Creatures of the deep

The Sunshine Coast has not, uh, lived up to its name very well the past two days; lots of clouds and rain, virtually no sun. Can't begrudge the locals the rain, though; southeast Queensland has been in a severe drought for several years; Brisbane's reservoirs are only 20 percent full. So a good soaking is welcomed. Besides, on a gray day I can just visit indoor attractions, like Underwater World, an aquarium in Mooloolaba, a resort town about 40 km south of Sunshine Beach. Not as large as our aquarium in Monterey, but they do have some interesting critters to say the least. This monster is, believe it or not, a giant squid! It's encased in a block of ice and is about 7 meters long...the eye is at least as large as a softball! Very few of these creatures are ever found washed onshore, and a live one was not actually observed until 2004, I believe. I had no idea a carcass was on exhibit anywhere, but here's one in Mooloolaba! The picture's not too great, but its tentacles are to the left with the body to the right. Blow up the pic for more details.

This is a little more conventional critter, a big grouper. The aquarium has a large tank that you travel through in a glass enclosed tunnel. There are many sharks and rays, but I couldn't get a decent picture of them. However, the grouper (known locally as a groper) turned out OK.

This bizarre animal is a sawfish. It actually prefers fresh water to salt but can live in both environments. Despite its hostile appearance, it's fairly gentle and will not attack humans unless they really hassle it.