California Academy Of Sciences, Redux

Hey, did you really think I'd make you wait until I got back from Mom's? No way! I've cast a Delayed Instant Gratification spell so this will pop up just when you need it most! Ain't I grand?

I'll start with some old friends. I got a picture of these guys on my last trip, back in June. Can you tell who's moved and who hasn't since then? At least the big guy is smiling this time.

And I'm sure you recognize these eight beauties. If you can spot them all, that is.


I was surprised that there were more kids, here on field trips in October, than there were on vacation in June. There also seemed to be a lot more families with young kids.


Occasionally I'd see parents looking High and High to spot Junior.






Most would do better to look Low & Low, down in the Children's Undewater Cave, below the Coral Reef. There'd always be at least a gaggle and half kids down there, looking up through the observation port.
Us bigger kids have the Flooded Rainforest tunnel. I can clearly see a source for tales of dragons in this giant.



I wasn't able to get a good shot of the jellies last time, but lucked out this time. It can be almost hypnotic to see them billowing through the water, tentacles trailing and twirling... your eyelids are getting heavy... oop, sorry.

I must have passed by the shark pool at least a dozen times and this gorgeous Honeycomb Ray appeared only once, for about 5 minutes, then buried himself again. I never saw him at all on my last visit.His tail looked to be about 9ft long, about 3-4 times the length of his body! Truly spectacular, and I'm feeling lucky to have gotten these two pictures!
Oops, did I say two pics? For someone so shy, all of a sudden he's everywhere, even sneaking a wing into this shark's closeup shot!


Getting out of the water for a while, I have a little story to tell you. It starts with the first humans, and this scaly fella. No, it's not the story you might be thinking about. It goes like this...

Once upon a time all the first humans were pretty much in one place, and hanging out in one clique. It was really kinda sad and boring. So, the first humans were partying on one day, grooving to some classic rock music, when this dude pops up and says "HI! ssssss". He was really just trying to be friendly, but early humans - well let's just they weren't all brave, and a lot them, not really the sharpest chips of flint in the cutlery drawer, ok? So, they go running off in all directions - see the map for details on that:
Well, everybody kind of stopped running in small groups, all scattered around and stuff, and started up some new groups. And pretty soon they were all different from each other. See the picture for details:





A lot of them stopped here, and started some amazingly rich and advanced tribal cultures. Among their many accomplishments are their beautiful pottery and jewelry, much of which reflects their close releationship with nature. Here are some examples:



Finally, I leave you with a warning from Wallace Broecker:
Just ask this old friend of ours. He knows something about both angry beasts and the dangers of climate change!