Jellyfish, Monterey Bay Aquarium
©2005 Russell Johnson
For
a moment recently, I wished I were a jellyfish. Now, a jellyfish that has washed
up on a beach looks disgusting…like a discarded Ziploc bag. But the Jellies
at the Outer Bay exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California have reason
to be envied.
Imagine
spending your life tumbling languidly in liquid suspension while thousands of
admirers ooh and awwh. Not bad for a gelatinous blob without heart or brain. Jellies
can, however, see, smell (so scientists say) and taste even though they would
make terribly inarticulate restaurant critics. And even though the sight of one
is enough to make a diver convulse in terror, most species of jellyfish, unlike
many objects of beauty, are not the least bit dangerous.
A
Jellyfish Minute
Monterey
Bay Aquarium
VIDEO
(WINDOWS MEDIA): HDTV
(50 MB) STANDARD
(5MB)
"So
Long, and Thanks for All the Fish"
So
sad that it should come to this
We tried to warn you all but oh dear
You
may not share our intellect
Which might explain your disrespect
For all
the natural wonders that grow around you
So
long and thanks for all the fish"
Dolphin
chorus from movie adaptation of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
As
organisms, we humans are pretty stupid, easily outclassed by bumblebees (bombus
terrestris), which rarely sting and would never think of bombing
Iraq. Their life purpose is to bumble about pollinating and and helping to create
life. Mice are also extremely gifted, according to the late Douglas
Adams' Hitchhikers
Guide to the Galaxy, as are dolphins, which escaped an earth about to be destroyed
singing "So long and thanks for all the fish." My dad said that fish was brain
food, which scientists have proven to be true. And while we can't, like Dolphins,
joyfully snort krill, we can avail ourselves of the convenience of a supermarket
fish counter or a restaurant.
 The
Monterey Bay Aquarium
has a fish restaurant, of sorts, actually an educational project in restaurant
motif designed to educate visitors on which fish are healthy to eat and raised
in a manner so as not to damage the environment, not to mention taste good. The
program is called Seafood Watch and you can download
a good fish/bad fish guide from the Seafood Watch section of their web web site
(www.montereybayaquarium.org).
Dr.
Steve Webster, one of the founders of the Aquarium, gave me a quick lesson on
how to shop for fish.
Listen
MP3 (7 Min)
The
Monterey-Carmel area of Northern California, with landmarks such as Pebble Beach
and the 17 Mile Drive, is among the most expensive places I have ever visited.
Some of the seafood restaurants near the aquarium list prices equal to those of
midtown Manhattan. These, mind you, are refurbishments of the canneries that John
Steinbeck wrote about. Nearby Pacific Grove, which was a slum when I last visited
years ago is now almost as precious as Carmel.
The
restaurants we visited were expensive and unremarkable.
My
wife tells me, however that the Highlands Inn is first class. It certainly
is the place to watch the sunset in style: Elegant, with buffed hardwood floors,
comfortable sofas, huge picture windows, an excellent choice of wines by the glass
plus an unobtrusive piano player who Foleys in an appropriate soundtrack just
the sun plunges into the sea and the steam rises. In my jeans, I felt underdressed
compared to the Highland's stylish patrons but I was not made to feel uncomfortable.
Then
there is one place in the Carmel Valley that lives up to its name. It may not
be your cuppa Joe, but The Chatterbox Café in the Carmel Valley is a gathering
place for talkative locals. The menus are dog-eared and look to be about twenty
years old. No sun-dried coastal kelp sausages here. Just eggs…good
fresh eggs that taste like they come from Mother Goose hens.
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