8/14/2009 - Way Too Much Action At Marineland

KTLA Morning News was on location this morning at Terranea Resort. Dylan and K.K. of pvbikehikekayak.com took reporter Megan Henderson out on the water as Merry, Divebum Don and I geared up.

Don headed over to the Garden while Merry and I went deep over the sand. We made our way toward shore, stopping along the way to look at lizardfish, globe crabs, chestnut cowries, flatfish and one great surprise. Merry found a tiny pink abalone crawling along the sand. I found Abby about fifteen years ago and haven't seen a live abalone at Marineland since. We took Sandy to his new home next to Abby. If Sandy hangs around he'll be fed fresh kelp fronds every time we dive there.

Merry had another first today. She began her underwater photography career by taking her Sealife housing down for the first time. Not only did she get a lot of decent images, but it didn't leak. A complete success!

After the dive, the excitement continued on the beach. Jen Schumacher, a 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton grad student completed a 21-mile swim through the Catalina Channel.
 

After all that, the Marine Mammal Care Center volunteers came down to release a harbor seal. The fun never stops at Marineland.

We finished the morning by visiting Matt the Birdman and then enjoyed a walk around the resort. We managed all of this before 9:00 this morning.