This morning, I took the little ones to the Georgia Aquarium, which was under construction last time I was here,and is quite the place. (At quite the price,but that’s just the way it is. If you lived in the area, a membership would be the reasonable thing to do).

I was rather impressed. The exhibits were gorgeous with, it seems to me, lessons duly learned from problems at other aquariums. The Tennessee Aquarium, for example, is a fine place, but laid out in an unnecessarily complicated way. This one is very simple. Five galleries jut out of a central atrium. Duh.

It was quiet when we first arrived, not long after opening – the best conditions for observing the calm, rhythymic beauty of the movement through the waters. There’s just enough text on the walls – I was sort of struck by that – nothing is over-explained, there are no walls containing panels and panels of dire environmental forecasts (although a small, handy sheet with alternatives to grouper and other over-fished species was duly made availabe. Grouper. I’ve never quite understood the appeal, myself. It’s not endangered by me, that’s for sure.) or marine biology or ecological science that no one reads anyway. It was all about looking at the life teeming in the tanks…meditating, even. Random observations:

I’d never seen both sea and river otters in one facility. I mean, not in the same tank or anything, but close enough for comparison purposes. Sea otters are just gigantic compared to the weasely little river otters, and these guys (sea otters), when on land, dragged their back flippers, giving a sad sort of appearance, which the docent explained was deceptive. They can actually stand up on them, she said.

They fed the sea otters while we were there, and did a bit of behavior training with a net – gently encouraging the animals to just stand in the net or swim in it while it rested in the water. Training it, I suppose, to not be afraid of the net and cooperate with it in case they needed to be brought out in it. The trainer had one of the otters press its face against the glass, giving the startled Michael a close up of its teeth, worthy of an otter dentist.

He didn’t mind that, but was in love with the penguins:

..who are never swimming at the Fort Wayne Zoo, preferring to just stand around and stare.

There were four beluga whales – twisting and coursing through their enormous enclosed tank (although I rather like the way the Beluga is on exhibit in the Shedd – in a open tank, swimming by you so close you could almost touch it), some enormous whale sharks, sea lions which we also saw fed. Various rays, horshoe crabs, starfish, sea anenomes to touch. Shrimp too, although it seems I could just go to the grocery store and touch some shrimp if I really felt the need.

The odd creatures which particularly intrigued us were:

A tank full of fantastic Japanese Spider Crabs with their long, long legs and almost expressive-seeing faces, and visions of them growing as "big as a car" as the placard said. (What kind of car? A SmartCar? I’m not sure)

A tank which included, among various species of fish, lots of Garden Eels – gorgeous little creatures about the size of straws, in many colors, that wave upright from their homes in the sand until fish approach, at which point, they slowly retreat, only to emerge again, growing from the sand, waving gently, like, well…a garden. I could have watched them all day.

Various Sea Dragons – I first saw them at the Tennessee Aquarium a few years ago in a special exhibit – lots of different types. Wonderful and mythical, extravegantly beautiful.

And, as per usual:

Hypnotic.

Has anyone ever tried a tank of jellyfish as a sedation technique for, say 4:45 pm in home with toddlers? I think it just might work.

The other event of the day was a RIDE on THE TRAIN. Yes, a short jaunt on MARTA from our base here up to Buckhead, where we ate and then another RIDE on THE TRAIN back to base.

All very, very exciting. I tell you what.