Emerald525 Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 (edited) It was a small group ! We had the opportunity to interact with a Giant Pacific Octupus. This was a really sweet female . Thanks Sid for being a great host. Thanks Bert for representing the entire officer and board 😂. He was a one man job bringing all the food and cooking and did an awesome job ! Edited June 23, 2019 by Emerald525 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Bummed to have missed this but glad some got to.interact with the octopus- very cool. Thanks to Sid for graciously hosting us yet again. Big thanks to Bert @badxgillen for repping the officers and BOD (thought Greg was going to make it). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 6 hours ago, albertareef said: Bummed to have missed this but glad some got to.interact with the octopus- very cool. Thanks to Sid for graciously hosting us yet again. Big thanks to Bert @badxgillen for repping the officers and BOD (thought Greg was going to make it). It was a great treat and we got an RV spot within walking distance and we are having a blast. Bert the grill master handled it well. I tried to help where I could but was also busy wrangling the grandkids too. Sid mixes it up enough that each year there is something new to see. This was a really special animal he said and she’s going into the display. You could tell this one actually had an interest in interacting with people. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntoTheMystic Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 8 hours ago, Emerald525 said: Bert the grill master handled it well. True that! He did it all from the buying to the set-up to the grilling to the break down and clean up. Bert really made it happen, which is easy for everyone to believe. Thanks for lunch, man! And thanks everyone for coming. Here are some action shots of the ace grillmaster and photo documentarian of all things PNWMAS: Here you can see the chef is adding some flavor and verve to the burgers while roasting very little flesh of his own! Waiting for just the right moment to go to side two on the burgers. The artisan and his grill. Notice the calm command of the coals and the heat. He even delivers! You can see everyone around him is working feverishly. Right about now, I was feverishly demolishing my burger. In the immortal words of Yoda: "Tireless, he is." Had a wonderful time hosting you guys, as usual. It's a lot of fun for me and i try to make it worth everyone's while by offering something new and different each year. See you folks again in June 2020! 6 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 16 hours ago, albertareef said: Bummed to have missed this but glad some got to.interact with the octopus- very cool. Thanks to Sid for graciously hosting us yet again. Big thanks to Bert @badxgillen for repping the officers and BOD (thought Greg was going to make it). After driving to Santa Cruz and back we just couldn't do the drive. I'm glad everyone had a good time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badxgillen Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 Thank You Sid for taking the time out and opening up the facility to our club. As usual I had a blast and learned quite a bit in the process. Once again you went above and beyond my friend, much appreciated. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Dang if I knew Bert was grilling I would have showed just for the festivities thank goodness no pony tails were lost................... 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Sirena I stayed in the Rv park an extra day. I love Newport and this area. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 3 hours ago, Emerald525 said: Sirena I stayed in the Rv park an extra day. I love Newport and this area. One of our favorite areas at the coast! Did you make it to local ocean this time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 51 minutes ago, albertareef said: One of our favorite areas at the coast! Did you make it to local ocean this time? Didn’t end up having time with watching the grandkids. We tried out the Roque brewery Friday night. Huntero and his wife and kids came by Saturday night and hung out with this. I’m trying to eat mostly Vegan but locally caught fish would have been on my list. Great place ! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Roque foods good to 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badxgillen Posted June 26, 2019 Author Share Posted June 26, 2019 Alright, got some of those pictures I take here all cropped and sorted for sharing to those who were not able to make the trip to the coast this last weekend. That includes you Scott, I know how sad you are about missing this one. But I also know many of you all had unexpected plans come up at the wrong time making this one hard to get to. Anyhow... I got to Newport relatively early to unload and setup a little for the afterwards BBQ. This was great because on such a nice day on a Saturday this place can get busy fast, here for a brief moment I had things almost all to myself. As many of you know the Hatfield Marine Science Center has an amazing visitor area where you can get up close and personal with a number of fascinating animals. Colorful anemones, urchins, starfish, sponges, algaes, and crustaceans are everywhere. These mini indoor tide pools are something that never gets old to me. If I could have one at home I would just go and setup a spot to just kick back, relax, and read a good book on marine biology. Rich greens, purples, and even reds are on constant display to the fortunate visitors. I know I probably say this every time but coming through here makes me want to setup a cold water tank again just for the different types of cool invertebrates. Several of their displays are top notch builds coming a long way from the recent renovation that went on last year. You can walk through the whole cave that is behind this tank giving it that mysterious feeling to it. The maintenance crew here must have to go scuba on these aquariums because even the smaller systems hold a lot of gallons. Don't drop the feeding tongs or we will need to get the ladder again yeah. The balance of educational presentations and hands on