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dyskodyke December 8 2008, 19:23:56 UTC
I love all the pictures! OMG! I miss the ocean so much. And tide pools! And the aquarium. The embryonic and baby rays are AMAZING. (I am really obsessed with sharks and rays.) Most rays are pretty gentle and will only sting if threatened/frightened, but still, I've never seen a non-touch tank that was open so that you COULD stick yr hand in if you wanted. Is that the aquarium with the huge outdoor touch tank that has sharks in it and stuff? I remember seeing something like that on TV (and I'm pretty sure it was in CA) and I so want to go.

I'm sorry, marine life makes me all silly and rambly.

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hooveraardvark December 8 2008, 19:27:20 UTC
yay, another ocean lover! i grew up right by the washington coast, and i miss it a great deal. i used to be 20 minutes from the beach!

the tank was open because it had an island in the middle with birds? it also had a fairly prominent sign that said "don't touch". i dunno. it wasn't the giant shark tank (thank god).

you should totally go to the monterey bay aquarium if you get a chance. it was expensive ($25 admission) but totally worth the money. i love the baltimore national aquarium, but this one was better.

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dyskodyke December 8 2008, 19:36:51 UTC
Yeah, I grew up about an hour away from Cape Cod, and we used to go every summer. I could srsly spend forever walking the beach.

I haven't been to an aquarium in so long, so I'm thinking about forking over the $20 to do the New England Aquarium in Boston when I go visit my folks for Christmas. Last time I was there, their touch tank was pretty lame (it was just like starfish and maybe some hermit crabs?) but the rest is cool.

Monterey Bay is now on my list! I also want to do that aquarium in Georgia that has a WHALE SHARK. And they might be the one that has the tank of baby zebra sharks, too? I dunno. Of course my ultimate fantasy is to swim with whale and zebra sharks, but I think the only place I could swim with BOTH (and also giant manta rays) is Australia, so that might be awhile. I've gone swimming with southern stingrays and it was soooooooo awesome.

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hooveraardvark December 8 2008, 19:44:10 UTC
we couldn't get near most of the touch tanks (too many kids) but i did get to hold one of those spiky crabs.

wait, WHALE SHARK?? TELL ME ABOUT THIS.

the baltimore one has those polka dotted rays, which i love. and dolphins. i've been to the shedd aquarium in chicago - i remember someone telling me that they sometimes have dances there (????), like frat party dances??? and the guys always get drunk and then try to dump alcohol in the dolphin tank/get in the tank to swim with the dolphins. i cannot quite believe this story is true, but human nature being what it is . . .

i'd love to go to australia, but the flight time scares me (long flights make me physically ill by aggravating my lupus/fibro). it would probably be worth it though!

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franzeska December 8 2008, 20:50:28 UTC
Well, if you ever make it to Japan, Osaka is crap for traditional culture, but it has one of the world's most freakin' awesome aquariums. Also, kids there are better behaved, so you can actually get around the four billion of them that are always infesting the place.

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hooveraardvark December 8 2008, 21:13:32 UTC
where DO you go for traditional culture then?

kids are better behaved almost anywhere compared to the US.

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franzeska December 8 2008, 21:19:49 UTC
Kyoto and Nara. Duh! ;-D

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hooveraardvark December 8 2008, 21:22:28 UTC
the chances that i will ever go to japan decrease daily, but i thank you for the information.

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franzeska December 8 2008, 21:53:07 UTC
I would be happy to bore you some time with so many travel photos that you will never even want to go. :-D (There's nothing like a parents' friend slide show to make me never want to travel again!)

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hooveraardvark December 8 2008, 21:59:35 UTC
that is the old cure, isn't it? "wait, i'm sure i have those specific photos somewhere - let me look in this folder - why don't you look through all 300 while we're here?"

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I will srsly talk about sharks alllllllll day if you let me dyskodyke December 8 2008, 21:52:30 UTC
Tell you about whale sharks or the aquarium that houses them?

Whale sharks are the GREATEST SHARKS EVER. Like whales, they are huge and gentle and plankton-eating, but they are, in fact, sharks. They are spotted and beautiful and divers swim with them in the wild all the time, which is MY DREAM.

The Georgia Aquarium is apparently the only aquarium outside of Asia to house whale sharks. Also, I think I remember reading some article awhile back that they have this program where they let elderly ppl swim in the tank with the whale sharks, or something ( ... )

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dyskodyke December 8 2008, 21:54:57 UTC
Also, I am an evil bitch, but I will totally shove kids out of the way when it comes to petting animals. MIIIIIIIINE.

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"live every week like it's shark week" hooveraardvark December 8 2008, 22:01:54 UTC
wow, i don't know how i didn't know about whale sharks. possibly because they are sharks and not whales.

there were a bunch of hammerhead sharks at this aquarium but sadly i got no photos. i love their misshapen heads.

i thought about the shoving, but the children + parents outnumbered us.

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