Secrets Deep Within The Oceans

This is a reproduction of life around a hydrothermal vent. Deep in the ocean, down in the dark, beyond where sunlight can reach, life thrives. Much of that are organisms that spend their entire lives here, either relying on the nutrients of hydrothermal vents, or feeding on the organisms that do.

Some aquatic species are quite alien, including the crustaceans.

The mola is an unusual looking fish, sometimes found on the surface sunbathing. A reproduction hangs overhead.

An undersea remote lab lies off the west coast, sending information back to scientists about what's going on down there. NEPTUNE Canada set it all up, and the data that is sent back allows us to learn more and more about the ocean.

Barkley Canyon is out there, a maze of canyons deep in the ocean off the west coast. As much as we know about the ocean, it's a mere fraction of what's to be learned and explored.

Another view of the gallery.

Some birds spend time at sea.

One last shot from the Water Gallery. Whales and dolphins known to Canadian waters, to scale with each other, are displayed in this case.

Almost As If From Another World

 At this portion of the Water Gallery, we find a saltwater tank filled with jellyfish, swimming around. They are vastly different from us, a challenge to photograph, and strangely mesmerizing.

The sea turtle counts jellyfish as among their favourite food. A full scale model hangs overhead.

Those that dwell in the true deep of the oceans are even more alien.

Aquatic Life In Fresh Water Locales

 Hanging from the ceiling in the Water Gallery are a number of what I assume to be fibreglass full scale reproductions of beluga whales. Some of them may have been brought over from the World Exchange Plaza, which spent a few years renovating its interior, and the familiar sight of beluga and narwhals no longer present. But others were here beforehand.

We move on into an area looking at fresh water. A terrarium is set up in here.

This spotted turtle was fast asleep.

A large aquarium includes a number of freshwater fish.

This space looks at the importance of wetlands in an ecosystem, and some of the animals that live around them.

Here we have an Atlantic salmon.

A hint of tomorrow.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Motors

The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo. For February, that theme is Motors. Check out how other people are interpreting this theme right here.

I start with something unlikely, an escalator, but of course these have motors operating them. This one descends deep into the underground LRT Rideau station downtown. The platform is 26 and a half meters below the surface, and this escalator is the longest in the country, at 35.3 meters. I took this shot in late December.

One day in early January I was passing through the courtyards of the Byward Market and noticed this car parked, its owner elsewhere. The contrast with the old wall and the mounted photographs appealed to me. The photographs are called Dodge Away, by Kan Azuma.

Another LRT station in the downtown core, with an incoming train, which has a motor of its own. The LRT system in the city has been something of a debacle for years, sufficed to say.

This one's from the archives, taken in the summer of 2018. This is the ugliest car in the city, and it's still around, and even more decorated these days. Though one does not see it over the winter, so it must be stored away. I saw it last in October or November out and about, lit up. I've long said that when the owner decides to get rid of it, he'll have to pay someone several thousand dollars to take it off his hands. This was taken in the Byward Market.

I was out in Nepean one January day running errands. I got off a bus and saw this pick up truck with multiple bumper stickers. This one got a laugh out of me. Do Transformers have motors?

Another look at LRT trains in the tunnels beneath the core. I got on this one, and took the second shot when I got off.

On another January day, I was at Lansdowne Park during a snowfall. Several emergency vehicles were parked in given areas. No emergency- a hockey game was on that day, with a first responders theme, hence the vehicles. There were set-ups inside for paramedics, firefighters, and police.