Monterey Bay Aquarium

Wednesday, I was awake by 6:30, so showered and went along with Larry to the exhibit hall for the complementary continental style breakfast . . . fresh fruit and various breads and pastries, coffee and juice. The exhibit hall is one of the ball rooms and there are at least two aisles lined with booths. Several are familiar suppliers of ET products. This years meeting was held with the Society for Theriogenology so there were other exhibitors as well.

Midmorning the four of us who mostly hang together headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Actually Larry and another veterinarian joined us, also. (The annual AETA golf tournament was planned for the same time, but Larry seldom joins that event. This year the tournament was held at Del Monte Golf Course, which borders the hotel grounds.)

The aquarium is in the area of Cannery Row, just a few miles from our hotel. We arrived at 10:30, just when the Sea Otters were to be fed, so we made our way to that area. Of course there was a big crowd already assembled, so we didn't get very close while the actual narrated event was happening. Still we watched the otters for a few minutes as they played in the water on the other side of the glass. The otter exhibit is new and features freshwater otters from Africa and Asia along with other aquatic creatures which share their habitat.


Leaving the otters, we decided to split, the men went one way and we went another. We saw lots of colorful creatures. The exhibits were arranged by location in relation to the ocean. "Ocean's Edge" shows the creatures of the coastal habitats. There is a tide pool, a three-story kelp forest, a walk-through wave crash tunnel, and an old wharf on the other side of the glass with crustaceans and starfish, and the beautiful creatures that cling to the surfaces of wood and stone. There are penguins and touch pools with sea stars, decorator crabs and bat rays . . . sea cucumbers, anemones and kelp. We saw shimmering schools of sardines. It was fascinating to watch them swim, weaving this way and that in perfect synchrony, looking almost as a single entity.





The "Outer Bay" area includes a million gallon tank of large deep sea critters . . . sea turtles, tuna, shark and barracuda. There was a large display of exquisite jellies, drifting and pulsing through the water.


There was also an exhibit area devoted to the history of cannery row, "Hovden Cannery". There was actual equipment on display, and large panels with black and white photos showing the workers, telling the stories of the long hours and tough conditions under which these folks worked in the development of mass production of canned sardines.

I was most impressed with the care given to educational features. There were many volunteers, especially at the touch pools, not only to protect, but also able to tell about all the creatures. Nearly every window of every display had a recorded feature. There were a lot of hands on opportunities. The brochure lists their mission: to inspire conservation of the oceans. They've done a great job. There was a small display where folks were given opportunity to write to the governor on issues of conservation, there was a "cafe" in which the chef gave information about endangered food fish . . . along with a little trifold card that listed menu items to enjoy and those to avoid, in the interests of conservation.

Oh, and of course there were the requisite gift shops, which we actually avoided altogether. At about 1:00, we left the aquarium with lunch as our goal. Larry and Dr. Carmichael had caught a cab and headed back to the hotel for the afternoon events scheduled there.