Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The Secret Life of Sea Horses

An un-finished version of this post has been sitting in one of my internet browser tabs for seven days... an entire week!!!! Sadly, this happens to me a lot. Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?!? I just made myself a cup of coffee and I'm not getting up until this post is finished!

Anyway, here are the rest of the photos from our day trip to Monterey! Before I show off the seahorses, here are a few from the rest of the aquarium... Which is pretty amazing and the best part about it is that they have these huge larger then life tanks!!! (that's me pointing to an incoming visitor)



. . .

Jellies, of course! No trip to any aquarium would be complete without the obligatory jelly photos.

jellies

jellies

jellies

. . .

This was a cool circular room with a tank that went around the ceiling. There was a school of fish that just kept swimming around and around. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower!



. . .

And just a few little snippets from some of my favorite colored tanks!



pier life

girliest tank!

. . .

And now we can get onto it. The Sea Horses!

This is me standing next to a giant plastic male seahorse statue giving birth to a little gilded baby sea horse (yea, seriously!) ... and I'd say its a pretty accurate representation of how stupidly excited about life I am to be at that exhibit!!!

sheer glee

I would seriously love to have that giant sea horse statue in my apartment, but maybe one that wasn't weirdly giving birth would be better?

. . .

Zebra Seahorse

That's a zebra seahorse.... Which by default I'm particularly fond of, because well my last name starts with a Z and somehow I just associate zebras with that and also zebras are awesome!

. . .

I don't remember this guy's particular species, but I'm really into the monochromatic thing going on here!



. . .

This tank was my favorite - there were so many of them! Dancing around and changing colors!!! But it was also the most crowded tank and it started to stress me out too much. Too many people just trying to push their way in and I got to pushed out to the back... People get nutty at aquariums, it's crazy!







. . .

A little bebe seahorse

bebe sea horse

. . .

And this last photo is my favorite I think, a lovely bunch of miniature sea horses!!!

mini seahorses

. . .


If you plan on visiting I'd say definitely stay clear of school vacation weeks. And plan your trip around low tide so you can snoop around in some of the tide pools along the road! (Don't be tempted by the flat rate parking options, park ocean side and it's free and you can explore!!) The aquarium closes at 6 and seems to empty out significantly after 5, so it's nice to have some of the tanks all to yourself! Oh, and added bonus - there's a Pendleton outlet in town too!

44 comments:

A said...

The last photo is my favourite, too, the little sea horses are extremely cute! Now you made me want to go to an aquarium!

Amanda said...

I love aquariums and those pictures are lovely!

My boyfriend, when he looks over my shoulder, makes fun of me for having so many tabs open, because I save web pages and ideas I come across and want to write about "some time." I usually don't book mark them and then my computer will shut itself down... sad. Teasey boyfriend has also promised me a trip to the Dallas aquarium - but is yet to deliver! He needs work.

theveryflowers said...

Lovely photographs! I was wondering if you would mind if my son used one or two for his giant report on seahorses. Mind you, it's for homeschool, and I must also mention that he is entirely self-directed, so this is quite the report! I'm sure he would love the ones you've taken!
<3 Jenny

Secondhand Stella said...

Aw, the seahorses are so cute! I need to check out the aquarium in Boston.

Meggy said...

Aw, I love your pictures! Chris and I go to the aquarium with my in-laws all the time (when they visit, anyway) because his sister is a zookeeper & manages the otters, and she's very fond of the sea otters at the Monterey Aquarium. I saw that sea horse exhibit when it opened this summer and it was a MADHOUSE.

xo
mw

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh! That last photo is adorable if I've ever seen it!

Alicia said...

Stunning photos! I love the jellyfish and the little underwater cityscapes.

daywalker said...

Beautiful pictures, I love seahorses - I have tears in my eyes, they are such amazing little creatures!

Panna Lola said...

I know it's strange but this pictures it's so romantic.I'm serious.

Lola

Kwil said...

Lovely photos! This makes me wish even more that I was not an inlander.

Huzzah! Vintage said...

such gorgeous photos!

last time I was there (16 years ago ~ yikes!), I was with one of those annoying school groups. I remember picking up what I thought was a dead starfish from the tide pools, posing for a photo (polaroid, of course) with it, and then abruptly dropping the poor sea creature when I realized it was alive!

reckless daughter said...

mini seahorses? how small can you get! These are so cute!

I would love to make a trip up there someday soon.

Tabitha said...

These are AMAZING pictures. So beautiful.

Christina said...

Your photos are gorgeous! I'm so sad I didn't make it to the exhibit. The small ones are super cute!

Unknown said...

The colors of the pictures are absolutely amazing.
I think the seahorse is my favorite.
:)

Morgan said...

