Under the Sea
For a few hours this afternoon, I played tourist in Boston while Gavin attended a conference. Having just finished Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, which features a sassy octopus as one of the narrators, I was more than excited to see one up close. And I love sea turtles. And fish. And anemones. And stingrays. And, and, and. And yet, I had never before ventured to the New England Aquarium. Damn, I’ve been missing out.
While I packed my sketching/painting supplies, there really wasn’t any place conducive to sketching inside the museum. Plus, with little kids running and screaming and oohing and ahhing, I knew I wouldn’t have much quiet time. However, I did snap more than 250 photos, some of which will, I’m sure, become reference photos for future sketches. Today, though, I’ll keep the focus on a few of my favorite images from the day. At just about every glass window, I stood mesmerized—by the colors, the creatures, the movement, the absolute beauty.
One of my absolute favorite exhibits featured small lion’s mane jellyfish, also known as giant jellyfish. These incredibly beautiful (but dangerous!) can grow to an average of 1.5 feet long and up to as long as 6.5 feet!! While there were several large jellyfish, I was drawn to the baby ones—I could have spent hours photographing only those!
I can’t believe I’ve lived an hour’s drive from Boston for nearly 30 years, and yet I had not, until today, ever visited the aquarium. Sure it’s expensive ($34), but that seems to me to be a small price to pay for a few hours’ worth of wonder and awe.