Aquarium

A couple weeks ago I visited the Mito aquarium - a multi-storied exhibit of thousands of fish which fills its tanks with salt water, freshly pumped from the nearby sea. I saw a dolphin show, starred through 20 inch glass, and discovered that I don't know the Japanese name for almost any fish...  Here are the photo-highlights from the trip: 

#1. The guitar ray or sand shark which, like the name, is a blurring between the two chondrichthyes (fish with cartilage instead of bones). The head looks like a ray with a shark body taped onto it. 

#2. These are dozens of garra rufa fish which eats dead skin cells and are used in spa treatments all over the world, although they are illegal as spa treatments in several U.S. states because cosmetic laws mandate that "tools need to be discarded or sanitized after each use."

#3. Katakana signs: words written in Japanese which are pronounced like English words in a heavy Japanese accent. It's so cute!!!

like "taido puuru"

or "Ni-mo"

It was a lovely day to watch the fish and see the ocean. 

I missed the beach - even though I hardly visited it back in Florida. 

This sign says "goal" because the aquarium was having a contest of sorts when my friends and I visited. Somewhere in the building were 4 stamp stations; find all four stamps then there is a prize. Needless to say, we were running around like crazies five minutes before closing, trying to find the last stamp... and we did.