Wednesday, November 25, 2009-

Day Two: My favorite of the entire trip! First Snorkeling with 12 of my classmates then the Churaumi Aquarium; I'll never forget this day:

Snorkeling on Mission Beach! It was certainly one of the highlights of my entire trip!

I had been snorkeling once before when visiting the Florida Keys for my cousin Julie's wedding. Okinawa was just as spectacular and the coral, fish, and our guide were fantastic. I was surprised to find several puffer fish swimming around beneath us. I was thrilled when our guide dove down, grabbed one of the fish from behind only to bring it up to float on his surfboard. It completed one of my life goals: to see a puffer fish puffed up in real life! It was great, we even got to "pet" its spikes. We all laughed when it burped only to spit up a little mouthful of water!

Other encounters included nemos, angel fish, parrot fish, many tiny blue fish, sea slugs, sea urchins, and sea anemones. A tiny fish that had cool black and gold stripes like a bee, a spear fish, a gang of leopard spotted mini-parrot fish, and more clown fish that thought my white fingers were the bits of food we fed them.

Unforgettable

The view from the Snorkeling beach. We ended up sitting on the beach, searching for cool shells and coral, and playing beach volleyball for an hour or so after we finished snorkeling

Friends and I all set to go snorkeling. PS I had never though of putting on a wetsuit as a skill I possessed until then. I have learned from years of experience tubing out at Kandiyohi Lake. It took me a few seconds but it took my classmates quite a while! They were shocked by me. Haha, thanks cold Minnesota lakes = )

Coral, Sand, Foam, Waves, Ocean, Island, Clouds, Sky

Just keep walking

I won't ruin this picture with words. Enjoy!

So nice to have a break from Tochigi's cool weather!

I could have sat there all day

Awww, so tiny...

Picnic on the beach anyone?

The ocean, mountains, and sky. What more can I say about Okinawa?

シーサー Shiisaa or in English "Shisa Guardian Lions"

The island is famous for them as they adorn every gate, home, and shop. They are meant to protect from evil. Now they're one of Okinawa's most famous souvenirs. I certainly came home with a case full

If the shisa has an open mouth it means that it's a male, closed is a female

Blue and Red

沖縄美ら海水族館 Okinawa Churaumi Suizokan

Okay, bonus points if you can make out the two lion fish swimming in this picture.

After snorkeling my group visited the Churaumi Aquarium. Internationally renown, it was incredible. Just check out some of the fish we were able to see. As you can imagine, my fishery friends were flying (or should I say swimming) high as we spent an entire afternoon enjoying the mysteries of the ocean

My snorkeling was a little less vivid than this, yet still fantastic!

NEMO

This was INCREDIBLE!! The kuroshio tank is the most famous in Japan and the viewing window you see before you is the second largest in the world. The tank holds three fully grown Whale Sharks (9-10 meters long, yet records are near 14 meters long. That's 46 ft!). They were so peaceful and unusual

Seiya, Me, and Miki (if you look closely you'll see one of the whale sharks passing right behind my head)

Two of the three whale sharks crossing paths

The manta rays were also enormous!

It's the Giant Squid!! I can't believe they stole it from the Black Lake at Hogwarts!! Poor Harry...

珊瑚 - Sango - Coral

Feeding time for the whale sharks. Just like a great whale, they feed off of plankton

Everyone taking pictures of feeding time! It was packed

The Shiisa lion statues guarding the aquarium park. That is a separate island straight ahead, the only way to get there is by boat. It looked fantastic sitting across the water

The dolphin show by the ocean side

The island again

and again...

I really wanted to go visit it!! Oh well, that just leaves me a good reason to visit again

The fountain that the Aquarium with the Island in the background

Incredible beaches again

Okinawa Nov. 24-27, 2009

Seaweed floating on the waves. In some parts of the island they actually cultivate the seaweed for cooking and medicine

Some of the coral and seaweed found on the beach

What I would give to sail around these islands! Oh wait, that's right cousin Julie. I can just visit your fam in Saint Croix! I'm seriously going to plan a trip sometime next year!! I specifically took this picture for you = )