Hard at work in the container yard in Long Beach, CA.
A day off and some sight seeing...
The Aquarium of the Pacific...
The California King Crab lives on the seafloor at great depths and eats dead animals that sink from the waters above.
This a Pygmy Whale carcass that all these creepy little creatures are living and feeding on.
Nearly all the food on the deep ocean floor comes from above. When a whale dies over deep waters it's body will sink to the abyssal floor and form a "Whale Fall". An entire ecosystem consisting of many different sea creatures will form around the whale's carcass, slowing eating the whale for years, sometimes decades! Weird.
A Chambered Nautilus. These ancient creatures have existed unchanged for 500 million years. That's 250 million years before the dinosaurs even showed up.
Sea Horse
Sea Dragons!
Leafy Sea Dragon!!
Hello.
And of course Jelly Fish.
This puffin was calm and seemed friendly.
This Crested Auklet was not calm...not even close.
I set my coffee down to take a picture of a sea lion and this harbor seal swooped in and tried to steal my Starbucks!
