From our priviliged backstage view, here's what we see. A line of graceful garden eels wait in the dressing room for their cue, burrowing in garden-like groups on the sandy ocean floor. Nearby are ornate weedy and leafy seadragons, looking like seahorses dressed as glamorous Las Vegas showgirls. Exotic jellies from Palau catch some rays in the tanning booths, allegedly to feed their inner algae gardens, though word on the street says they've got a George Hamilton complex. Saltwater crocodiles check their watches and their smiles.
Agents pace feverishly backstage, waiting for arriving flights of the puffins and shorebirds.
Fiddler crabs tune in the orchestra pit, while large and lanky Japanese spider crabs warm up and stretch their slender gams. Lobster larvae swim peacefully in the nursery, cared for by our own dedicated researchers. The scene here is positively electric. During the five-hour excursion aboard our heated Discovery II, naturalists recount the rich natural and cultural history of the harbor. We will look for a variety of winter seabirds, as well as harbor seals, harbor porpoise, and other marine animals.