(no subject)

[42itous]

beluga whale being playful

Last weekend majordomo and I went to Mystic CT. I wanted to see the octopus and the jellyfish at the aquarium, among other things. The jellies are beautiful; the octopus was hiding in the corner of its tank. I got to pet some stingrays (stingers removed for the petting pool) -- they are slimy and like to swim just a bit deeper than the distance between your fingertips and however far you've rolled your sleeve up, but I liked petting them anyway. This beluga whale, one of four at the aquarium, came over to the viewing area to play with people: make faces and splash water at us. It bumped its head against the window like an affectionate cat.

Comments

[noire.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Mystic Aquarium. And I highly recommend the Whale Experience and the Penguin Experience, where you get to actually go in the tank and play with/pet them! I asked the trainer if the whales liked doing the experience with the humans. She pointed out that the deep water drop off was very close, the whale weighed over 1K lbs, and nothing was keeping her with us except her training and the fact that she was getting lots of attention. Other whales waved at us when we entered the enclosure too. It was amazing to interact with them so closely.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

Oh! Now I want to do that too!

[noire.livejournal.com]

Go for it! A very special experience I will never forget. I am grateful for the opportunity to have interacted with these fellow beings--totally worth it!