Great Whites, Whales, Jellies and Seahorses!
16 July 2012 | Monterey, CA
JoLe & KC Wilson
No, we didn't see great white sharks and whales today as our 'Subject' line might have implied, but we did attend a presentation about how the Monterey Bay Aquarium is tracking them and how they have been catching and bringing a youngster into the aquarium for up to about 6 months. Unfortunately they aren't usually able to catch one until sometime in August so we didn't get to see one. As for the 'whales' in the Subject line, the whales we saw yesterday coming across Monterey Bay were Blue Whales. They act totally different than the Humpback Whales we are used to seeing in Alaska.
Jellies, as the aquarium calls them, NOT Jellyfish, as they aren't fish but animals, are totally intriguing! We currently have Sea Nettle Jellies in droves underneath the boat. The Jellies we saw that we mentioned in our previous sail mail/blog we believe were Moon Jellies and what we saw is called a "bloom", a whole bunch together due to food being available in that area. There are so many types it is amazing! Tiny little ones as small or smaller than your little fingernail, some as large as refrigerators, all different colors and even some that give off light! Awesome.
Seahorses. Oh, my gosh! We weren't going to go to this area of the aquarium originally but figured we should see everything so off we went. It was amazing to see these little guys. Again, all different shapes, sizes, ways to camouflage themselves. The dad carries the babies in a pouch in front and births them.
All in all the aquarium was a hit!