Today I went to the aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences with my folks, my daughter, a friend of mine and the little boy she nannies for. Kids at the aquarium… always fun.
One of my favorite areas is right inside the aquarium… it is a shallow, white sand enclosure that has rays, black tip sharks and a few small tarpon, mixed in with other fish. The small tarpon are really small… maybe 20″ or so. On my last trip there were three. Today… well… they said there were 2, but I think they double counted. I saw one. I asked what had happened and they suspect one of the black tips was doing a little pantry raiding at night. I’m suspecting that the small tarpon they said “must be hiding” was an encore pantry raid.
Feeding time... the official feeding time, that is.
Down below, in the main aquarium, you can also see another tarpon, but this one isn’t small… it’s a pretty nice fish, actually.
Mr. T
While we were there I thought I’d check to see if I might be able to actually see the bonefish they have in their collection… caught in 1918 off Sausalito. I didn’t get a call back until we got home, but I was told that “Sure,” I could set up a time to take a picture of the Bonefish of the SF Bay.
I asked about the size of the fish… turns out it is about 11 inches… a juvenile. That does explain a bit. As I understand it, the juveniles have a much higher tolerance to low temperatures than do the adults. It does make you wonder what was happening with the ocean conditions around 1918.
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Tags: bonefish, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Bay, Tarpon
Bjorn,
There is a county park around here called Wall Springs. Inside, there’s a fresh spring that dumps into a crystal clear pool about the size of a football field. Inside this pool is light blue water like you’d find in the Keys or…Abaco. Every time I’m there, I always spot juvie tarpon, snook and redfish. Of course there is “No Fishing” signs all over the place….but it’s quite cool to watch these fish.
I love that stuff. Funny thought that their little tarpon keep getting munched by the black tips in the aquarium.