Don't Miss This One!!

When you come to Seaside Oregon, there's a few places you should NOT miss.  One is the ocean of course, with huge long beautiful sandy beaches that go on for miles.  The other is to take a walk down the Promenade and check out the Seaside Aquarium.

My advice is go early.  Be there at 9:00 when it opens so you miss most of the screaming out of control kids.  Somewhere along the line parents forgot how to parent ... although there are some exceptions I'll tell you about tomorrow!!  Check out the OUTSIDE before you enter.  There's a whale skeleton in the window.

Not a very impressive building, I'll admit, but it's been here since 1937.  Privately owned and operated, it's like a little jewel on the boardwalk.  Most people would probably not agree with me and walk right by, but if you've never been diving in the Pacific Ocean, here's a really good chance to see what lurks beneath the waves.

First off, rarely have I ever seen barnacles in an aquarium.  Not the fake plastic ones, but REAL barnacles ... happy little guys soaking up what the ocean has to offer.  See the little pinkish fans coming from the tips?  That's how they get their food from the water.  

They shoot out and draw back every second.  Look very closely.  Ever seen that before??

Here's a box crab.  Looking like a rock, the one on the bottom right corner has his legs tucked under his body.  The big one in the middle was moving enough that you can see his legs.  I don't think I've ever seen these before, even in the Monterey Aquarium.

How about these guys?  Creepy sea critters looking more like ... well you can guess ... as they fan out looking like a flower, gathering nutrients.  The "flowers" are only half an inch wide.  Look for the little things most people walk right by and don't see.  

Anemone you've probably come across before.  A really big bunch of happy campers lives here!!

All those shells you see on the beach?  Here's what might have been inside.  This stuff just fascinates me and again, I've never seen most of these critters in any other aquarium.

This guy however, I've seen in person.  Hard to see since they live mostly on the bottom and tend to cover themselves with sand, this flounder looks like he ran into a brick wall.  Originally a normal upright fish, they adapted over millennia, moving their eyes to one side, while their mouth remained in the normal fish mouth position.  Really creepy!!

Here's another creepster ... a ling cod.  These are the best eating if you've ever been deep sea fishing, but are mostly head, gills and fins.  There were probably twelve of these guys all laying on top of each other in a corner.  Who knew they gathered on the bottom like that?  These aren't the flashiest fish in the ocean, but every one is definitely weird looking in it's own way.

There was so much cool stuff, I'll wait until tomorrow to show you the rest.  They have shallow pools where you can touch anemone and starfish, and best of all ... you can feed the seals.  Nothing will bring a smile to your face and a stink to your hands faster than feeding the seals.  Don't miss this one if you're on the Oregon Coast.  At only $6.75 for seniors, it's a REAL DEAL!!