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The National Aquarium had a members-only evening this evening, so we went. Extra guides/docents/educators around, prize drawings, whatnot. We went up and visited my favorite Potamotrygons, of course, and watched the puffins for a bit. The Pacific giant octopus was asleep in a corner, as usual. If you want to see him unscrew a jar lid, you're going to have to watch the video on their web site, 'cause he's certainly never doing anything that interesting during visiting hours. We also saw the stonefish for the first time - I mean, he's been there all along, in plain sight, but this is the first time we've ever penetrated his disguise, which is EXCELLENT - he really does look just like the stone he's next to, unless he happens to blink his eyes! There was also a little yellow-spotted ray in the same tank, and I may have to make a couple of those.
But mostly, what we did was hang around the "Wings in Water" stingray area and pester the help with questions. The three-legged loggerhead turtle's name is Calypso, and she is smart enough to follow the divers around trying to beg for extra food - which is more than the stingrays or sharks do. One of her favorite treats is brussels sprouts. The rays ignore the brussels sprouts, of course. But, the - keeper? - reports that when Calypso doesn't finish her lettuce, and it sinks to the floor, the cownose rays try desperately to eat it, and of course their mouths are not equipped with proper teeth for picking up lettuce, let alone chewing on it, and so staff has a bit of a laugh watching them try.
The zebra shark's name is Zoe, and she is cool-looking; her tail is very long and flexible. While juvie zebra sharks have stripes, as they mature, the stripes turn to speckles, which of course made us wonder about an underwater Case of the Speckled Band, which that tail could totally do.
And the butterfly ray's name is Thumper.
No, I am not making that up.
Picked up a few more ornaments at the gift shop. Got a free door prize just for showing up - a drinking glass with the aquarium logo is what![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
squirrel_magnet picked out, and I got a plush clownfish beanbag - and then also managed to snag one of the museum logo water bottles later on.
Thumper.
But mostly, what we did was hang around the "Wings in Water" stingray area and pester the help with questions. The three-legged loggerhead turtle's name is Calypso, and she is smart enough to follow the divers around trying to beg for extra food - which is more than the stingrays or sharks do. One of her favorite treats is brussels sprouts. The rays ignore the brussels sprouts, of course. But, the - keeper? - reports that when Calypso doesn't finish her lettuce, and it sinks to the floor, the cownose rays try desperately to eat it, and of course their mouths are not equipped with proper teeth for picking up lettuce, let alone chewing on it, and so staff has a bit of a laugh watching them try.
The zebra shark's name is Zoe, and she is cool-looking; her tail is very long and flexible. While juvie zebra sharks have stripes, as they mature, the stripes turn to speckles, which of course made us wonder about an underwater Case of the Speckled Band, which that tail could totally do.
And the butterfly ray's name is Thumper.
No, I am not making that up.
Picked up a few more ornaments at the gift shop. Got a free door prize just for showing up - a drinking glass with the aquarium logo is what
squirrel_magnet picked out, and I got a plush clownfish beanbag - and then also managed to snag one of the museum logo water bottles later on.Thumper.
