Aquarium Visit: April 15

We visited the Clearwater Beach Marine Aquarium, which is a rescue and science organization as much as it is a popular destination for tourists to see sea creatures.

Petting the sting rays ... Jane very upset when none of the string rays would come over while her hand was in the water. "They don't seem to like you, Jane," explains dad.

They had a huge aquarium that could be viewed from all sides. We watched a nurse shark swim among a bunch of other fish. A visitor asked how they can keep the shark in the tank without it trying to eat all the other fish.

The staff member explained the shark was raised by a local resident as a pet and outgrew its tank. Then the owner kept the growing shark in his pool. And finally it grew too big for that, so he approached the aquarium to take her. Because the shark had always been fed by humans, it basically lost its drive to hunt on its own, so it swims peacefully in the tank here.

We also saw some rescued sea turtles (Jane's most favorite):

The girls got to touch a sea urchin. They said it felt hard and "spikey."

The girls learned about the lightening conch, the only shell that, when held point up, has an opening to the left. All other conch shells open to the right.

Here an employee shows Anna the egg casing of sea snails. It looks like a snake's molt. It releases thousands of tiny eggs and sometimes this casing will be found on beaches in the area.

The girls learned how the aquarium staff rehab many marine animals, including the dolphins Winter and Hope that appeared in the Dolphin Tale movies.

At the gift shop, Anna selected a necklace adorned with a sea horse, dolphin and shell. Jane picked a sea turtle stuffed animal. She promptly named her "Lilly." We don't know why she picked that name.

We headed to the dock for our ride out to sea. But first, a visit to the snack bar. Dad had nachos, girls snow cones,

We boarded the boat. It's a special vessel with permits to get into sensitive waters and collect samples for researchers and marine biologists.

It rained off and on and was mostly cloudy during our visit, but fortunately we were covered on the boat during the heaviest rain, which was brief.

Below, they bring in the net to sample the marine life ...

Now we examine the catch ...

Three species of fish commonly found in this area dominated the catch: the pinfish, the mojarra, and the pigfish. These are small saltwater fish that span in this estuary and are commonly used as baitfish by anglers.

So why are they called "pigfish?" We learned this comes from the noticeable grunting sound they make by rubbing their teeth together.

They can't be seen in the photo above, but there was also a small, almost completely transparent jellyfish that the girls got a chance to touch. There was an arrow crab, too. The staff brought each around for the guests to see.

Measurements are taken and recorded ...

Releasing the fish ...

The boat took us to Sugar Island (see map). The guide explained this is one of many human-made islands when sand was dug out to create the intercoastal waterway many decades ago.