(Somewhat) Magic School Bus: Day at the Aquarium

     After a 3-year absence, I am back at the Vancouver Aquarium. This time, I was with my friends and my Biology class. The purpose of this trip was to give us the opportunity to see the creatures we are learning about which we may not see in our everyday lives. I was very excited to see all the different types of poriferans, and cnidarians, especially because there were specimens from all over the world. Unlike the pictures in our textbooks, the formerly inanimate creatures were swimming, breathing and thriving all around us. This trip gave us a better understanding of how the sea creatures interacted with their environment. Before going to the aquarium, we just learned facts about the porifera or the cnidaria but at the aquarium, we saw not only the sponges, but we saw a small piece of a whole ecosystem that the sponge played a part in. 

An ecosystem made of different sponges, each playing an important role. 

    

 For the rest of the morning, we wandered through the aquarium, taking pictures of anything that struck our fancy. At the same time, we tried to find the different creatures outlined in our scavenger hunt. 

                                     

Photo Credit: Alan Zhong

Clownfish and sea anamones form symbiotics relationships to survive. The sea anemone provides protection for the clownfish using its toxic tentacles while the clownfish lures prey to the sea anemone. The clownfish also protects the sea anemone from any predators that are immune to its poison. 

 

At one time sea otters could be found all along the coast of British Columbia, all the way up to Alaska but now they are quite rare because they were hunted for their pelt. A sea otter's fur is so dense that water never reaches a sea otter's skin in a lifetime. One square inch of the otter's skin has more hair (fur) than a human's head. Sea otters clean their fur meticulously to remove the oils that would cause the fur to clump together. If it does clump together, it no longer serves its purpose in keeping the sea otter's skin dry. 

There were many sea anemone at the aquarium but I did not notice the ones near the sea otter tank. However, I did manage to take a picture of these bright green sea anemone. They are growing on purple-ish rocks. 

Even though Alan didn't choose me as his favourite vertebrate, I still chose him as mine. My favourite invertebrate, however, is the moon jelly. 

Not only are they beautiful, they are quite well-adapted for survival. They have many tentacles, each equipped with nematocysts, to capture prey or fight off enemies. They also have 8 special sensory organs to tell the jelly fish where in the water column they are. In short, not only do that have the beauty, but thay also have the brains and brawn.

Here are the two belugas (also known as delphinepterus leucas) at the Vancouver Aquarium; one is named Aurora and the other, Qila. 

Photo Credit: http://magicporthole.org/wonders/Potbelly-Seahorse.jpg

The potbelly seahorses use their tiny fins to propel them. Because they are not really good swimmers, they usually prefer to stay in the same general area. However, they are able to move up and down, forwards and backwards.

Photo Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Brain_coral.jpg/220px-Brain_coral.jpg

The brain coral looks like a human brain (which is the centre of the nervous system. There are many different types of corals and they all belong to the family Faviidae. 

Moon-jellies move by contracting its bell, then opening. This opening-closing movement and along with jet propulsion from its tentacles propel the moon-jelly. This method of travel is not very efficient and the moon jelly relies heavily on water currents. The moon jellies feed on plankton by using its nematocyst-laden tentacles to capture prey. It then wraps its prey with mucus and brings it to the gastrovascular cavity to be digested by enzymes. 

Photo Credit: http://dive.bc.ca/pictures/octo/octo03.jpg

The white suctions cups on the Pacific Octopus' tentacles sucks and sticks onto its prey. They are one of nature's best predators because they are are very good at camouflaging and surprising their prey. They also use venom to anesthetize their prey, rendering them harmless. Their strong beak and constricting tentacles also contribute to their formidable reputation. 

Photo Credit: Ron Niebrugge / WildNatureImages.com

Steller sea lions feed on fish such as mackerel, herring, salmon, cod, and rockfish and invertebrates such as squid, octopus, bivalves and gastropods. They usually hunt for their food but female sea lions with pups usually feed at night, switching to foraging during daytime after breeding season.

This caiman is from South America.

This ferocious beast is a crocodile. It is earthy, brownish-green in colour and its rough texture blends in with the murky waters that it dwells in. This adaptation is useful for survival because it blends in with its environment so nothing can see it and kill it. 

Photo Credit: Alan Zhong

The Arapaima is the biggest fish in the Vancouver Aquarium. They are found in South America and can reach more than 2m  long.

The tambaqui is a vegetarian fish as it eats fruits, grains and decaying plants. They are often confused with piranha because of their similar appearances.  

Photo Credit: http://allamazingfacts.com/pictures/Piranh_390_piran.jpg

Piranhas are the biggest threat to humans when they are bleeding in the water. 

An intersting fact about sharks is that they actually have no bones.

Some other animals found in the shark tank are sea turtles, common bluestripe snapper, and laced moray. 

Photo Credit: http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/data/media/1/sea-urchin_1566.jpg

These Giant Red Sea Urchins have movable spikes to protect them from predators. These sea urchins also have five teeth that help it ingest algae and break down other food. 

Archerfish gathers water and using its mouth, it shoots water at insects, making them fall in the water. Then, it just eats it. 

The sea turtle in the Tropic Zone is named Schoona. 

Here are some of the flamingos we saw in the Amazon exhibit. We did not know they could fly until they swooped down right above our heads. 

Here is a marmoset that was also in the Amazon exhibit. 

The variety of fish and colours make this picture fantasy-like.

The penguins with their puffed out chests reminded me of Penguins of Madagascar.

And here is the giant penguin stuffy that I wanted but couldn't afford.

Kriselda and I <3

 This was my all-time favourite photo!! S/He was just so adorable that i had to make him/her my wallpaper on my phone.

During the afternoon, we did the wet lab. We got to touch many different sea creatures from different phylums. My favourite were the cnidarians and the echinodermata. I liked the cnidarians because when  you touched them, the tentacles left a sticky feeling (which was actually the nematocysts burrowing into your skin). It was a very interesting sensation. I liked touching the sea cucumbers because unlike its spiky appearance, sea cucumbers are actually very soft and velvety. Even the spikes were soft! It had a very soothing feeling. After our wet lab, we got ready to go home.

I enjoyed my day at the aquarium very much. Before, while I liked walking around and looking at the creatures, I did not really understand them. Now, I am more excited because I can recognize the stuff we already learned in class and link it to the living sea creatures around me. This trip to the aquarium really changed my perspective on sea creatures. So much so that once I started on my blog, I just couldn't stop. There is just simply too much to say!!