I realized at New Years that I had a bunch of blog posts I started and never finished. I think it is because I am frustrated at not having moved yet but why pout. I have a few adventures to share :-)
This is from a late summer trip.
As far as road trips go this was a short one at only 2.5 hours. We left the house early so that we would get to the Aquarium around 10:30-11. The drive was easy since it was basically take 95 north and two left turns. We entered and came to the Beluga whale enclosure first. At that time though the whales were eating so we decided to continue to the other exhibits and return to the whales.
The first stop was my personal favorite: Penguins, African Penguins to be specific. And these little fellows did not disappoint.
Now little known fact not only are these penguins adorable but they are also artists. The trainers apply a non-toxic paint to the feet of the penguins and allow them to wander on canvas leaving behind adorable little foot prints. They use several different paint combinations for the paintings to layer foot prints. Each one is obviously unique because the birds are just wandering at their own will.
And the artist at work. :-)
The prints are framed and available for sale on the website or at the aquarium for $199.00.
Right now I am planning where I would put one in my house. Once I am settled I will certainly get one. $199 sounds like a lot for a 16x20 but the uniqueness and fact that it goes to conservation efforts I think makes it worth the price.
If anyone sees this and is interested here is a link to the website with more information about the paintings and the aquarium's many conservation programs. http://www.mysticaquarium.org/visit/penguin-paintings
From there we went past some seals and sea lions and a special exhibit of adorable little birds who tried to climb into the pocket of my cargo shorts. Then we reached the fish area which I usually went through very quickly when I was younger at the Coney Island Aquarium but this time we took our time and looked around. I think the fact that this was a smaller Aquarium allowed us to be more relaxed since it wasn't so overwhelming about having to see everything. Anyway, we saw the amazing jelly fish in all kinds of brilliant colors. They are very peaceful to watch swimming around.
Then we moved on to a tank that had perhaps the cutest little fish I have ever seen. It is called a Scooter Benny or synchiropus ocellatus. I mean his face when he floated up and looked straight at us was adorable.
We stayed a while at the sea horses, another underwater creature I could watch for hours. I mean watching them makes me really think it would be worth all the expense and work to have a salt water tank. Then I could always just look over and watch them, from the way they flap their tiny little fins to the way they wrap their tails around the sea grass to hold themselves steady. Just watching them makes me smile.
Actually the way they flap their fins makes me think of them as the Hummingbird of the sea. It's so fast and adorable.
Then we moved on to the Beluga whale tank. They had three different viewing areas of the tank and we settled in the middle area. Juno the whale was in full form, he swam back and forth between the three areas. Juno was definitely in a playful mood. My first video of him shows him swimming by the middle section to the right. You will see his body jerk at the end because he scared some little kids. He really is pretty funny and definitely took a few passes first to find his favorite audience.
He put on a nice show of his skills as he flipped and swam upside down past the crowd. I had been there for a while and he had scanned several times so I appreciated his nice little show. I really do think he looks for cameras and children.
The first stop was my personal favorite: Penguins, African Penguins to be specific. And these little fellows did not disappoint.
Now little known fact not only are these penguins adorable but they are also artists. The trainers apply a non-toxic paint to the feet of the penguins and allow them to wander on canvas leaving behind adorable little foot prints. They use several different paint combinations for the paintings to layer foot prints. Each one is obviously unique because the birds are just wandering at their own will.
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| Photos from MysticAquarium website. |
And the artist at work. :-)
The prints are framed and available for sale on the website or at the aquarium for $199.00.
Right now I am planning where I would put one in my house. Once I am settled I will certainly get one. $199 sounds like a lot for a 16x20 but the uniqueness and fact that it goes to conservation efforts I think makes it worth the price.
If anyone sees this and is interested here is a link to the website with more information about the paintings and the aquarium's many conservation programs. http://www.mysticaquarium.org/visit/penguin-paintings
From there we went past some seals and sea lions and a special exhibit of adorable little birds who tried to climb into the pocket of my cargo shorts. Then we reached the fish area which I usually went through very quickly when I was younger at the Coney Island Aquarium but this time we took our time and looked around. I think the fact that this was a smaller Aquarium allowed us to be more relaxed since it wasn't so overwhelming about having to see everything. Anyway, we saw the amazing jelly fish in all kinds of brilliant colors. They are very peaceful to watch swimming around.
Then we moved on to a tank that had perhaps the cutest little fish I have ever seen. It is called a Scooter Benny or synchiropus ocellatus. I mean his face when he floated up and looked straight at us was adorable.
We stayed a while at the sea horses, another underwater creature I could watch for hours. I mean watching them makes me really think it would be worth all the expense and work to have a salt water tank. Then I could always just look over and watch them, from the way they flap their tiny little fins to the way they wrap their tails around the sea grass to hold themselves steady. Just watching them makes me smile.
Actually the way they flap their fins makes me think of them as the Hummingbird of the sea. It's so fast and adorable.
Then we moved on to the Beluga whale tank. They had three different viewing areas of the tank and we settled in the middle area. Juno the whale was in full form, he swam back and forth between the three areas. Juno was definitely in a playful mood. My first video of him shows him swimming by the middle section to the right. You will see his body jerk at the end because he scared some little kids. He really is pretty funny and definitely took a few passes first to find his favorite audience.
Here is Juno after another few passes stopping to say hi to some kids to my right. Two thing are clear he is very smart and playful. I love the reaction of the kids and adults watching him. They really are amazing to watch.
He put on a nice show of his skills as he flipped and swam upside down past the crowd. I had been there for a while and he had scanned several times so I appreciated his nice little show. I really do think he looks for cameras and children.
