Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, USA, on the Pacific coast. It borders Orange County on its southeast edge. It is about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles.


In the last photo, you can see the Queen Mary.
RMS Queen Mary is an ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line). Built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, she was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, in answer to the mainland European superliners of the late twenties and early thirties. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is permanently berthed in Long Beach, California serving as a museum ship and hotel.

My family and I visited the Aquarium of the Pacific. The aquarium features a collection of over 12,500 animals representing almost 1,000 different species. The facility focuses on the Pacific Ocean in three major permanent galleries, Southern California and Baja, Northern Pacific and Tropical Pacific.


Inside the aquarium...


Giant Sea Bass (these fishes are HUGE!) There are published reports of giant sea bass reaching a size of 2.5 m (8.2 feet) and a weight of up to 255 kg (562 lbs). However in Charles F. Holder's book The Channels Islands published in 1910, the author claims specimens taken from the Gulf of California attained 800 pounds (360 kg)! In the eastern Pacific its range is from Humboldt Bay, California to the Gulf of California, Mexico, most common from Point Conception southward. In the western Pacific it is found in the sea around Japan. It usually stays in relatively shallow water, near kelp forests, drop offs or rocky bottoms.


If you look at the first photo, it's an exact replica of the sea bass that hung on the wall. I thought to myself, they must be exaggerating, there is no way it's that big. Then I turn and looked in the tank and they were huge! I was too in shock to take a decent picture of the actual sea bass that was swimming in the tank.

Seahorse...There is something about the seahorse that I am fascinated by. Perhaps it's because it's the male seahorses who are the ones that bears children and did you know they are the only species in which males become "pregnant"?


Marine life...


Jewels of the Pacific...the weird and wacky creatures of the sea.
This fish what you call a "Leaf Scorpionfish." Like other scorpionfish, they utilize camouflaged to blend in with its surroundings.Rhinopias are rare fish, but sometimes appear as fish in the aquarium trade, where they fetch high prices. From what I observed, it doesn't swim around it walks with its fins.


Here is a "Leafy Sea Dragon." The leafy sea dragon, Phycodurus eques, is a marine fish related to the seahorse. It is the only member of the genus Phycodurus. These creatures are native to the waters around southern and western Australia and generally remain in shallow, temperate waters. Their name comes from their appearance, with long leaf-like protrusions coming from all over the body. These protrusions are not used for propulsion; they serve only as camouflage. The leafy sea dragon propels itself by means of a pectoral fin on the ridge of its neck and a dorsal fin on its back closer to the tail end. These small fins are almost completely transparent and difficult to see as they undulate minutely to move the creature sedately through the water, completing the illusion of floating seaweed.


But in the third picture...is it a bunch of sand and gravel or is there something there? Can you tell?


Tips for visiting the aquarium. Check the website for special coupons before you visit. The few bucks you save you can spend at the gift shop or some ice cream on the boardwalk!
Aquarium of Pacific