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 Monterey Bay Aquarium

For my final weekend, I went to Monterey Bay which is roughly 2 hours south of San Jose. There, I visited the Aquarium, which is located in the largest marine park in west USA. The Aquarium is incredible, housing a million-gallon indoor ocean, viewed through the largest window on Earth, a towering 3-story kelp forest, sea otters, jellies, sharks and seahorses.

Monterey Bay city resembles a fishing town. They have lots of canneries (factories that can fishes). Lots of sea food too. I didn't have time to go around the city but was only able to visit the aquarium. This time, my mates are Miguel from Spain and Edual from Turkey.

Please note: Pictures taken inside the Aquarium maybe a bit blurry due to low light environment and inability to use flash.

 

First photo, me and the Bay. It was a very nice day to be out! From my vantage point, I can actually see sea lions. No pics due to the absence of high powered zoom lens.
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Squid...need I explain more? Lots of time to see squids, octopus and nautisces
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Octopus and rock. Spot the difference. There was a huge octopus in another aquarium. It was roughly the size of a dog. Huge...

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Jaws.....very huge jaws. Its called a Lingcod. What it is? I dunno;P
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Fish and coral. I never seen so many different kinds of corals and fishes before. One point of interest in the exhibits is the viewing domes. Instead of just a flat panel of glass, most of the viewing domes are spherical. This way you get a fisheye view (photographers should understand)
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Squirms of starfishes. Lots and lots of it. Anyone want to put their hand inside?
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They are called 'Sand Dollar' clams. You will find many of this washed up onto the shore. They really look like coins.
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Info on the Sand Dollar clam. 'Dendraster excentricus'
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Some clams and some seaweed. Really look like a garden. If it was not for the water in the tank, it looks like a farm. I never thought seaweed can be so green.
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The touch gallery. Here you can touch the manta rays when it swims by. Somehow only kids love to touch them. Adults seem to be afraid to touch the monster of the deep (Me included:P)
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Avarium. This birds are very tame. I could actually touch them but I was not allowed too. Very nice concept.
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Cute bird that wandered to within 10 cm of my camera. So very tempted to touch it. Grrrrrrr...
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Have you ever thought that corals can be so colourful? Green, yellow, purple, blue, black , red, all sorts of colours. Incredible
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The kelp forest. A picture cannot describe how impressive it is. Well, a picture is all I have. :)
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More fishes and coral. This one will look familiar to many people.
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Murray eel. Very nice and huge eel. This eel can be a delicacy like with any other eels.
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Dragons......real dragons. They are called Green Sea Dragons. Looks like seahorses. Have a very good camouflage. Looks like leaves:)
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Penguins... More for the kids than for exhibition. With the presence of penguins, you can sell lots of penguin dolls and merchandize.:D
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Jellies, jellies and more jellies.
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3 seahorses. Did you know that the males of seahorses are the only animal in the world that get pregnant? The female will transfer the eggs to the male's pouch. There, the male will care and keep them till they are born.
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Sea horses everywhere. See if you can count all of them. If you look closely, you can find a pregnant male.
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Last pic. For those who like wine:)
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