It's National Marine Science Day!!!
I've been talking about this day, and the events out at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography for a few weeks now.
I even made flyers and mailed them out two weeks ago, to make sure my nieces and nephews would know of this free, family, funfest!
Michael and his girls, Alyssa and Leila, were the only ones that showed up.
Good for them!
He had even texted me early in the morning about directions, so I knew they would be there.
That compelled me to get their birthday gifts - yes, multiple! - in the car with me.
I didn't get them the same things, but similar items, and I let them choose.
And, guess what?
They ended up getting the exact gifts I would have selected for them!
What a grand coincidence!
Right time, right place for all of us!
(smile!)
First, though, we had some exploring to do upon their arrival!
Meanwhile, I had about 90 minutes of solo time for my own adventures.
I was onsite just after noon, making sure to get some of the limited tickets for the behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium.
Yes, the 2 PM tour would be perfect for the four of us!
Then I took in some of the exhibits on the grounds before heading over to the dock.
There, two young men talked to me about the importance of recycling, starting with marine debris in general and then plastics in particular.
I let them talk, pretending to not already be part of the choir on the topic.
When they were done, I spoke up about being a teen in the mid-1970's, when recycling was a new idea in this country and now it was a part of life!
Sure, it's taken almost three generations, but we're making progress!
They smiled, as they've heard similar words from their grandparents, I'm sure.
(smile!)
That blue barrel in the top left corner?
That has seedling oysters, little dots of stuff that looked more like grit than an animal.
The guy even let folks touch some of it!
To the left of the bag of shells - an item used to help build new oyster reefs - was a guy talking about the many uses of oyster shells.
They even offered oyster shells as souvenirs!
And, back in that top left corner but offscreen was a table that talked of oyster biology, complete with diagrams and containers and color charts.
All in all, a very informative discourse!
I'm just glad I didn't have to taste any.
(smile!)
Not much later, I got up to wander back out to the parking lot - and there they were!!!
Big hugs for me, first from Alyssa, then from Leila!
Hugs from Michael, too!
Most excellent!
Then we headed to the exhibits.
We were right in time for the trivia contests over at the table that had all the dolphin teeth and sperm whale tooth and all the information on right whales.
That's a 20-foot balloon version of an actual juvenile right whale, named Smoke, that Leila (taking her 15 minutes in Dad's jacket) and Alyssa are beside.
Long story short: neither girl wanted to bring a coat, but wanted one when they felt the chill breeze.
Hence, they had to share their dad's jacket.
(smile!)
Tour time!!!
Note: Alyssa now has the jacket and Leila does not.
Yes, time passages!
I had thought it might be a guided event, but we were allowed to explore the various holding tanks on our own, with staff present to answer questions.
Very cool!
So we saw sea turtles that were healing, spadefish and puffers waiting clearance to join others in the aquarium, other fish of various sizes, and so many hermit crabs!
The girls both liked those, as they had some as pets, once upon a time.
Then our fifteen minutes were up and we were out!
But she didn't need it.
The day had warmed to the low 70's and the sun had broken through the clouds.
We had a nosh from the food trucks, enjoying time under a blue sky, then I led them over to the research exhibit.
That hand belongs to the marine scientist at that first table and her unique tattoo shows the purple tones and cat's-paw clusters bred into the shells of these oysters.
That's to make them stand out at restaurants, and insure folks know the shellfish were bred locally.
Isn't that so cool!?!
I'm not an oyster eater, but I can appreciate that.
And the erlenmayer flasks have the two kinds of algae that these little oysters eat.
Their favorite part, though - besides spending time with their G'Aunt Tina (smile!) was the aquarium.
So many different talks with so many different fish!
And, look, there were turtles and stingrays, too!
Then, over there was a tank with just seahorses and pipe fish and hermit crabs!
But, best of all else, was the touch tank!
I do believe they could have spent all the time right there had we allowed it.
Picking up and looking at all the hermit crabs...
holding the horseshoe crab, with its legs in the air...
touching the conchs and other sea creatures...
yes, they could have done that for hours!
The jewelry that looked like plankton?
Nope, that held no allure.
Yes, they are definitely kin to me!
So, we were there until closing time.
They almost had to run us off, as the girls wanted to hang out looking at the terrapins - there were 9 of them - in the pools by the entrance.
Once in the parking area, we stopped by my car to celebrate birthdays.
To decide who would choose first, the girls had to guess how many fingers I had behind my back.
Unicorn, for sure, just as i suspected!
Each pumpkin painting kit would do two pumpkins, so they could share with each other or with friends!
Then Leila got to choose: dogs or cats?
Dogs for her, as I knew she preferred!
Each set of magnetic bookmarks contained eight fanciful animals to brighten the pages of their books or someone else's!
Plus, I made sure they had cute gift bags for all these goodies.
Smiles and hugs told me I did it right!
I'm so glad we had this time just to ourselves!
I do love having the group celebrations, but...
I love this quality time, too.
i thank You, God.
(smile!)
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