 |
|
"gimme the microphone first, so i can bust like a bubble.
compton and long beach together, now you know you in trouble.
ain't nuttin but an
aquarium of the pacific
thang, baaaaabay!"
|
|
 |
| long beach is one of those
places that everyone's heard of due solely to the existence of the numerous
musical masterpieces in the collected works of snoop doggy dogg. |
|
 |
| a little known fact, however, is that
there is also an amazing aquarium here!
|
|
 |
| subatomic particles have lifetimes
longer than these poor brine shrimp. lunchtime! crrrrrruuunnch! |
|
 |
| these big glowing heads weren't exactly
what i was trying to capture here. |
|
 |
| yeah, sardines! you might
remember
them from my trip to san diego two years ago. npaci events can sure put a person to sleep. the wine and
pizza makes it slightly more tolerable. :D
|
|
 |
| bzzzzt! and now you've just
had 40 mg of venom injected into you, thereby temporarily paralyzing
the muscles in your hand while this anemone attempts to eat you. fun! |
|
|
 |
| another cute picture of sandy.
|
|
 |
| *sigh* it's always disappointing
when these animals are captured then placed in settings which aren't
even remotely representative of their natural habitat. now what i'd
really like to see is same animal,
different setting. heh... :D
|
|
 |
| i've got a
thing
for photographing these rays of sunlight. will someone please send me
to a real photography class and buy me a real camera!? this is
getting a bit out of hand.
|
|
 |
| i once ate a bunch of crustaceans
that looked like this. we peeled them off the rocks, cooked them with a bic lighter,
and slurped them out of their little shells. mmmmm! same thing in a stuffy french restaurant:
$29.95 plus tax.
|
|
 |
| this species of shark must be incredibly
easy to capture because i've seen them in virtually every single aquarium i have
ever visited, and that includes random ones in shopping malls in singapore.
time to extinction: soon.
|
|
 |
| yes, i realize sharks date back even
further than this but to read this then see the actual bat ray in the aquarium --
quite amazing! that's over 1,000,000 years ago. |
|
 |
| whenver i see a turtle these
days, i think of two things. firstly, disease, because we all know that
all turtles carry horrible diseases. and secondly,
fred wong! :D that also goes
for tigers, monkeys, fish cheeks, ...
|
|
 |
| residents of the fine city
of "long beet"! |
|
 |
| the natural waves don't make up for the
five sheets of glass. fish know the difference -- or do they? they look bored. |
|
 |
| wooooo, just like back when i wasn't
being fed tetra min marine flakes all day! :D |
|
 |
| bunch o' random invertebrates
dumped from a bucket into a heap in this stuffy aquarium. damn you
marine biologist student interns!
|
|
 |
| these spider crabs alone make the visit
to this aquarium well worth it. they are enormous! |
|
 |
| for scale. |
|
 |
| adults can achieve up to a
twelve foot claw span! this is simply ridiculous! who needs the
giant squid
when you have spider crabs? :D |
|
 |
| unbelievable. |
|
 |
| once again, my camera does not
do this aquarium justice. i could look at these coral for hours. |
|
 |
| more of that. |
|
 |
| i love coral! |
|
 |
| obligatory lionfish photo. it
extends its spines only when challenged and apparently this little lionfish
didn't (initially) feel challenged by me, despite my
berkeley cs phd (ho ho ho...).
my response? TAP TAP TAP!!
|
|
 |
| sandy, learning about pollution and
its adverse effects on coral reefs, which have taken centuries to form.
|
|
 |
| i lost my info sheet. an unidentified fish. |
|
 |
| sandy in front of yet another
aquarium. |
|
 |
| and now in the aquarium tunnel. |
|
 |
| more fish, more coral, more
water. |
|
 |
| repeat. |
|
 |
| yellow tangs; that's too easy. |
|
 |
| i should probably forward this
photo to fred, then send him
a link to www.ecoworld.com (a fine
web site btw :D)
|
|
 |
| the second reason to definitely
visit this aquarium: the dragonfish! |
|
 |
| natural selection at its finest!
a cross between a seahorse, a clump of seaweed, and puff the magic dragon.
hm, ok, maybe not puff the magic dragon. |
|
 |
| amazing. |
|
 |
| what better way to cap off
a day of celebrating the myriad creatures of the sea than by marinating
them, grilling them, and washing them all down with nice carafe of the
yard house's house red? :D |
|
 |
| the food here is outstanding. they've
won virtually every possible award despite only average
zagat ratings.
|
|
 |
| over 180 beers on tap from all over
the world. |
|
 |
| sandy, stirring her iced tea and
thinking about our next aquarium trip. |
|
 |
| blurry, but i'm
still salivating. mmmm.... :D |
|
|
|
index
|
|
