Aquarium Day

---

Yesterday was Mote Aquarium day for us. As luck would have it, Marilyn's sister Pat and brother in law were in the area for a business conference. Her and her husband Jim who is just a peach of a guy, were in the Fort Myers area and so meeting in Sarasota was about in the middle as well as being the location of this attraction. I know everybody thinks of Florida as nice and toasty all the time but it isn't and it wasn't yesterday. It was cold in fact and the wind made it worse. That is called wind chill factor in case you didn't know but you probably did. Anyway, there was the indoor part and some outdoor parts and a boat ride. A lot of neat critters there to look over. A nice sea horse exhibit, sharks, including feeding time, and giant turtles, dolphins that were rescued, a giant squid that was dead and pickled and of course, manatees to name a few. Oh and let's not forget the stingrays that you get to pet. Slimy little buggers for sure. There was also an interactive theater that was interesting because they showed a segment of a movie and then with a touch screen at your seat you "took action" against polluters or illegal fisherman or whatever and that came up on screen in the form of a poll and how many sea creatures you saved type stats. There was also a 50's style diner with real shakes and the bathrooms were nice and clean too. They even had that new foam dispenser set up to wash your hands with. It turns out that both Jim and I just love that stuff.

---

Photos

Here we are
The obligatory group photo out front. Jim, Pat, me and Marilyn.

Big
This statue is probably 40 feet tall but hard to tell because nobody was standing next to it.

Looking out for dolphins
On the boat ride. We saw several dolphins while out freezing our tootoos off.

Shark tank
Marilyn and her sister Pat. I needed drugs and Pat brought me some being in the medical profession. Nice

Shark
Not sure what kind but it really enjoyed eating.

Sea Turtle
In training for some reason. These guys live 80 to 100 years.

Shark
The water was nice and warm. Kinda got me thinking.

Me
At the shark tank after feeding time was over. Safe to go in and swin now so I did...got caught again and spent yet another night in the "pokey" I think if I had not gone in nude, they might have gone a little easier on me.

Marilyn
...and her new favorite critter, the seahorse. We took one out of the tank and sure enough they have a good grip with that tail. That didn't go over all that well either.

Marilyn
Inside at one of the tanks. Mighty colorful fish in there. She said that I am in an arrested state of development mentally. I'm not sure what that means.

Up close
Sea horse up close. Not real strong swimmers with just one little dorsal fin to propel it around.

2 dolphins
These were both recued. One from Texas and the other from Florida. Beached and sunburned but ok now.