Goffin' Ain't Easy: A Visit to Sea Life

While Mark and Julia are taking in the sights of Mount Rushmore and The Badlands on the way to their Canadian moose hunt, Grant, Quentin, Kendall and I made a visit to Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine, TX during our down time between shooting rounds.
We stumbled upon Sea Life while trying to find Pappadeaux's and it was such a treat! We visited aquariums regularly when the kids were little; we even had season passes in Tampa and New Orleans! Sadly, tonight I found out that my fabulous boys can barely remember visiting aquariums! It was a whole new experience for them! They loved watching the rays and skates. We learned that rays, skates and sharks are all in the same family. Also, the difference between rays and skates is that rays have barbs, but skates don't. Another cool fact we were unaware of, some sharks lay eggs, while some have live birth. How odd is that? Even more interesting is the shape of a shark egg. They are actually more than one shape, but they look like corkscrew plants. The mother shark will hide it by shoving it in a crevice so it looks like a plant. Only God would think to hide an egg that way!

We also learned that jellyfish are 95% water and have no brain, blood or heart, yet they are definitely a living breathing creature. They are truly lovely floating so peacefully with the current, but can have a nasty sting if you get wrapped in their tentacles. They reflect light and change color depending on the light's color.

Standing in the tunnel with fish, sharks, rays and turtles swimming all around, above and below us left Kendall and myself a little uneasy. It was the kind of thing where you wanted to just lay down in the tunnel and fish-gaze, if you will, but it felt uncomfortable at the same time. It's just so amazing to see these creatures up close!

One of the most amazing creatures in the sea is the seahorse. These fabulous sea creatures mate for life and remain monogamous. They also have no stomach so they must eat nearly constantly to fulfill their nutritional requirements. The male carries the baby seahorses in his pouch until they mature and can survive on their own.

The boys were so appreciative of our outing to Sea Life. Below the surface is an amazing the world even at an indoor aquarium. We'll have to hit one again soon!