Day 6 Thursday, October 11

There is a building with smoke stacks at the end of Cannery Row that resembles what it once was, a sardine factory. Fishes still make this building the hub of a prosperous business, with one major difference from the past, these fish are "canned" alive in giant display tanks. The purpose of these large "cans" of fish is to teach and inspire the public to conserve our ocean resources.

We went inside Monterey Bay Aquarium before it officially opened for a behind-the-scenes tour with Allison Barrett. And Wow! Inside we saw a million gallon exhibit with 2 massive ocean sunfish, several adult yellowfin tunas cruising around the tank with impressive speed, sardines, California barracudas, and a juvenile great white shark, despite its young age it still ruled the tank.

Next stop on our very unique aquarium tour was backstage of the largest jellyfish exhibit in the world. After learning about how to culture jellyfish, we met 2 cute black sea turtles. Another impressive exhibit was the enormous kelp forest tank that was showcasing leopard sharks, giant kelp, rocky fishes, and giant sea bass. The Aquarium housed many more interesting displays like the sea otters and touch pools. But one room was quite different from the rest and still drawing people's attention. The Seafood Watch section aimed at raising awareness about the health of our oceans and encouraging the public to take action now to protect marine wildlife.

We followed this conservation idea to its origin at the Center for the Future of the Oceans to meet the Seafood Watch staff. We then put our conservation ethic into practice at dinner. We dined at Passionfish in Pacific Grove. Owner Cindy Walter told us that it was one of the first "green" certified restaurants in the area. Lisa, Rachel, and Lauren dressed for the occasion and made sure that our distinguished professor/captain of our trip was as well.

--Daylin Munoz-Nunez

Our fearless and fashionable leader, Capt. Crowder