I’m glad to report that I spent this weekend relaxing and enjoying some free time. Yesterday I took myself to the Vancouver Aquarium for a few hours.
At first I was a little apprehensive about going by myself, but I was quick to realize it was probably for the best. You see, I’m not that interested in the animals that most people are there to see. I can’t stand to watch captive seals or dolphins (however, I give the Vancouver Aquarium credit because all their marine mammals are rescued animals that couldn’t be released). What I really love are the invertebrates, and I think I might have annoyed someone by spending 15 minutes looking at the jellyfish.
Here is a small sample of the pictures I took:
A couple of sea anemones and two starfish are in the center of this photo. All of the light blue and red tuffs you see along the bottom of the tank are also younger anemones.
I’ve unfortunately lost the names for these two fish. I think the black fish is some type of rockfish. Both are native to the Pacific Ocean here in British Columbia.
A few starfish in the foreground and a stem of swaying kelp in the background.
This little guy is a roughskin newt. They are semi-aquatic and need to come up and get a breath of air occasionally.
A closeup of some frilled sea anenomes. Aren’t they gorgeous? Can you believe that this isn’t a plant, but a predatory animal? Those little “hairs” you see are filled with nerves and will actually release a toxic sting when touched. Using this sting they catch and eat small invertebrates and larvae.
And I’ve saved my favorite photos for last: the jellyfish. I was actually stung as a teenager by a jellyfish – and I still have the scar – but that hasn’t changed my opinion of these animals. I don’t know about you guys, but watching jellyfish gives me a sense of awe.
Japanese sea nettles
Lion’s mane jellyfish
Fried egg jellyfish
Fried egg jellyfish
I also spent a fair bit of time trying to get a picture of some sea gooseberries that were in a small tank. Unfortunately, they’re tiny and move so quickly that the macro setting on my camera couldn’t do them justice without a tripod.
Sea gooseberries are a type of comb jellyfish, and move using the cilia (little hairs) on their body. Light gets refracted off of the moving cilia, which creates the most beautiful rainbow colors as they move about. In the picture above, you can see the two tentacles that drift through the water and catch prey.
If you’re interested in seeing how comb jellyfish refract light, this is a great video from the Vancouver Aquarium’s Youtube channel. I wouldn’t hesitate to say these animals are awe-inspiring.
Well, that’s all I have to share for today. I hope I haven’t overloaded anyone with photos or information! I just get so excited about these things because it’s what I love and studied during my undergrad. It’s a great feeling to get back in touch with these things.
Nice blog here! Also your website loads up fast!
What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as
yours lol
Amazing! This blog looks exactly like my old one!
It’s on a totally different subject but it has
pretty much the same page layout and design. Superb choice of colors!
Everything is very open with a really clear description of the challenges.
It was definitely informative. Your website
is very useful. Thanks for sharing!
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s
new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be
book-marking and checking back frequently!
Currently it seems like WordPress is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using
on your blog?
Superb website you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any forums that cover the same topics discussed in this article?
I’d really like to be a part of group where I can get advice from other knowledgeable
people that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me
know. Cheers!
I think that everything posted was very logical. But, what about this?
suppose you wrote a catchier title? I am not suggesting
your content is not solid, but what if you added a headline to maybe get folk’s attention? I mean Vancouver Aquarium – Nature is Love is
a little plain. You ought to peek at Yahoo’s home page
and watch how they create news headlines to get viewers to open the links.
You might add a related video or a picture or two to grab people interested about
everything’ve written. Just my opinion, it might make your posts a little livelier.
Hi my family member! I wish to say that this post is amazing, nice written and come with almost all important infos.
I’d like to peer extra posts like this .
Great website you have here but I was curious about if you knew
of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics
talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part
of group where I can get responses from other knowledgeable individuals that share
the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let
me know. Bless you!
Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick
shout out and say I truly enjoy reading through your
articles. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same subjects?
of course like your web-site however you need to
check the spelling on several of your posts.
Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very bothersome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come again again.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the
same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Thanks a lot!
Nice blog here! Also your website loads up fast!
What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as
yours lol
I know this web page gives quality depending posts and additional information, is there any
other web site which provides such information in quality?
Hi to all, the contents existing at this site are genuinely
remarkable for people experience, well, keep up the nice work fellows.
Amazing! This blog looks exactly like my old one!
It’s on a totally different subject but it has
pretty much the same page layout and design. Superb choice of colors!
Great delivery. Outstanding arguments. Keep up the amazing effort.
Everything is very open with a really clear description of the challenges.
It was definitely informative. Your website
is very useful. Thanks for sharing!
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s
new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be
book-marking and checking back frequently!
Currently it seems like WordPress is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using
on your blog?
You need to be a part of a contest for one of the
greatest websites online. I most certainly will
recommend this web site!
Superb website you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any forums that cover the same topics discussed in this article?
I’d really like to be a part of group where I can get advice from other knowledgeable
people that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me
know. Cheers!
Hi, after reading this amazing piece of writing i am as well happy to share my know-how here with
friends.
I think that everything posted was very logical. But, what about this?
suppose you wrote a catchier title? I am not suggesting
your content is not solid, but what if you added a headline to maybe get folk’s attention? I mean Vancouver Aquarium – Nature is Love is
a little plain. You ought to peek at Yahoo’s home page
and watch how they create news headlines to get viewers to open the links.
You might add a related video or a picture or two to grab people interested about
everything’ve written. Just my opinion, it might make your posts a little livelier.
Can you tell us more about this? I’d want to find out some additional information.
Hi it’s me, I am also visiting this site on a regular basis, this web site is really fastidious and the visitors are truly sharing good thoughts.
I am sure this piece of writing has touched all the internet visitors, its really
really good article on building up new weblog.
Hi my family member! I wish to say that this post is amazing, nice written and come with almost all important infos.
I’d like to peer extra posts like this .
Great website you have here but I was curious about if you knew
of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics
talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part
of group where I can get responses from other knowledgeable individuals that share
the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let
me know. Bless you!
Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick
shout out and say I truly enjoy reading through your
articles. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same subjects?
Thanks!
of course like your web-site however you need to
check the spelling on several of your posts.
Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very bothersome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come again again.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the
same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Thanks a lot!