Barbara Rich Photography: Monterey Bay Aquarium

Friday, April 13, 2012

Monterey Bay Aquarium Part 2

What an amazing assortment of aniamls and colors are found in the undersea world! Sea Anemones, from the order Actiniaria, come in a wondrous array of colors. Their gently waving tentacles, so elegant in the ocean currents, deceivingly wait to inject a venomous sting in an effort to paralyze prey. Once paralyzed, the tentacles are used to move it along into their mouth. Their typical diet is small fish and crustaceans. The mouth is clearly visible in the second photo of the yellow sea anemone.

The Sea Anemomes include quite a variety of colors and size.

Tube Anemone use their tube-like base to withdraw into when threatened by predators

Two contrasting colonies of the delicate Jewel Anemone

Coral is equally as colorful and comes in a myriad of shapes and sizes as well. The best display of the assorted coral and tropical fish always has people lined up with cameras waiting their turn to take a shot.

Starfish are Echinoderms, most of which appear star-shaped with radiating body parts. Typically starfish have five arms, however there are some that develop six or more.

Bat Star arms are much less pronounced. They are found at depths that don't receive as much wave action. The more extended arms on other starfish help them anchor onto the rocks.

The bottom of a starfish

This starfish had several arms damaged. The arms do grow back,but at very slow rate.

A myriad of fish that inhabit the oceans are on display in the Aquarium. The Leopard Shark can be seen in several of the exhibits. Like most sharks they move around a lot due to the fact they are slightly less buoyant than the water around them and tend to sink whenever they’re not swimming.

The bottom dwelling White Sturgeon (below) is a formidable looking fish. Rather than scales, the White Sturgeon has five rows of bony plates (scutes) which reach from its gills to its tail. Its skin is like sandpaper.

It seems as though there was no limit to the rainbow of colors that were represented in the various exhibits.

Check out these eyelashes! ~ Mussels

By far, one of the most interesting things on exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium was this Skate egg case, commonly referred to as a Mermaid's Purse. Nestled in the sand among a group of Orange Sea Pens, a window had been cut out of this 9" egg case with a transparent cover glued back down so the developing embryo could be viewed. Hatching can take anywhere from two to five months. The features that are visible on this embryo are what the bottom side of fish from the Rajiformes order such as Rays actually look like. Typically all that is visible from the top are eyes.

Skate embryo in Mermaid's Purse

Sea Pens

Young Skate

Larger Skate in the touch pools of the Splash Zone

Bottom skide of a Rajiformes

Stingray in the touch pools of the Splash Zone

There were several other interesting fish in the touching pool. Flounder are flat bottom fish. One eye migrates to the other side of the body as they mature into juveniles. As adults, they camouflage themselves on the ocean floor awaiting prey.

Eels are elongated fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes. They range in size from 2" to over 10 feet long. Most live in shallow waters and burrow into the sand, mud or rocks. I have to admit, in spite of their interesting shapes and colorations, they were very ominous looking--perhaps the slithering appearance coupled with their tendency to poke in and out of the rocks.

As we neared the end of our visit to the Aquarium, we viewed the African Blackfooted Penguins. There was also an aviary with a number of common shore birds which I will be sharing in the last part of this series.

Ever wonder what it looks like as a wave breaks? Maddie was able to experience this awesome event in the glass paneled exhibit.

I will be following up with the last part of this series on Monterey Bay and Aquarium with photos in and around the bay and the 17 Mile Drive. Hope you've enjoyed it so far.

Me, Mom and Maddie

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Monterey Bay Aquarium Part 1

The first time I saw a photo of a Leafy Sea dragon from the 'Secret Lives of Seahorses' exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, making the trip to Monterey became a number one priority. Little did I know that the Sea Dragons were only the start of a myriad of captivating sea life and sea creatures both big and small on exhibit at the aquarium.

Sea Turtle

Dwarf Seahorses measuring less than one inch

On both trips we've taken to the aquarium, we've found wonderful accommodations in Seaside, right on the beach with a sweeping view of the Monterey Bay.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located a short drive away at Cannery Row, made famous by the author John Steinbeck. The Aquarium is housed in what was once the Hovden Fish Cannery.

The evidence of a rich history is documented on the walls including these replicas of some of the packaging labels of the day. One of the remaining pieces of the original cannery is the whistle. The whistle was used to summon fish packers to the cannery any time of the day or night. The whistle calls for each cannery were different. When the Hovden workers heard two long blasts and one short they would make their way to the cannery to pack the fresh catch of sardines.

The closest exhibit after entry into the Aquarium is the Sea Otters. This last trip, I was looking forward to viewing their newest pup #572, a rescue at one week of age who was being given special bonding time in front of the public with his surrogate mother, Joy. It was great watching the two of them resting, playing and feeding together. Now at three months of age, it appeared the bonding had taken place and it was obvious why Joy had been chosen.

Joy on the left and the darker #572 on the right

We then headed to the second floor and wandered through the mystical exhibit of the Jellies. The softly playing background music was a beautiful accompanyment to the graceful movement of the Jelly Fish as they extended their pulsating bodies with gently waving tentacles. Their beauty belies the sting these Jelly Fish can inflick in an effort to paralyze prey. The unfortunate swimmer that makes contact with the sting of a Jelly Fish can atest to how painful they can be to humans.

During our first visit, we watched the feeding show in the auditorium where a Great White Shark, Hammerhead Sharks, the amazingly large Mahi- Mahi, Tuna and a myriad of other smaller fish put on quite a show.

Great White Shark

Mahi-Mahi

Photography was a bit difficult due to the crowds during the show. This short video from quite a distance away on the balcony shows the level of excitement and action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wCA5ZLmdI

'The Secret Lives of Seahorses' continues to be my favorite exhibit at the Aquarium. From the Pygmy Seahorse measuring less than an inch in size, to the extravagent draping appendages of the Sea Dragon, they elude a magic capable of mesmerizing the soul

This Seahorse is easily disguised amongst the colorful coral

Pot Bellied Seahorses

Seahorses are unique in the fact that males, not females, become pregnant and give birth . The female transfers the eggs to the male who fertilizes, then nurtures the developing embryos until birth. Male Seahorses carry the young in a protective pouch. Sea Dragons carry the young on the underside of their tails.

My favorite of the group is the Leafy Sea Dragon. The billowing appendages of green help disguise them among the seaweeds and seagrasses on their native reefs. The Sea Dragon is quite large compared
to the Seahorse, measuring up to 18 inches long.

Another favorite is the Weedy Seadragon who also uses their unusual appendages and shape to disguise themselves in their environment of grassy reefs.

The touch pools in the Aquarium offer an awesome opportunity to not only observe some of the sea life up close but also touch some of the various species on display. Volunteers are on hand to answer questions and offer additional information on these specimens of life from the ocean.

The long Sea Cucumber is deceivingly soft to the touch

Known as a 'Mermaid's Purse', this is the egg casing of a Swell Shark that was hactched at the Aquarium. The tendrils on either end of this 6" egg casing wrap themselves around sea weed or kelp where it floats freely until hatching. The baby Swell Shark was being tended in a small aquarium.

Baby Swell Shark

This completes the first part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Blog. I'll be continuing on with a second part that visits the Kelp Forest, Monterey Bay Habitats and the Splash Zone. The third part will extend beyond the Aquarium to the ocean with some iconic shots of the 17 Mile Drive. Stay tuned!