Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Kids at the Aquarium

Chris and I went to the Long Beach Aquarium this weekend so I could do some studies of marine arthropods for a class. Aquariums are special to me. When I was six years old I decided that being an astronaut was overrated and that I should become a marine biologist instead. Obviously that didn't happen (as it turns out I'm not so great at maths), but I am still infatuated with marine life.

Since it was a long weekend, the aquarium was more crowded than usual. As we expected, there were a lot of families there. Parents of rambunctious boys--I don't know how you guys manage to muster the energy to keep up.

The first thing we saw when we approached the aquarium was this:



Inside the building we saw a lot of this:


The poor aquarium employee monitoring the touch tanks was having a particularly tough day:


Basically I witnessed a lot of misbehaving from many a hyper child (often at the expense of one or more animals). However, I also saw a lot of really well-behaved kids who were just as amazed by marine life as I was at their age. This guy was awestruck by the giant spider crabs:

"WHOA! ....WHOOAAA!...WHOAA!!"

21 comments:

Ryan Green said...

A NE MAY SHUN!

Gabby Zapata said...

awww hahaah oh kids.. I used to be like that when I was little.. banging on the glass, chasin the birdies.. etc. Then, I saw Finding Nemo and I understood to never bang on the glass haha.

Great post :D!

Ryan DeLuca said...

Awesome!!! But you forgot the ever present hispanic children shouting "Mira!!! Mira!!! Es Finding Nemo!!! Great work!

chengwhich said...

awesome! giant spider crabs still amaze me.

Josh 'Hat' Lieberman said...

these are great little vignettes, super cute and very charming.

Michael said...

These are pretty amazing! Whenever I see a kid hitting the glass at an aquarium, I always imagine what it would be like if the tables were turned. The kid is asleep in his bed and a giant monster fish keeps slapping his tail against the bedposts. Give me that reality...

Januel Mercado said...

Haha really cute, the drawings that is, not those bratty kids...I also love aquariums! I wanted to be an underwater photographer. You guys been to the one at Monteray? I was wondering how it compared to Long Beach, which I've never been to...

Megan Nicole Dong said...

Ryan--haha.....kind of :D

Gabby--thanks! Haha, yea I know these kids are just trying to get the fish's attention.

DeLuca--Thanks! I actually heard parents/children talking about "the Nemos" in a handful of languages! English, Spanish, Cantonese and Japanese. It's like going to the LA zoo and hearing the parents refer to the gerenuks and antelopes as "Bambis."

Davin--Thanks! And yea those spider crabs are pretty incredible to see up close.

Josh--Thank you!

Mike--Thanks! Haha, I love that monster-under-the-bed idea!

Januel--Thanks!! Yes, I have been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium! I love that place! Long Beach's aquarium is a lot smaller (this one doesn't have the giant Outer Bay exhibit with the Ocean Sun fish, etc) but I'd still recommend visiting it :) That's awesome that you wanted to be an underwater photographer!

Cons Oroza said...

Bahahaha, the gif is awesome.

Casey Crowe said...

Hilarious! The kid beating the glass is awesome. Poor fish.

Moro Rogers said...

Haha...That's pretty great. (PS...Diatoms! Yeah!)

Viv said...

Awesome as usual, Megan!!!

Ted Blackman said...

Thanks for the nice comment.
So follow me ya stinker, - because I like your avatar :)

Oh yeah, lived in Long Beach for a couple years, but they didnt have the aquarium yet. Been to the Monterey one though, and it's very nice. Liked the giant sea anemone display.

Michael said...

so appealing! love your technique!

Chase Standley said...

these are awesome! I like what your doing in class as well.

Nikhita P. said...

HAHAHA! that was really amazing. Love your boards and the life you put in them! :)

Megan Nicole Dong said...

Constanza & Casey--Thanks! I saw so many kids doing that; poor fish.

Moro--haha, heck yea diatoms!

Vivian--thanks Miss!

Ted--Haha, done :P

Michael--Thanks so much!! I love your comics :)

Chase--thank you! I really like your character drawings too!

Nikhita--Thanks!!

Jason Scheier said...

hahahahahaah

k.mediani said...

Woa, these are real awesome!!! Great sketches and stories being told.

Marcos Mateu said...

Not a wasted moment I see! Sounds like these places should have hyper employees watching, to keep up.

The Ivanator said...

a real fan of your work. Hi-larious!