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Business & Tech

Finding Nemo on the 'Looking Glass'

Take a 30-minute voyage on the "Looking Glass." Though you won't see Nemo, you might spot some Garibaldi.

Smith is at the age where he is curious about everything, and he sponges up new experiences at an astonishing rate. I am constantly seeking out local opportunities to educate my growing "nerdlet," so I was super excited to find out that the Redondo Beach Pier has a yellow "submarine" (or glass-bottomed boat) that goes out on 30-minute fish-sighting expeditions.

Which makes me happy my bottom isn't made of glass, as I don't need any more passengers on my ship of fools.

First off, 30 minutes sounds great to the parent of a 2-year-old. Second, my son loves fish and would be floored to see them up close in their natural habitat. Third, my husband and I love the at the end of the pier and welcome any excuse to gnosh there.  

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The Looking Glass is a 19-passenger, semi-submersible (say that three times fast) boat with two seven-foot-long underwater picture windows. Like any good California transplant looking for fame, the originally baptized Ava Mahalo Lani changed her named to Looking Glass. Personally, I like Ava better, and will call her by her given name when on board. But I understand marketing, and I know the name Marilyn Monroe was far better for Hollywood than Norma Jean ever was. Even more off-topic, my grandmother's name is Norma Jean.

Hey, Grandma Norma! Thanks for reading, you hipster.

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The Looking Glass tour only costs $15 per adult and $10 per child. Bring cash, as it's all they will accept. (I offered up Smith and my husband, but they turned up their noses.) The ride takes around 30 minutes, and you begin up top before going below to watch the fish through the glass.  It's a lot like the Finding Nemo ride at Disneyland, so Smith kept wondering where Nemo and Dori were. I told him they were in another part of the ocean, and to stop talking so much.

Captian Casey told us to be on the lookout for a Garibaldi, a bright orange fish that likes to consort with rocks and kelp. I told Smith to shout out "GARIBALDI" if he saw a bright orange fish. We saw our first Garibaldi and sure enough, Smith shouted, "Garibaldi!" like a Bingo champion. We also saw opal eye and smelt fish in abundance. The rocks seemed to loom frighteningly close to the glass, and we asked Captain Casey if he had ever hit the rocks.  

Never, he said. My husband believed him, but I was still suspicious.

After a good bit of fish ogling, we went back above board to go see some California sea lions. The sea lions are a hoot to watch as well as smelly to smell. Smith saw them lying there together in the sun and said, "How cute"—an entirely new phrase for him. But they were cute, lying there together in a malodorous huddle while vying for the coziest spot. I had no idea how to distinguish the sex of a sea lion. Now I do, and you can, too, if you listen to Captain Casey aboard the Looking Glass. You could Google it, but there is little adventure in that.  

Anchors away, Redondo Beach!

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