Saturday, October 19, 2013
Swim Class

A young Sea Lion taking a tentative swim not far from his mom in the beautiful waters off the Monterey Peninsula.

Monday, September 2, 2013
Starfish

Another beautiful creature from the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Saturday, October 31, 2009
Leafy Sea Dragon

This guy is one of my favorite sea creatures. He's called a Leafy Sea Dragon. He's related to seahorses and pipe fish, and is from the waters of Australia. This one is living at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in their cool Seahorse exhibit. As I'm sure you can guess he is less of a sea monster than his name suggests. His beautiful fins camouflage him in the sea weed as he floats with the ocean surge like a plant.

This was the second time we tried to get to the exhibit, right after it opened in April it was almost too crowded to see anything, but this weekend was much less crowded.

Thursday, September 25, 2008
Mediterranean Jelly

This is another critter from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Ahh, vacations are so short and so many days between! The light was very blue, he is actually more brown from what I read about him.

Thursday, September 11, 2008
Moon Jellies

Today was a great day, saw some jellies ate some good food and found out that Monterey was close enough to make a good day trip. in the past we have always stayed a lot longer.

These guys were amazing and the display was fantastic. They are in a small hallway with mirrors on the ends and both walls of the hall are floor to ceiling aquariums. It makes you feel like you are completely submerged in a school of graceful jellyfish.

Oh, one more thing, if you do go to Monterey and stay in a hotel. Be sure to purchase your aquarium tickets at the hotel. You will get a two day pass for the same price as one day at the Aquarium and you wont have to wait in the long ticket line at the door. You can go right in the side entrance.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Shimmering Jelly

Well we raced off to Monterey to see the Jellyfish before they went away. And they were well worth the four and a half hour drive. If you are going to be there before the end of this weekend I highly recommend you check them out. The show is "Jellies: Living Art" and in addition to the jellies they have some beautiful art that was inspired by the gracefulness of the jellyfish.

Of course if you can't get there by Sunday, they still have plenty of other amazing things to see. And I'm pretty sure they will still have some jellies, just not the big display. But I would imagine they are planning something interesting for the spot that they will be vacating.

Monday, September 8, 2008
Creatures from the deep

Actually, I guess they are "creatures from the shallow". Or even creatures from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. But you get the point.

This is from our last trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. On my way to their Online Field Guide to identify these critters I found out that their Jelly fish exhibit is going to end on Sunday. If you find yourself anywhere near Monterey this week you should stop in and see it. They are really beautiful. I am sure going to try to get there. I think they will still have jellies after Sunday, it's just the bigger collection of rare ones that is over... "Jellies: Living Art"

I did find the details on these guys too: Tube Anemone an interesting adaptation of an Anemone that can retreat into that long tube. And the crazy thing on the left is a Sea Pen, but he is not at a good angle to appreciate why he got his name. When they are standing up they look like a big fancy feather quill. I'll try to get a better picture when we go to see the jellies.

Saturday, August 18, 2007
Wispy Jelly

I was in the mood for something a little different today when I was looking through some older images. I realized that none of my jelly photos from our last trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium made it to the Photo of the Day so it is time to fix that.

Of course, as with most photos, the lighting makes all the difference. Without it this guy would be virtually invisible. However unlike most of the photos on my site that are artificially lit I can't take credit for the lighting on this one. The Aquarium has a wonderful display that is designed to perfectly light the critters so you can appreciate their delicate beauty.

Friday, January 26, 2007
On The Ocean Floor

This is another shot from our recent visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a fun trip, but it is quite a crowded place. If you don't like pushy people you should probably prepare yourself for a rough day. Personally, I think it is time to take my camera SCUBA diving and leave the crowds behind!

Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Sea Flower

The beaches in Santa Barbara are beautiful. And, if you time things just right when there is a really low tide you can see amazing things in the tide pools.

This is a Starburst Sea Anemone. And, contrary to the title of the image it is not a plant. It is actually a meat eating animal, a cousin of the Jellyfish.

The color however, is all plant (or mostly anyway). It comes from a symbiotic algae living in the translucent tissue of the animal and can range from blue-green, like this, to a much deeper green, or even near white if the animal lives in shade.

The rocks in the low tide around here can be covered with these. When they are in the air they fold their tentacles in and you can only see the outside which is covered with broken pieces of shell and rocks. So, if you are walking on the beach, and see a rock that seems to be covered with a bunch of broken shells, it is probably covered with Anemones just under the shells.

This picture is for my Mom. She has always loved tide pools and I have many great memories of wandering on the beach looking for exciting things at the edge of the water with her. Unfortunately, when she visited Santa Barbara, the tide was a little too high. Next time, we will check the tide charts first!