Belugas, seals and sea lions OH MY

Baleener's school mate and loner resident of 654 has gone on vacation. Just in time for Baleener to need some help running some tests for his Masters project down at Vancouver's Aquarium. So I offered to help. My ulterior motive was that I knew this would grant me a behind the scenes look at the aquarium. If any of you know me well or read the camping blog post, you would know I love animals. I love watching them, I love petting them, I really love feeding them, and I LOVE LOVE to kiss them!!! Which is kinda a problem with cats because I will kiss a cat (there are three living within the 654 alone) and then forget and kiss Baleener shortly after...causing an immediate allergic reaction for him...and a mild fight for us.

So today I traded 4 hours of work (holding a flow probe in a flow

tank) for about 30-40 minutes of AMAZING ANIMAL EXPERIENCE! I got to feed and pet the Beluga whales, a Stellar Sea lion, and Alaskan fur seals. The Stellar Sea lion's name was "Izzy" and she was so wonderful! She was very gentle and performed great tricks! My favorite trick was: You hold up your hands like guns and go "bang" and then she falls dramatically on her back like you shot her.

Best part though, of course, was getting the opportunity to kiss a fur seal named "Tafika". It was our first kiss though so she kissed me on the nose.

Very modest of her I think. The whole experience made me very jealous of the trainer's job, but then I remembered that I like making money and not living with my parents. So I guess I will just be a visitor.