Watch the birdie

So, back at the aquarium...

We listened in on a couple of presentations about seals and sea-lions which managed to be fun and educational at the same time.  We learnt that seals are "opportunistic feeders" - just like someone (beginning with G) in our family.  And we attended the "Sea-lion Show", which was pretty low key and mostly demonstrated how the animals are taught to do tricks that make it easier for the trainers to keep them healthy and active.  As far as the show went, the sea-lions had the last say.  A couple of them didn't feel much like performing, wandered on stage and got fed a fish or two then wandered off again.  We rather admired their nonchalance.

A surprise extra for a venue concerned with aquatic life was the summer special "Birds of the Outback" exhibit.  Basically, a big tent full of budgerigars.  For $3 each we got to go in with a bit of millet stuck on a stick to see how many budgies we could tempt down from their perches.  It was a lot of feathery fun.  I'd forgotten how much I like budgies.

But the highlight of the visit for me was a 10 year-old beluga whale called Juneau.  He kept coming right up to the glass viewing wall to look at the crowd.  He seemed especially interested in very small children, and would press his nose against the glass and squeak at them, and stay with them for minutes at a time.  Who knows, maybe he was asking them to get him out of there?  But it seemed more like he was just being friendly and trying to play.  It was entrancing to watch.  I quite lost my heart to that pudgy white whale.