More Maui Ocean Center….

Various types of coral:

Starfish (obviously)

Green sea turtle

Juvenile hammerhead shark–when the sharks reach a certain size, the aquarium releases them into the ocean

DDeep sea cave

Jellyfish with black light

Large ray swimming right past my window

Spotted eagle ray, which is seriously cool. While we were at this tank, two scuba divers fed the various inhabitants. The spotted eagle ray seems as well-trained as a dog, even though I believe the person narrating said it’s actually not trained at all. It was cute and funny and, as the guide said, “always hungry.”

zTiger shark–at seven feet, she’s the largest shark at the center. When she reaches nine feet, they’ll release her into the ocean, where she may grow as large as sixteen feet.

We were fortunate to watch feeding time at the large tank; the sharks and rays were very active. It’s sort of a literary cliche to describe predatory villains as having “cold, flat shark’s eyes,” but I’ve begun to find that description slightly offensive (as well as lazy). I think their streamlined bodies may seem predatory to us because that’s the association–and subsequent value judgment–we’ve made, but they seem watchful, even a bit curious, rather than sinister.

After the viewing area by the large tank, you walk into a tunnel that goes under another part of that tank, so basically, you’re surrounded by water, and sharks and rays swim right over and around you. I don’t have photos, because by this point I’d decimated the battery on my camera and borrowed my mom’s to try to get film footage (which I did, with varying degrees of success, and if I ever figure out the video editing program on my laptop, I’ll post some). But it was INTENSELY COOL.