My dear friends,
Is going to Aquarium for kids only? Do adults
go to aquariums just for their children?
In my earlier blogs “Daud
the Indonesian Californian,” on September 2nd I mentioned that we went to Yosemite
with our guests from Holland, and on September 15th I wrote about our trip to Lake
Tahoe. I am happy with the nice comments from our friends about my Lake Tahoe
visit that inspired me to post a comparison with Lake Toba in Indonesia.
Again, is going to an Aquarium watching big fish
or small fish just for fun and let kids learn a little bit about the water world? Like taking
kids from the city to a farm to see and learn about horses, cows, goats or chicken?
We offered our guests to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium. We
know that it will not be just for entertainment, but more for learning and exploring
nature and creation of another world that we don’t see much in our daily life. After
our visit, we agreed that the entertainment side is just a small part. The
Aquarium broadened our knowledge and understanding of marine life. Through the
giant glass windows we saw how beautiful, colorful and interesting under water life is.
Just a few hours spending there is too short, and my photos
and video that I brought home and post it here, are just a small part of the exhibition. We had the same experience a few years
ago in Indonesia when we went to Dunia Fantasi Aquarium, Jakarta, Indonesia. Before
we absorbed enough of what is exhibited, time is up.
For many of you, maybe the photos and video here are nothing
new. But I think that it is always nice and interesting to watch marine life.
Why do people love aquarium in their living room? Why do people like aquarium
computer screen savers? Because it is so soothing and relaxing.
Here is the slideshow that I uploaded to You Tube with Angklung music background, the Indonesian bamboo music orchestra:
My dear friends,
We love the show of Seahorses. I saw the following explanation from the Monterey Bay Aquarium publication:
Something's Fishy about this Family
With
heads like horses, tails like monkeys and pouches like kangaroos, these
fascinating fishes are anything but ordinary.
We’ve got more than 15 species of
seahorses and their kin—one of the nation’s largest collections of these
charismatic animals.
Meander through four multimedia
galleries and discover how these shy and secretive animals grow up, attract
mates and give birth—this is the only family in the animal kingdom in which the
males get pregnant!
Learn how you can help save
seahorses and the vulnerable marine habitats they call home.
Seahorses, sea dragons, pipehorses
and pipefishes come in many shapes and sizes, but beneath the surface they’re
all fish, with fused jaws and bony plates in place of the scales normally
associated with fish.
Perhaps what most distinguishes seahorses from the rest of the animal kingdom is their unique life history—the males become pregnant and give birth. Seahorse fathers shelter their young in protective pouches, while sea dragon and pipefish fathers carry their young on spongy patches on the undersides of their tails.
No one knows how many seahorses actually exist. That’s because identifying seahorses is difficult. The smallest known species, discovered in 2008, is the half-inch-long Satomi’s pygmy seahorse; the largest species is the potbelly seahorse, which grows to about 14 inches long.
Perhaps what most distinguishes seahorses from the rest of the animal kingdom is their unique life history—the males become pregnant and give birth. Seahorse fathers shelter their young in protective pouches, while sea dragon and pipefish fathers carry their young on spongy patches on the undersides of their tails.
No one knows how many seahorses actually exist. That’s because identifying seahorses is difficult. The smallest known species, discovered in 2008, is the half-inch-long Satomi’s pygmy seahorse; the largest species is the potbelly seahorse, which grows to about 14 inches long.
Now watch my video and some still-photos of sea dragon and pipefish, what they call the Fishy Family. Background music of the dancing seahorses is from the movie "Shall We Dance."
Aha, Jelly Fish!
Beautiful to watch
Itchy to touch
My dear friends,
Let me end this post with some interesting facts about aquariums. The smallest world record aquarium measures 30x24x14 millimeter with 2 teaspoon of water. Watch following You Tube video
And the world's largest aquarium is Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, GA, with more than eight million gallons of water and more aquatic life than any
other aquarium. Check it out at http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/
Hi SZ,
ReplyDeleteI received your email with your message:
"Thanks - very informative - well done- love the seahorse dancing."
The seahorse dance is really something. When we were at the aquarium, everybody seemed to love those "fishy families."
Thank you.
Hanafi
Lian,
ReplyDeleteLet me try to answer your question about the seahorse dance in your following comment:
"Is the seahorse dance animated?
Thanks for doing all the research for the information.
Next time, please tell us more about the Jakarta Aquarium.
The underwater world is a very special, albeit extremely fragile environment. I wish more was done to protect it."
I don't think the seahorse dance video is an animation. It gives the idea of animation because it shows silhouette only.
The video is shown continuously next to the seahorse aquarium. I shot the show with my video camera.
Watch again the Monterey Bay Aquarium video about seahorses. It says that seahorses dance before they mate.
Thanks for your comments.
Hanafi Daud