South Carolina Aquarium

The South Carolina Aquarium is located at the edge of the historic district of Charleston and right on the harbor - with a great view of the Ravenel Bridge. My favorites of the many pictures I took are in the slide show below. The maps behind water (1) and on the floor (10) provided orientation to the area. Alligators (4) and pelicans (5) were both animals we saw elsewhere during our vacation. I had never seen the underside of rays (6) like I did at this aquarium and it was all because there is a ‘feed the rays’ exhibit and they rays are very good at positioning themselves along the glass of the tank to get the food! Have you ever watched a tank of jelly fish (8)? I found it intriguing and soothing in equal measure; they seem so graceful and relaxed.

Seahorses

There is a small aquarium room as the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. It was not open when we first entered the museum; it was on out ‘must see’ list since it had been added to the museum since out last visit. The seahorse tank drew my attention. There were two different kinds and they clung to the water grasses with their tail or gracefully drifted to a neighboring plant. They seemed alert but never hurried or nervous.

When I got home, there was a picture on The Scientist website showing how the seahorse’s bony plates are configured to make it hard yet flexible. That serendipity prolonged my ‘Zen of the seahorse’ thoughts!