The miracle of birth.

Had a lovely weekend. On Saturday, I taught a Job Shadow class with a new Ed Associate. This month’s theme was Aquarist, so we set up three hours worth of activities and lessons that would show the kids just what an aquarist does. It’s a really fun class, and for me, really easy to teach because really, all the work is done in seting up the meetings with the aquarists and all the cool things the kids get to do. Well, it all went perfect, just as scheduled (which is a really cool rarity), up until we got back to the classroom at the end…

This part, I was supposed to show them how to window a shark egg. I should have taken a photo of the final result, or of someone that has taken a photo of the exhibit where we display these windowed shark eggs. If you’ve never seen a shark egg, here is a news bit that I found with photos of baby sharks and the egg it hatched from. Actually, that news is realyl weird to me because bamboo sharks are like the rabbits of the shark world and breed like crazy. They do it very well on their own. So anyway, just like that little hole that they are cuting there, I was doing the same, but to ultimately glue a little plastic window so that eventually, people could see the developing shark embryo. There is absolutely no harm done to the shark when it is done properly. So when you do this procedure, you have to check the shark egg to make sure it is viable for this procedure (and just plain old viable). Some of the things to check for are things like making sure there is indeed a developing shark inside, already formed. It should be already at least a month through gestation (they take three months to hatch) and you can tell because by then, the shark will already be horned. This means that the plugs at the end of the shark egg are open and that the water on the inside of the shark egg can easily drain out. This means that at this point, you opening up the egg will not be a problem because the conditions on the inside of the egg are just like the ones on the outside. So we picked out an egg and set it aside for someone else to pick up for us while we taught the class. I radio’d them to get the shark egg ready and to bring it down to class because we were on our way down to perform the procedure (We didn’t want it to sit out in a bucket for two hours while the temp dropped and oxygen levels dropped). Thing is, she didn’t find the shark egg we set aside, so she picked two that she thought were good to go. After some careful examination, I picked one, and although I was a little aprehensive because the shark looked pretty big in that little egg, we went for it. I sat in the classroom with a camera pointed at my hands and the egg, broadcasting the live feed so that the kids could see, and other staff members that wanted to see as well. I was nervous because as simple as the procedure is, it is still a live developing itty bitty shark that you want to make sure you don’t hurt in any way – and everyone is watching. So I am using the scissors to cut the window, tilting the egg so that the shark inside drops to the opposite corner of where I am cutting (thereby lessening any chances of me cutting him by accident), and I am barely getting half way when it happens – the shark is born. THE SHARK IS BORN! Ha! I freaked out at first because I thought he managed to squeeze out the hole that I was cutting in the egg, but I quickly realized that he came out right where he was supposed to, at the end of the egg where when the shark is ready, he opens it up. He landed in my plastic container filled with paper towels and wiggled like crazy. He flipped over, and I could see that he had already consumed his yolk, and indeed, it was his time to be part of this world. So I picked him up, and put him in the bucket, and all the kids came over to see the little guy that we nicknamed “Shadow” because of the class. After that, I finished the procedure, even though there wasn’t a shark in there, just to show them how it was done. I almost didn’t because I thought it pointless, but my coworker pointed out that we could still infact do the procedure to show them, it didn’t really matter that the shark was out. So they got to see how we window shark eggs for display, and they got to see a shark born in my hands. lol This is why I still work there. Where else am I going to go home and tell Juan that a shark was born in my hands today? Wanna see the little guy? Here he is!

After that, went to a nice party to with people from work. We had a great time just talking and venting and retelling all our AoP stories. Juan was so good, and actually enjoyed it, even though he was the only one there that never worked at the aquarium.

On Sunday, we woke up, had a nice breakfast at home, and headed out to the park. Juan and I have started to be more active and healthy, and so far, I’ve lost almost five pounds, which is encouraging. We are eating healthier, and this morning, we went to play frisbee in the park. So we walked there, played frisbee, and then went walking around the local shops and stuff. We spent three hours out and about, it was really nice. We almost went to the LA Auto Show, but decided to leave it for next weekend. We finished off the weekend by going to my parent’s and watching a movie with my dad. All in all, a great weekend.

Yay. I’m working on Christmas Eve. And it’s foggy.

Well, the Aquarium itself looks less so…

But look at the harbor.

Kevin and Andy, two of my favorite divers. We’re out at Shark Lagoon, and Kevin is dressed in his Santa Diver suit for the holiday. Andy is holding Destiny, his great white shark that he takes on all his presentation dives here.

I believe this is Beaker, but I am not 100% sure. She is a giant pacific octopus and is just simply gorgeous.

Baby brown-banded bamboo shark. Same pic as referenced above, but you may have just missed my cool story because you thought it was too long and skimmed my entire entry. :p

And more randomness…
Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime. Thanks to scarah2 who often sends me the most interesting articles and news bits. Talk about a stupid law. And they seriously use the word “annoy”. *headdesk* I would be the first to tell you how I hate the annoying people online, but to make it a federal crime? First off, uh, hello? The internet is international. And secondly, what is ‘annoying’? I find 1337 incredibly annoying, even more than ASL. I find hardcore shippers insanely annoying. JK haters because she isn’t writing their ultimate Mary-Sue? Annoying. Little kids on the internet going in to chat rooms with adults? Annoying (actually, there are a ton more words that go there, but let’s stick to annoying). Drama. Internet drama is so freaking annoying. Does this mean that they all need to go to jail? Not at all. I can’t even believe they let this pass. I can’t believe money and time were spent on writing this up, on planning it out so that it was attached to a Bill that just had to pass. What I can believe is that Bush signed it. :p