With the promise of dolphins, gators, blowfish, and for some reason birds, the Texas State Aquarium seemed the perfect choice for a fun filled weekend activity. I charged my camera batteries extra long to ensure that my mighty Pentax Optio 30 would be ready in a moment's notice to capture that perfect shot of many an elusive aquatic beast. As we started our tour of the aquarium I was mildly impressed as we saw crabs, seahorses, clown fish, and the like. The neon jellyfish were actually quite impressive. As we watched the dolphin, diver, and bird shows (why again is there a bird show at an aquarium?) I let the lame, child-directed commentary pass over me knowing that I was putting up with it only for my daughter's sake... of course my daughter is only 10 weeks old... That probably explains why she didn't get along with the other kids very well last week at Chuck E. Cheese (If I served crappy pizza I would probably avoid the word "chuck" in my company name). I think maybe I should ease up on the fathering.
At any rate, back to the aquarium. So after all the shows (technically in between the dolphins and the birds) the sad realization began to set in that I would probably not come away with the rare picture of wildlife that I was looking for. But then, all of the sudden, that realization came to a screeching halt.
My heart jumped up into my throat and then slowly sank to my stomach. There it was. The rare species that I had longed for. I made sure not to make any quick movements as not to alarm it. I had seen plenty of episodes of Planet Earth and felt well trained for this moment. I took three quick pictures hoping to capture the perfect angle. Here is a rare look at a young Texas Mullet Whitetail. I'd say judging by it's movements and craving for blue slushees that it's a male and by the length of the tail he's got to be between 10-12 years old. One of the true wonders of Texas wildlife. Oh yea, we also saw a paraplegic turtle that was hit by a boat propeller. The awesome video is attached.
3 comments:
Wow. That is one mighty fine mullet tail. Truly a fascinating species.
Here in Orange County, we often see a different species of wildlife: the Breastus Enlargementus. These creatures have an orange spray-on tan skin, and can often be spotted at shopping malls, talking to others of their kind on diamond-covered cell phones.
I can't believe you saw one in its natural habitat!
Welcome to BlogNation (tm).
Yes, normally I would have taken its scalp, but my hunting license expired in April
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