mwp
In Memoriam
So, my trip to Vegas...I went out to visit my folks. Lost my appropriated $20 on the slots, Renee recouped most of her slot losses on the Roulette table... 
We did two really cool fish related things. Last time around my brother and I tried fly fishing at Willow Beach, but that was more than a total waste of time.
This time around, the first thing on the list was a trip to see Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. Coming from the hometown of the Shedd Aquarium, I have to keep everything in perspective. It was interesting to learn that the Bonnethead Sharks on display at Shark Reef were captive bred (if I heard the narration right, born at Shark Reef, 12" long)! Same with all the skates in the "petting pool"!
While I was also impressed to see adult Vlamingii tangs and hordes of adult Sohal tangs, it seemed most were suffering from various degress of HTH/LLE. However, I didn't see this same malady affecting any of the several French Angelfish in the Carribean exhibit, nor any of the HUGE Maculosus Angelfish in with the Tangs and Zebra Sharks (another really cool fish I haven't seen before). Noticing the size and the health of the Macs, I can't help but wonder if they have spawns of these angels every night in their gigantic tanks?! Which of course now has me wondering if I should renew my contacts with the Shedd to discuss the possibility of obtaining fish larvae and eggs to attempt to rear (afterall, they're probably not doing anything with them!).
The other really interesting thing we did was make a trip to Death Valley. My folks were beyond excited to show us the Salt Creek Pupfish (a killie that basically lives in saltwater). Of course, as it turns out there were signs posted all over reading, "Pupfish will not be active in this area until February". We pressed onward, walking the entire boardwalk, only to see the same signs posted throughout. We later found out that the pupfish were "hibernating" or as a website put it, "dormant". I did get to see where the pupfish LIVE, and coinciding with that, I looked 'em up. Turns out the best time to see them is February to May. The website I found made a thought-provoking comment along the lines of, "it's more than unusual to consider that within a half mile hike you are walking past the entire population of a species on the entire planet".
Having actually been there and seen the "only home" this species actually has, and it's ENTIRE HOME at that, that thought-provoking comment is actually rather MIND BLOWING. Seeing that springflow, and seeing that the "river" virtually disappeared, ending up as a stangant puddle/trickle that evaporated by the time the flow reached the parking lot, well, you realize how precarious the existence of some of the earth's biodiversity really is. If that's not an incentive for all of us to be beyond concerned about how our hobby impacts fish in the wild....
So that's my totally off topic ramblings...it's good to be home and waiting for some clownfish to hatch!
Matt
We did two really cool fish related things. Last time around my brother and I tried fly fishing at Willow Beach, but that was more than a total waste of time.
This time around, the first thing on the list was a trip to see Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. Coming from the hometown of the Shedd Aquarium, I have to keep everything in perspective. It was interesting to learn that the Bonnethead Sharks on display at Shark Reef were captive bred (if I heard the narration right, born at Shark Reef, 12" long)! Same with all the skates in the "petting pool"!
While I was also impressed to see adult Vlamingii tangs and hordes of adult Sohal tangs, it seemed most were suffering from various degress of HTH/LLE. However, I didn't see this same malady affecting any of the several French Angelfish in the Carribean exhibit, nor any of the HUGE Maculosus Angelfish in with the Tangs and Zebra Sharks (another really cool fish I haven't seen before). Noticing the size and the health of the Macs, I can't help but wonder if they have spawns of these angels every night in their gigantic tanks?! Which of course now has me wondering if I should renew my contacts with the Shedd to discuss the possibility of obtaining fish larvae and eggs to attempt to rear (afterall, they're probably not doing anything with them!).
The other really interesting thing we did was make a trip to Death Valley. My folks were beyond excited to show us the Salt Creek Pupfish (a killie that basically lives in saltwater). Of course, as it turns out there were signs posted all over reading, "Pupfish will not be active in this area until February". We pressed onward, walking the entire boardwalk, only to see the same signs posted throughout. We later found out that the pupfish were "hibernating" or as a website put it, "dormant". I did get to see where the pupfish LIVE, and coinciding with that, I looked 'em up. Turns out the best time to see them is February to May. The website I found made a thought-provoking comment along the lines of, "it's more than unusual to consider that within a half mile hike you are walking past the entire population of a species on the entire planet".
Having actually been there and seen the "only home" this species actually has, and it's ENTIRE HOME at that, that thought-provoking comment is actually rather MIND BLOWING. Seeing that springflow, and seeing that the "river" virtually disappeared, ending up as a stangant puddle/trickle that evaporated by the time the flow reached the parking lot, well, you realize how precarious the existence of some of the earth's biodiversity really is. If that's not an incentive for all of us to be beyond concerned about how our hobby impacts fish in the wild....
So that's my totally off topic ramblings...it's good to be home and waiting for some clownfish to hatch!
Matt
You go Matt 
