Monday, June 2, 2008

Sea Kayaking, Sea Otters and the Aquarium

I was off on vacation last week doing my own "bridge" between Memorial Day and my sister's wedding. She got married in along the coast in a lovely town called Monterey. My *almost* sister Arlene and I came down a little early to have a day before all the wedding madness started. We had been talking about going sea kayaking for a couple of years now and finally got to go out and do it! This is her looking quite the pro. This is me. I wouldn't pass her my camera so she could take my photo. As I was the wedding photographer the next day, it would be slightly disasterous should my camera go kerplunk in the ocean. I finally got brave enough to take it out of the dry bag and take a few shots. I missed a photo of the most ridiculous harbor seal posing for us on a rock. With his flippers and head up and little rotund body and comical expression, he looked like a big happy smile! Here are some photos of sea otters. They were almost hunted to extinction for their beautiful fur.
What, you can't see them? They're dead center of the photo wrapped in kelp. Three little heads. And, I'd like you to know that contrary to the look of the photo, the sea was not as calm as it appears. Wind and a few boat wakes makes taking shots on the sea a bit of a challenge. I tried to post all of the lopsided photos but I guess I have a limit of how many photos I can upload per post.Can you sea them now? They're at the top of the photo, floating on their backs. Hmm, well, I could only get within 50 feet of them and not disobey the marine mammal protection act... According to our guide, they have no natural predators a nd not very tasty being all skin and bones. You might guess that it would be tough to hunt them without getting tangled in all that giant kelp. Okay, you can't really get an idea of how cute they really are unless you see them a little closer. Here is a photo showing one of the little guys in the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
They are very curious and playful. And, especially interested in "people" aka little kids closer to their own size. Here they are on top of the water after being fed. I can almost hear them say, "What a racket!" Free food, chew toys and constant entertainment of those foolish humans!

2 comments:

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

So fun!!!!! I love acquariums and sea creatures (behind glass) ;)

Homebody at Heart said...

Hi Michele!

I love aquariums, too and the Monterey Bay Aquarium is very, lovely although my sentimental favorite is the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. If you can't go below, seeing them behind glass is pretty good, but I'm a certified scuba diver (it's all Jacques Cousteau's fault!) and it isn't as scary as you would think unless your dive boat leaves without you!