Dragons of the Sea

Tennessee Aquarium, Chattooga

While in Chattanooga, we had the privilege of going to the Tennessee Aquarium. This complex is housed in two different buildings, and contains all manner of fish and crustaceans, not to mention many other water-loving creatures. The otters were great, the paddlefish fantastic, the piranhas fearsome, but the part I enjoyed the most was the room of seahorses.

Although not in the ocean building, this room held aquariums filled with every type of seahorse imaginable, including pot belly sea horses (that's right!). Even aside from displaying these odd-looking fish, signs on the tanks told of all their interesting characteristics.

As I went around the room, peering into each tank and noting which species lived in each, I marveled, though not too greatly. We all know what seahorses look like, having seen them in books, but when I came to one tank, I was simply astonished. The creatures inside resembled seahorses, but they were bigger, and were unlike anything I had ever seen. As I looked at their long trumpet-like noses and their bodies that resembled clumps of seaweed, a thought entered my mind—These look just like dillapedes! And indeed they did. These creatures—sea dragons they're called--looked like a product of my imagination, something that might have jumped off the pages of my Dillapedia and came to life.

There are two kinds of sea dragons, leafy ones and weedy ones. The leafy sea dragons are metallic green, but are not quite as leafy as the weedy sea dragons, which look like they're sprouting leaves all over.

I believe sea dragons really show God's creativity. While all the other creatures and plants show His handiwork and design as well, it's these strange-looking ones that really grab your attention, and make you think, "I bet He had fun making those!"