Not On Our Watch!!

Several times over the past 5 or 6 years, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has come into possession of a great white shark. At some point they put the shark on display and you can see it up close and personal. Monterey is about a 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive from our place. At least two times in the past, we have planned trips down to the Aquarium to take a gander at a shark when they either release the shark or it dies, like the day before we are supposed to show up.

That sad tale is why when we heard a few weeks ago that they had another great white, we decided to high tail it down to Monterey right away. We actually took a nice
drive down to Monterey. It was beautiful, reminding us that no matter where we travel some of the most beautiful scenery in the world is right in our backyard. When we arrived at the aquarium, we went straight to the shark tank. Well, in all fairness it wasn't exclusively a shark tank, there were other fish inside but lets
face it, it is sort of like being hamburger when there is kobe beef floating around in there. Sort of. Anyway, the shark had only been there 4 days when we saw her. That's right, female. She is only about 4 months old. And to be blunt, she is kind of small. "Great" is a title I think she will have to grow into. Right now, I think it would be a little more accurate to call her "adequate" white shark or "average" white shark. But she does have a presence in the tank, when she swims by you can see that certain fish seem to avoid her or scurry out of the way. We talked a bit with the naturalist on duty and asked how long they thought she would be there. She indicated that the shark would be there until she exhibited an "inappropriate behaviour". Such as? Eating one of her tank mates. Yep, that would be inappropriate alright.

After staring at the shark for what seem like an hour, we wandered through other parts of the Aquarium. For anyone who hasn't been, this is a superb aquarium. There are lots of tactile exhibits which are great for both the kids and parents. This exhibit lets you "pet" a ray. The only problem? The rays pretty much stayed on the opposite side of the tank where the "petters" couldn't reach. Pretty smart, huh? These guys were just a little too eager to pet the rays.






I love looking at the jelly fish. Against this blue background, they were pretty cool.


So let the record reflect that the Whinebergs finally got to see one of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Great White Sharks!!! It was pretty cool.


P.S.

About a week after we visited, they released the great white. Apparently she hadn't been eating, food or tankmates. So they tagged her and let her go. Whew!!