to like swimming against the glass walls of the tanks. It must feel nice. :)
This poor little ray in the Shark Tank got chomped on. We wanted to let someone know that the little guy was hurt, but we couldn't find anyone. It was very sad. I'm sure they already knew about it; it's not like they can just swim in there any time they like and pull a wounded animal out. Criminy! There are sharks in there!
My two favorite pictures of Audrey next to the Shark Tank.
There are more pictures that I didn't post here. I will be putting them up on my Facebook page as soon as I stop feeling lazy. :)
Update: Laziness averted. Here is the link to the album on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=80902&l=4cc7b&id=679802657
3 comments:
Thanks for the "tour"! Fun photos!
How fun!
painaldo: the stingray who was chopped was named Aldo . . . he was in pain
What fun! We got a kick out of the rays at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Longbeach CA. One of the rays decided to launch itself toward a lady who was leaning over the tank. (It came up at least 3 feet or so out of the water!) Everyone screamed! For some reason it kept doing it over and over, following this lady around the tank until she left. I'm suprised the thing didn't end up on the ground, as there were a few close calls. I'm thinking that the jumping thing is normal in shallower environments.
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