The Adventures of Sunsette -- Texas Travels, Part II— Apr. 12

[Alliecat]

"Aloha again everybody!  Mahalo for sharing our adventures!
"On the same trip to see the Santa Maria, Mum also took us to the research station aquarium nearby while we waited for the ship to dock.  There was lots to read about the area's fisheries, aquaculture, tides, and marine life."


"This is a sturgeon.  They've been around since the Triassic period, 245-208 million years ago."



"These are lumpfish.  Males turn red-orange during breeding season.  We felt kinda sorry for the one little guy all by himself in the touch pool... guess this is the rest of his family."



"Scarlett saying hello..."




"They have some unique lobsters, that have been donated by fishermen."



"This is Lucky, and he actually came from our home.  Mum wrote an article about him at the time.  He was a little bluer then.  Now he's quite pale."



"This 27-pound lobster was caught by a fish dragger in 1962.  The world record is 42.5 pounds and the Canadian record is 37.2 pounds!  (We thought it was too bad he wasn't put back in the sea to keep breeding...)  Mum saw some pretty big ones when she was fishery-observing, but not quite this big. She wanted us to pose with him but we couldn't fit on the window ledge.  Our heads would be about where his tail is."



"Wolffish?  Where?"



"Yikes!"
..."They're not dangerous (like us)... they eat crustaceans.  And they have natural antifreeze in their blood!"



"There are several blue ones.  Estimates of their rarity vary but some suggest it could be one in 2 million.  The colour is caused by an abundance of a particular protein; it's a genetic defect."



"This was our favourite aquarium resident..."



"Yes, really this blue!  Isn't he(?) gorgeous!"

"Thanks for reading!
"Love, Sunsette"
"(and Scarlett!)"