The Monterey Bay Aquarium

The first time I was here, it was the year the Aquarium opened, back in 1984. The Aquarium is now 25 years old and they have added an entire wing!

The last time I was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, my mom was with me!

This time Matt made the trip.

By this time in the trip, Matt is getting really sick of having to pose for all these pictures!

Matt got selected to play in the "game show" the Aquarium was calling "You Otter Know". For example, did you know that a sea otter has one million hairs per square inch of his fur? That he blows bubbles into his fur to help with insulation? That he weighs around 50 lbs and eats 17-18 lbs of food per day? That's a LOT of eating! And, a lot of GROOMING!

Matt did a good job competing against two Californians and he even got a couple of questions that they missed!

Here is one of those little cuties playing in his pool. I have been mildly disappointed that we have not seen any of these along the kelp beds and rocks along the shore here.
They are so cute!
The jellyfish exhibit was mesmerizing.

My second favorite special exhibit, after the jellies, was the seahorse exhibit.

Who knew that there were so many different kinds of seahorses? Not me!

It was fascinating just watching these critters propelling themselves thru the water.

Leafy Sea Dragon--this creature was amazing.

Like a fantasy novel, in real life...

That tail sure can hug!

This little fish was just gorgeous...a warm orange/red tail on a striped body. Wow.

It was in one of the coral reef tanks.

This is the huge kelp tank, seen from the second level. It's mesmerizing to just sit and watch!