Day 2 - Monterey

We woke up early for another tide pool adventure. This time it would be one of our historical favorites. Point Lobos State Reserve has an area that is loaded with sea urchins and abalone. We were one of the first people in the park. The rocks were covered with all kinds of seaweed. First Alex slipped and fell. Then Diane fell. Everyone was stepping gingerly. There was a park guide present, she called herself "Tide Pool Mary". She was very helpful.



The neat thing about this are is that it is a series of layers that have been uplifted so that they are almost vertical. The erosion of the layers leads to a series of cracks that are full of interesting tidal animals. Importantly, (according to tide pool Mary) the cracks are too narrow for otters to reach in and grab the abalone



Here you can see a bunch of black abalone in a crack. They are about 4 inches across. I like the two little crab hiding among the abalone.



This is a sea lemon that Tide Pool Mary found. I love the two lacy gills. Very neat find in a tide pool.



This is two views of the tide pool area called Weston beach. Low tide is the top frame. Two hours later as the tide rolled in the area we had been searching was submerged.



Then we took a walk to sea lion point. There was a big bloom of yellow flowers. Quite striking!



There were some california poppies mixed within the yellow flowers.



There are the rocks off seal lion point. You could really hear them barking.



This was a neat succulent plant that Diane found among the yellow flowers.



We could see some sea otters out in the kelp beads. They are located in the center of the image.



This is an electronic zoom of the two sea otters in the last image. I love the way they wrap themselves in kelp to keep from floating away while they take as nap.



We had a nice lunch at a mexican restaurant and then headed to the Monterey Aquarium. I had been there in the mid 90's but the rest of the family were newbies. It was as good as advertised! Quite the amazing aquarium.



They had a neat exhibit of sea otters where you could watch them swim underwater.



They had a number of very large tanks. This one was 3 stories deep and was a kelp forest. The way the sun came through the kelp was amazing. It really made the tank glow.



They had a variety of exhibits. One of my favorites showed off flat fish like flounder, sole, and halibut. Can you see both fish in this picture?



I also really liked this sand dollar tank. I didn't realize that they stood on their sides when the seas are calm.



These spiky crabs were really neat. The colors were really impressive. It was a real festival of colors.



Get up close and personal with a wolf fish.



A picture of Diane through the Kelp.



A big school of sardines was swimming in the Kelp forest. Sardines were a big product harvested out of Monterey bay. They still catch some today.



They had a great exhibit of jellyfish. UNfortunately, my battery died as we got there.



I was able to milk one last picture out of may camera in the sea horse exhibit. This is a sea dragon. Beautiful!