Monterey Bay Aquarium - Jellies!

[Tyler]

After my accident, I spent some time at St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise. Jana was one of my nurses there and is now one of my dear friends. She and her two boys, Kyle and Gavin, were in CA on their spring break vacation. I took the day off and joined them in Monterey to visit the Aquarium there. It's been several years since I've been and they have a few new exhibits but the jellies continue to be my favorite thing to watch... graceful, peaceful, and beautiful... could watch them for hours... behind the glass of course!

All the pics are here if anyone is interested but here are a few of my favorites...

Grumpy Cat's distant cousin, Grumpy Fish...

Puffin nap time...

If they could talk, I'd imagine they would have a British accent... "I say, old chap..."

It was a beautiful day on the bay...

 

[Tyler]

Sardines in the kelp forest...

Tiger shark...

Tide pool mirror image (the top is a reflection of the bottom)...

I seeeeeeeee you...

You could stand under a glass dome and be washed over by a wave....

They also had a fantastic seahorse exhibit... these guys moved too fast for me but they looked like little prehistoric dragons or something...

PG-13 shot... did you know that the male seahorse is the one that gets pregnant and raises the kids?? I'm coming back as a female seahorse next time!!

Underwater splendor...

Sea urchins attached themselves to the glass...

We all wanted one of these jelly lamps in our houses!

We spent about 3-1/2 hours there and by 1 pm, the place was packed so we headed out for lunch... if you're local and haven't been for awhile, go see it! If you're not local, plan a trip and go see it!

Thanks for lookin'!!

FIN

 

[DennisJ]

My must go destination when I get back to the Peninsula. Grew up in Carmel and left after High School, frequently visited my sister there while I lived in Chatsworth (San Fernando Valley, LA) but have only been back once since 2002 when I moved back to Seattle. I like the herring display as well as the small jellyfish exhibit and keep thinking this might be a good summer to venture down that way on the FJR.

 

[FJRBluesman]

Awesome Tyler! Thanks for sharing!

Very pretty up there. That's one thing I'd like to do is kayak up there.

 

[Tyler]

My must go destination when I get back to the Peninsula. Grew up in Carmel and left after High School, frequently visited my sister there while I lived in Chatsworth (San Fernando Valley, LA) but have only been back once since 2002 when I moved back to Seattle. I like the herring display as well as the small jellyfish exhibit and keep thinking this might be a good summer to venture down that way on the FJR.

Lots to see, do, and ride down here... let us know when you come down and I'm sure you'll find some kindred spirits to share a few (s)miles with! B)

Awesome Tyler! Thanks for sharing!
Very pretty up there. That's one thing I'd like to do is kayak up there.

There's a kayak rental place that's easy to get to... I did that on my 40th birthday (just last week.. LOL) with my daughter... we were being tailed by a baby otter and had to gently nudge him away with the paddle when he tried to climb on board!! lol

 

[ionbeam]

Nice pixs! I'm sure we have duplicates from our trip we must have taken 103 pictures. We were fortunate enough to have otters floating in the kelp on that day too. If you go by motorcycle, there are inexpensive lockers outside the entrance door that swallow up all the MC gear and helmets making it a much more enjoyable experience. If anyone has at least half a day to spend it is a wonderful place to see amazing things. (I was ready to put more than a few unruly, uncontrolled kids in the shark tank.)

Here's lookin' at you

Can you find the sea dragon in this picture?

 

[Panman]

The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma has a cool display also.

The jellys may be cool to look at but let one wrap around your leg while your water skiing and you will be begging for good drugs at the emergency room!

Good shooting as usual Tyler.

 

[Tyler]

Nice pixs! I'm sure we have duplicates from our trip we must have taken 103 pictures. We were fortunate enough to have otters floating in the kelp on that day too. If you go by motorcycle, there are inexpensive lockers outside the entrance door that swallow up all the MC gear and helmets making it a much more enjoyable experience. If anyone has at least half a day to spend it is a wonderful place to see amazing things. (I was ready to put more than a few unruly, uncontrolled kids in the shark tank.)

Yeah, it's easy to take tons of photos... I deleted probably about half of mine and still had a ton!! :lol: The crowds were getting a little unruly in general after about noon... unfortunately, the great white they had there for awhile has been released so no shark food... but I can dream.

The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma has a cool display also.The jellys may be cool to look at but let one wrap around your leg while your water skiing and you will be begging for good drugs at the emergency room!

Good shooting as usual Tyler.

Maybe I'll have to check that one out sometime! And no up close and personal jelly experiences for me, tyvm... I've had enough good drugs to last a lifetime!! :lol:

 

[Mihalis fjr]

Wonderful pictures Tyler!

Thanks!

 

[Tyler]

Yours are pretty nice too!! I love the contrast of colors that they use for the tanks... really makes the jellies pop! Your sardine shot is what I was going for but I was about 10 people deep behind the tank as it was feeding time and there were tons of unruly kids AND adults... personal space, people!!!

Nice pixs! I'm sure we have duplicates from our trip we must have taken 103 pictures. We were fortunate enough to have otters floating in the kelp on that day too. If you go by motorcycle, there are inexpensive lockers outside the entrance door that swallow up all the MC gear and helmets making it a much more enjoyable experience. If anyone has at least half a day to spend it is a wonderful place to see amazing things. (I was ready to put more than a few unruly, uncontrolled kids in the shark tank.)

Can you find the sea dragon in this picture?

Yeah but only cause I just saw them two days ago!!

 

[rickysnickers]

That is an awesome place!!! I've been there a few times and it never gets old. I could sit all day, outside, and watch the sea otters. I love those little guys!!

Rick

 

[Graham Downunder]

We were there before Christmas ( along way from Australia ) I wanted to stop and spend some time to look around ,the kids did not so we drove further around and enjoyed the ocean view etc . It was a perfect day and reminded us of home so much .Well its on the "to do again list ",just like Disneyworld in Florida ( after 7 times there I still go back ,you know just for the kids of course ) .