I absolutely love aquariums! I am fascinated by marine life, and have always harbored a secret desire to become a marine biologist. Alas, my academic tendencies do not steer towards the science realm....c'est la vie!
http://myteatimeramblings.blogspot.com

Kellie said...

Ahhhh, sea horses!! :D I want to go to the aquarium so badly right now!

http://playingdressupwithkellie.blogspot.com/

Jen Hsieh said...

those jellyfish shots are gorgeous. and i have to say i agree, that last photo is my favorite too. makes me want to own a sea horse just so i can watch it swim around all day :)
oh! and your dress is so lovely.

Sara Bradshaw said...

AMAZING SHOTS! Thank you for sharing. Also you may wish to check out my 'Best 25 Blogs of 2009' here: http://www.cricketwife.com/2010/01/25-best-blogs-of-2009-part-1.html

The Cat and The Cow said...

Such amazing color in all these photos! I live a couple hours away from Monterey (in Fresno).

My family went there a couple years back and I felt like a kid. I was filled with so much enchantment!!!!

Emily Rose said...

dont worry about the procrastinating, i do it all the time and seeing you do it too makes me feel better about it. but let us both try and get better with that, i know its part of my new years resolution,

and by the way, im trying to start up my blog again, and i know that you had some trouble really doubling down and posting, so ya know where i am. its not much yet, but i hope ya can stop by and read sometimes.
-Emily

Melissa Righero said...

My husband and I went to see this exhibit. Very magical. I told him to take notes on the birth.

MMK said...

wow, these are amazing pictures!

i believe you had fun there. now i need to check if there is an aquarium like this in my country...

Love_Again said...

Oh My! Seahorses are so so beautiful. I have to get myself to the nearest aquarium stat.

Unknown said...

Wow you have fantastic photos! i love the last shot of the mini sea horses too!

Wishing you happiness this 2010!

-Stacey

Ann said...

That's just awesome! Your pics made me really want to go!

Gina said...

Have you been to the aquarium at the new Academy of Science in GGP? It's huge and fantastic! I bought my dad a membership last year...It's such a delight, but also crazily jam-packed on certain days.
Also--have you been scuba-diving? You would love it! I had to restrain myself from petting a little emerald-colored seahorse darling last time I ventured into the sea!

xoxo,
Gina

eef said...

Great photos! How did you get your photos so clear? I tried to take some at an aquarium and they didn't turn out well. =[

I really like your blog, so I've linked to you from mine. Hope you don't mind (but please tell me if you do).

subjunctive moods said...

great pix! i can't believe seahorses even exist in this world--they're like these miniature magical fairy-tale creatures. what a funny sea horse sculpture--i need to examine that more closely. ;) beautiful dress too.

Unknown said...

I love the pictures you chose to take! I really do think you need to have that giant sea horse!

When I was little I used to live in Monterey. I celebrated 2 Halloweens in the aquarium, and my dad took me there every day. If I could choose which time in your life you could relive, I think I would choose these two years!

here I am in the aquarium in a bunny suit :) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3444614091_fc35dd53ce.jpg

les métamorphoses d'Alice said...

toutes ces photos sont magnifiques!

blythe said...

these photos are stunning!

twila said...

I want one so bad now after this blog. I must visit this exhibit!

kate maggie said...

whimsical. you look great in your dress!!

Aya Smith said...

I do that all of the time! I get so many ideas and goals to work out, but spend most of my time doing things that render unproductive... ugh!

This is a beautiful post, I can't believe you captured such wonderful shots of all the seahores inside their tanks! :D

Megan said...

Sometimes I wonder if your secretly my twin sister and I never knew it! I've been blog stalking you for the past year and I finally have to say....I love your style!!

xoxo
Maggie

Unknown said...

wow the amoebas are so beautiful. magical little creatures floating through the water. very nice!

Jay said...

So so so so magical. Thank you for this splash of color and cheer!

kristin said...

our favorite place. we have a membership and it is so worth every penny.

Kerri said...

I've been wanting to make the trip up to Monterey for some time now (I live in So Cal), and this is making me want to go soo bad. The seahorses are all so adorable. Your pictures are really amazing too. :)

~Kerri

khdz said...

aw... adorable seahorses.
have you seen the ones that look like a bunch of kelp?
they are pretty cool...

Cheryl Cochran said...

The Monterey Bay aquarium is one of my favorite places ever.

The Waves said...

I am a little late commenting on this post, but thought to give you the heads up on a book by Helen Scales, it is called Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses. It is a great account on these vulnerable creatures and the myths that have surrounded them for centuries. Just thought that you might be interested. :)

Tanglewood Baked Goods said...

holy cow (holy seahorse?)! i didn't realize sea horses could be so adorable. and that dress too!

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