a day at birch aquarium

by Stacy

The hubby has to work on my birthday, so we observed it today by going to the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Oceanic Institute. Guess what we saw?

birch aquarium

Gosh you guys are smart.

We had a lovely time and my dear darling spouse was infinitely patient while I took photos (or tried to, at least).

birch aquarium

There’s a huge whale fountain monument at the entrance, usually surrounded by throngs of children.

We started with the exhibit on global warming. It would be good for kids who don’t read/watch the news that often, and had some impressive photos of glaciers from 100 years ago compared to today. What amused me was that it was a bit California-centric, touting state-specific legislation that regulates emissions and such. There were a few fun interactive elements and some good learning sites for kids. Next door, they were preparing for an upcoming exhibit on seahorses!

Now on to the main event! We saw coral:

birch aquarium

birch aquarium

Seahorses:

birch aquarium

Several types of hard-to-photograph jellyfish:

birch aquarium

And sharks!

birch aquarium

The original plan was to go to the zoo, but it’s been hot (high of 95), so we chose the smaller, more indoor option.

Afterward I came home and made a cake. More info on that tomorrow, though. So excited!

While we haven’t seen many of the city’s attractions, I think the aquarium could be a repeat. What can I say, I like fish.

birch aquarium

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Birch September 26, 2009 at 8:38 am

… I don’t see any birches. Or pictures of me swimming. Confused.

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stacy September 26, 2009 at 9:17 am

It’s named after Steven Birch! Silly.

We did try to find you a good souvenir from the shop, but we were thwarted.

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Kimberly September 26, 2009 at 11:11 am

I can’t believe how awesome these pictures are!

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stacy September 26, 2009 at 1:15 pm

To be fair, I took 250 photos and deleted most of them because they were blurry or just bad. Luckily it wasn’t busy so I could get right up to the middle of the glass and stand there until a fish swam by. =)

And the macro lens helps.

Reply

evie September 26, 2009 at 12:16 pm

I like fish too, but I do not like people who keep fish in their house because it’s kind of creeptacular. Same with people who own birds. CREEPY.

Reply

stacy September 26, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Pet birds are no good. The aquarium has this crazy tank full of sardines that swim in a giant swirl. I wish I could have gotten a pic of that!

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