Fun Place to Experience Sea Life

We spent May Day, the Early May Bank Holiday, at Sea Life in Manchester.  It was a great day!  There are reportedly over 5000 animals in the various tanks there, and I can believe it.  My wife, two daughters, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing an incredibly diverse group of sea creatures.  My younger daughter was especially enthralled; she hopes to make a career with animals in another decade or so.  We learned a lot about the animals, including conservation efforts underway to help some of the more endangered species.  More than 70% of Earth's surface is covered with water.  It's not always easy to remember that we humans occupy less than a third of Earth's surface.

Of all the animals we saw, my favourite was Ernie, the giant green see turtle.  I snapped the photo below of Ernie swimming with lots of other animals (click on image for a larger view).

As we walked under the tank, we learned that Ernie is 11 years old, which is still quite young for a species used to living to almost a century.  Seeing so much sea life in one place really got us thinking about our very distant cousins.

Before hopping on the train from Manchester to Sheffield, I snapped a photo of this headline (click on image for a larger view).

I suppose everything is relative.  A temperature of 75 F (about 24 C) would be considered mild at this time of year in my Virginia hometown.  My hometown will in fact have temperatures comparable to 75 F today, but with thunderstorms helping to keep the day "cool."  Frankly, I'll take English weather any time!