Today we got to go to the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology. The view from the Museum was breathtaking. We got to walk through the facilities and see the many different sea creatures (fish, coral, crabs, etc.) that inhabit the waters of Taiwan. We even got to see some deep sea creatures that were preserved in formaldehyde. I learned that one of the fish we saw has a barb close to its tail fin and this barb serves as a form of defense for the fish and a mechanism to "secure" safety. When it feels that it is being threatened it will try to hide in between coral and will use its barbs to anchor itself in.

We had lunch and then went to the intertidal zone on the northeast coast. We were there at low tide so we were able to find a lot of sea creatures. We found many barnacles and I learned that they are hermaphrodites. We also saw sea stars, crabs, hermit crabs, sea slugs, sea urchins, small fish, and red and green algae. I did not take my camera because I knew the rocks would be slippery and did not want to risk breaking it, so no pictures from this trip. But I enjoyed finally being able to get into the water. I mean, come on, I have been living on an island in the Tropic of Cancer for over a week now and I still have not gone to the beach. There is something definitely wrong with this picture. Hopefully when we come back from our 14 day “road trip” I can get to a beach.