»Everything was fine at Coney Island

'though it's too early in the season for the Sideshow at Coney Island to be open on a slow weekday,
David Grubbs has a nice piece entitled "Coney Island, 2001" which will put you in the mood for Eak the Geek and others.
Anna and I went to see Ivak the Walrus and his consort at the Aquarium. When we arrived, we were just in time for the morning walrus feeding! I love these sessions, because the keepers so obviously know and love their charges, and spend much time explaining the social behaviour and natural science of the walrus to the attentive audience (someone always asks "Where are the tusks?" -- at the Aquarium, all of the walruses have developed tooth infections, and thus the tusks were removed to prevent further infections and decay). But to our surprise, only a scuba diver with a gasping air hose was in the enclosure, and he was lying prone and helpless-looking on one of the rocky outcroppings. We watched him do nothing for a while, and then wandered off to look at the beluga, ignominously hidden behind a massive construction site; the wetlands, undergoing reconstruction; the jellyfish, mobbed with school-children (note to self: never, ever visit a zoo during the school-day!); and the seahorses, many of whom were mysteriously absent from their tanks. Somewhat disappointed, we made our way back to Ivak's tank, and from the underwater viewing area saw him mock-fighting with one of the teenage females. We later took in the early-afternoon feeding, before going off to do some of our own. Yum.