A thousand words...

This week I thought I'd do something a little different. I'm going to share some pictures from the last few years and write a little something about each one.  These will all be pictures I've taken myself.

To the right is a closer look at a school of fish, this one in the Open Sea exhibit.

This picture on the left is from the kelp forest at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I was mesmerized by the school of fish swimming together in the lower part of the picture, and the way the starfish seems to stretch out each of its arms to embrace the water. I would move from one panel to another to see different perspectives. There are two stories - this picture is from the first floor. The fish in the top right may be one of the tiger sharks, which swim right up to the glass.

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Sunset at Asilomar Beach. No matter how many times I walked the paths at Asilomar, the landscape, the water, the light had changed. It was never the same two days in a row.

The footprints in the sand on the left are those of a mountain lion. I took this on my first visit to Asilomar, walking along the boardwalk that winds through the dunes. There are signs posted throughout the property reminding guests that mountain lions do come on the grounds, generally hunting the deer that populate the area.

It's hard to tell from this picture how large those footprints are - I'm an adult, and they are approximately the size of my fist. Not tiny...

As you can see, another sunset, another view from the path at Asilomar.

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The sun is  trying to break through the mist at Asilomar. Beyond that mist is Pebble Beach, where the Pro-Am golf tournament is underway. The wild winter ocean is raging, and you can almost taste the salt in the air.

Can you see the double rainbow on the left picture? It's harder to see on the left (same rainbow). I was driving home from work when I saw this, and had to stop and take a picture. At Asilomar, of course.

Hope you've enjoyed this little tour of Asilomar and the Aquarium. Enjoy the rest of the Olympics!

Take care,

Doc