Questing Beastie's Library

Gold mourning ring inscribed "Let Love Aibide till Death Divide", England, 17th century

We’re excited to welcome an ocean sunfish (Mola mola) to the Open Sea exhibit! Always a fan favorite, this mola comes to us from Monterey Bay. It’s likely less than two years old and weighs about 17kg/37.4 lbs. We’re the only aquarium in North America to exhibit these sensitive animals, thanks to our proximity to their habitat.

These uniquely-shaped fish can be found in tropical and temperate waters around the world. They’re common visitors to Monterey, feasting on the bounty of the bay, including the smacks of jellies that come in with the currents. Along with their colossal cousins, the bump-head sunfish (M. alexandrini), ocean sunfish have earned the title of world’s largest bony fish, topping out at 2,300kg/5,000 pounds!

Before joining Team Open Sea, new molas must first successfully complete mola boot camp. Our aquarists target-train the ocean sunfish through positive reinforcement, teaching the sunfish to recognize a visual cue and associate that cue with meal time. When the symbol is set in the water the silvery sunfish swim right over to start snacking!

Molas are always temporary guests at the Aquarium. We weigh them regularly, and once a sunfish grows to be around 230kg/500 pounds, or if their behavior changes letting us know they’re ready to go, we release them back to the wild with tags. The tags allow us to find out how large the molas have grown should someone come across them again. We’re never quite sure how long a sunfish will stay with us, but for now, enjoy some magical mola moments in the Open Sea!

"They won't stop with Roe"

a protest is an implied threat. a protest says there are a lot of us, and we do not like what you’re doing. we are giving you a chance to course correct before we take things to the next level.

If you are in a red state, your state either has an abortion ban in place or is rated by the Guttmacher Institute as likely to enact a ban. Your focus should be on protecting yourself and others who need abortions.

stop using electronic period tracking apps or software

educate yourself and others about pregnancy prevention and join groups that are making preventative birth control more accessible

learn the nearest and most accessible routes to states where you and your loved ones can access abortion

contribute to mutual aid funds to help transport people over state lines if they are in need of abortion

consider joining The Satanic Temple so you can claim protections under the Religious Abortion Ritual if you are prosecuted for obtaining an abortion

keep a stock of by-mail abortion pills for yourself and/or others who may need them (you may need to travel out of state to obtain them)

form community provider networks and see if you or someone you know can be trained to use manual vacuum aspiration kits or a Del-Em

all of the above should be done in complete secrecy using verbal communication, end-to-end encrypted apps such as Signal, or a VPN

If you are in a yellow state, you currently have constitutional abortion protections but they are in jeopardy. Get active in local political groups NOW to fight back against constitutional amendments to ban abortion. Your focus should be purely on political action.

If you are in Michigan, you currently have a ban in place which is being challenged, and your governor is working to add abortion protections into the Michigan state constitution. Your focus should be on supporting the work that is currently under way.

If you are in a green state, your state has constitutional protections for abortion that are unlikely to be challenged. Your focus should be on helping others to enter your state for abortion care.

connect with abortion access groups such as Aid Access, Abortion on Demand, the National Network of Abortion Funds, or Just The Pill

volunteer to help people enter your state for abortion care, either with transportation help or letting someone crash on your couch

if you live in a green state with no current or predicted primary routes from other states for abortion access, you can focus your efforts on supporting political action in other areas

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.

It's because voting isn't changing the settings.

Voting is throwing stones in a river to change the course of the water.

One stone isn't going to do much, and it takes time for the river to actually change course even when you do have a lot of people throwing stones in.

For the last 40+ years, the Right Wing in the US has been marshalling their people into organized stone-throwing teams, and they've reached the point where they've pretty much got the river dammed and ready to flood people's homes.

It's going to take time and effort to a) breach the dam, b) divert the water, and c) push the river back.

MONEY. WE WANT MONEY. MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY. WE CAN DO SO MUCH WITH IT. WE HAVE ACCESS TO DEALS YOU COULD NEVER. MONEY

That aside.

 I’m only going to talk about food items but if your food bank takes personal items, a lot of times diapers, feminine hygiene products, etc, are very very welcome. 

1) Canned chicken and beef 

looooooove this stuff. It’s expensive, it lasts forever, it tastes good and it can be used a variety of ways. This stuff is fucking catnip to food banks, it’s so hard for us to provide proteins. 

2) Fancy nut butters

Peanut butter is a standby for food banks as a shelf-stable inexpensive protein, but if we have a family with a kid with a peanut allergy that’s not going to work. Non-peanut butters are expensive and it’s something we hardly ever see donated. (we also like peanut butter, but that’s easier for us to buy ourselves than non-peanut butters)

3) Canned or packaged tuna

You may notice a trend here in shelf-stable proteins. And yeah. That’s basically it, so I’m not going to keep harping on it. But this stuff is a godsend. 

4) Easy breakfast things for kids (Granola bars, instant oatmeal, and the like) 

Whatever Donald Trump tells you, most people who get food from food banks are actually working their asses off and so they have to leave Obama to raise their baby or whatever, and they don’t have a lot of time in the morning. Things like this that kids can make for themselves are expensive. (Another trend you may be noticing–donate shit that costs a lot of money. That helps us more than all the shitty green bean cans in the world) But they are so helpful for busy working families where the parents may not have a set schedule and sometimes little Amanda is making her own breakfast before she runs off to school. Don’t let kids go to school hungry. 

5) Shelf-stable juice