activities are perfect. Information is provided in easy to digest dioramas with fascinating subjects such as ocean driven weather, renewable energy methods, and the all important ocean food chain web. The interactive exhibits let you get a feel for some of the research and data that can be relevant to our lives here on land, and some of it is just plain fun to play with. I wanted to get in on these kids fun here but I restrained myself from the "make it rain" feature listed. After wandering around for a while the time just flew by and it was suddenly 1:00, time for our annual HMSC meeting. The PNWMAS attendees and the HMSC guide Sid met up in the lounge area of the center and proceeded to file into the left wing of the facility. One treat that I sorely missed from the older meetings here was the behind the scenes tour of some of the class rooms and projects. This time around Sid was able to lead us back into a couple rooms with various specialized setups for observation and data collection. Sid explains some of the systems that are running and what goes on behind the scenes here, as well as the need to have a screen over any Sculpin fish tank. I think I see Fry in the background here too. A nice collection of aggregating anemones in this shallow holding tank seem to prefer the flat rock and tiles to place their foots on. And it wasn't a rock it was a SQUAT LOBSTER!!! After our exploratory walk we were taken back to the Aquatic Animal Health area where we have been shown fish health workshops as well as quarantining procedures in the past. An impressive build of systems here have intakes plumbed directly into the waters of our coast for a constant supply of fresh clean ocean water. Here you can see another new project in the works, an aquaponics system being built from the ground up by the resident think tank. I imagine by this time next year there will be a bit of greenery popping out of this baby. Always nice to see how other people accomplish the same goals with different methods. After speaking about a couple new charges in the hospital area Sid broke out the mystery surprise he had in store for us, and what a surprise it was! A giant Pacific Octopus was awaiting out arrival. This was an amazing once in blue moon experience. Being able to hand one of these elegant and intelligent creatures was absolutely mind blowing. Nothing short of an unforgettable experience for geeks like me. Emerald left, myself center, and Intothemystic right getting suckered right off the bat, this girl really liked humans that's for sure. Very very sociable. Another fun thing to see in person was the color changing ability so readily used by these animals, the brighter red coloration came on in just seconds after engaging in some exhilarating activities. At some points it was a little intimidating but I had my main man Sid there to keep my hands away from that center beak. Not that she tried anything off, just me being overtly imaginative I think. Markv and Pat getting a Cephalopod handshake, reach out and touch someone on a whole different level. DO not try this at home kids, or in the ocean for that matter. Being so intelligent I am not sure why I was so surprised that these creatures enjoy playing. This little girl had a number of toys floating around here temporary environment including little boats, balls, and her seemingly favorite, this garden water container. AS the filled container was poured into the water the octopus came charging over to get into that turbulent tactile sensation. It was a truly incredible time with this animal, so powerful and yet so gentle. I am very happy to have been able to partake in this experience as I am not sure if the opportunity will come up again. So very Cool!!! After the octopus visit was over we made our way into the court yard area in between the adjacent building\wing and started our aftermath BBQ. The last few years Sid has made available this convenient sweet spot for our gatherings. Nice and open but still isolated from the rest of the weekend coastal riff raff, making unwinding a breeze. All in all it turned out to be a small gathering but still an amazingly good day. As I had mentioned earlier in the threads it was going to be FUN, and Educational and boy did it deliver. Thank you again Sid, the Hatfield Marine Science Center, and the PNWMAS club for getting this all put together. You guys are Awesome! Already looking forward to the next visit out to the Newport coast and my adventures at HMSC. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Sooo sad I missed this and the opportunity to get introduced to such an amazing creature up close. Thanks for sharing Bert - awesome pics and commentary as always. So happy you captured this for us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Thanks @badxgillen for the commentary, pictures and the B-52s reference! Now I have that song going through my head !😂 @IntoTheMystic thanks again for hosting. You can see the pure bliss on Bert and my face connecting with such a special intelligent creature. We were both like little kids. It was fun to interact at one point the Octopus was upset because Sid had Bert and I pull our hands back as it’s mouth was getting to close to us. Safety first for everyone including the animal. The grandkids were a little leery which was not a bad way to be. It’s always a great idea to respect the ocean creatures. OSU and Hatfield are top notch facilities and people pay a premium for an education so Sid your time and knowledge is greatly appreciated ! Sirena and I try to make the trek every time ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snappy Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Looked like a wonderful time! Great write up, photos, and grilling badxgillen, you rock! Cephalopods have always fascinated me. Not sure if I’m missing the mollusk more or Bert’s burgers. Either way, I’m glad to have found the company of such wonderful reefer geeks 🐙🦑🐠🐡🦀🦞🦐🔬🤓☺️ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snappy Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 How many tickles does it take to get an octopus to giggle? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 it takes 10 indeed, tentacles 🐙 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.