Monterey Bay Aquarium

Day 4: 

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Well after many years of waiting, I finally made it! And I can say for sure that it did not disappoint! Not only were all of the exhibits amazing, the staff were some of the friendliest people that I have ever met! All of the employees and volunteers were extremely helpful and knowledgeable! In fact I don't have one bad thing to say about this amazing place! They even gave me a button for my birthday with my name written on it and some wonderful artwork!! 

When we first arrived we went out onto the viewing deck and the volunteer pointed out 2 Humpback Whales in the harbor immediately! They also pointed out different species of birds, harbor seals, sea lions, and a few sea otters! If you didn't have binoculars they had some very nice ones that they were happy to let you borrow! 

Sea Nettles

After exploring a little we went on a behind the scenes Jellyfish tour. We had a wonderful guide who was a volunteer named Joe. He was fantastic! I have been on quite a few behind the scenes tours at a lot of aquariums and he is one of the best I have ever had! Not only was he informative, but he went above and beyond when after the tour he called down one of the biologists because he thought I might want to talk to her since I was a marine science major. 

 7 Gill Shark 

So after our tour I met with one of the Interpreters/Biologists named Rachel to talk about some of the Jellyfish research that was ongoing at the aquarium. After we talked jellies for a little while she took me to look at some of their baby shark and corals behind the scenes. All of this because she heard that I was interested in marine biology! 

Pacific Green Sea Turtle 

In my opinion, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has some of the friendliest staff and volunteers that I have ever come across. They made my visit way more personal! I am still blown away by how above and beyond that they were willing to go for their guests! It will definitely be a place that I will encourage people to visit, and that I will be returning to!