extinct another day (aquarium/undercover conclusion)

64.95 million BC...

okay just when i thought today couldn't get crazier it did... now i don't really feel like going into to much detail here people of the innerweb. don't get me wrong. it's not that i don't want to talk to you or tell you about it... just at the end of my tour as a spy there has been a big twist ending i just didn't see coming...

before i reveal that though heres the quick version of what went down this afternoon...

so the truck with lobey showed up, and we got her loaded into my boat. however before i could set out you'll never guess who showed up...

yeah darth caught back up with me. man i'm sick of this guy's death grasp...

"you couldn't hide forever." he boomed. "now i want that fish. not excuses."

i was hooped simply put. he held me out this time so my tail wouldn't reach him...

he must have noticed the tank in my boat because he hauled me over to it.

seeing lobey in the tank he stopped. i lost the ability to breath... or wait i guess i'd lost that already... all i know is it felt terrible. i'd failed as a superspy, and worse i'd failed lobey... this monster of the dark side had her completely at his mercy, and there was nothing either me or her could do to stop him.

"this will be a day long remembered." he started. suddenly he lifted his other hand. in it was a big metal tube... oh no a light sword!!! he threw me to the side, and raised the cylinder. with a hiss of electricity a great red glow filled the air. he went to swing with that hand, and with his other hand he raised something in front of him...

"it has seen the end of my fish watching list, and will soon see the end of my search." he said bringing the cylinder against a clip board in his other hand.

he then simply made a checkmark on a list... a list of fish... and that was no light sword. rather it was just a light up pen!?!?!

with that he just turned around and walked away... like for good. he just went to the street and hopped into his black car and drove off...

this guy's reputation is way overblown due to the movies... he is just a big evil fish watcher. the aquarium had taken lobey off display the day he was going through to finish off his BC list...

well i guess i'm a better superspy then i thought. one evil villian disposed of, and one fish released... wait i still hadn't released her!!!

getting my boat into the water i took it out into the middle of the habour. this should be good i thought. nice open water. access to the open sea. no evidence of mega predators.

with that i dumped her tank into the water, and she started to swim away into the depths. as per the aquariums instructions i grabbed the underwater telyscope and watched her as she went. she started to look a lot better right away!

after a bit of swimming she reached the bottom where she happily took up residence in a hole.

so with that i succeeded in my mission! i have to put this whole superspy incident on my resume!

getting back to shore though i had another crazy thing happen. i realized i was ON TOP of 65 million BC! as in it's right here in front of me where i type right now people of the innerweb!!!

i'm going to leave you now, and finally get to the goal of my 2 month quest!!!

darth. no (undercover part 2)

64.64 million BC

today has to rank as one of the craziest days of my life, and as you know people of the innerweb i've had some pretty crazy days recently!

the plan was to release lobey back into the wild of the BCs. i'd gotten my boat, and i'd made the arrangements with the aquarium to have lobey shipped to the peer so i could set out.

there was just one problem i was worried about lobey's enemies using this as a chance to attack her. who they were i wasn't sure. why they'd want to get her i didn't know. was i being paranoid? well i was going with my gut feeling, and the answer was no... (superspies always follow their gut feelings in the movie, and are right!)

so i had to get from the boat store to the peer myself. to do so i decided to take the long way to make sure i wasn't being tailed. along the way i got to pass a cool fountain. while standing around watching the water i noticed a black car that had stopped suspiciously in a no parking zone...

though i would have liked to chill out at the fountain a bit longer i had a bad feeling about that car. starting to walk through the plaza around the fountain suddenly the car took the corner so that it could head the same way i was!

okay i know how this sorta thing works... in movies i should get in a car, and we'd have a chase. problem is i left my car in north vancouver... i didn't feel like running, cause to run as fast as a car i'd be really tired by the time i got to releasing lobey.

instead i ducked into a mall to try and lose them. it was easy enough as i'd been heading the wrong direction... doubling back on the plaza i figured since i'd be tailed once that i should make sure it didn't happen again...

i plunked down to start a blog entry... when suddenly someone grabbed me from behind!!!

man oh man did they grab me too. they lifted me right into the air! suddenly in a all too formiliar booming voice i heard "what have you done with that fish!!!"... i knew that voice! and man was i in trouble... it was dark vadar!!!

"several transactions were sent to you by aquarium spies. i want to know what happened to the fish their sending you!" he said while increasing the pressure around my throat.

"i got no transactions. i'm an education staff member. out to do a program." i managed to say, but barely. man that guy has a strong grip!

"if your an educator then where is the venue?!?" he angrly replied... oh man he's a sharp cookie.

"what fish?" i was seriously confused... my brain doesn't work the best under normal conditions, but without oxygen that's just asking for trouble.

"the one they took away from the public viewing area last week! the only one i haven't seen! i want that fish!!!" he fumed...

the pressure on my neck was getting a bit much. if he kept up i didn't think i was going to survive... i needed to distract him. like in a spy movie. what would they say. something witty and smart no doubt...

"uh uh" i couldn't think of anything. then it hit me! "i am your son..."

"what?" he was astounded. "that's not true. that's impossible!"

it worked i could feel his grip lessen just a titch. now i just had to escape...

vadar went on though. "you can't be my son... i just met with him for lunch yesterday!"

was he going senile? it was this point i noticed that he was a lot older and fatter then in the movies... i guess that's the nice part about being famous, and having a movie made about your life. you get played by beautiful people!

that was when i made my move! i swung my tail and hit him as hard as i could... i hit him inbetween the legs... i was aiming for his head...

in any case he suddenly toppled over, and let go of me. boy did i take that chance i bolted!

he didn't follow me as best i can tell, and now i'm here hiding out at the peer with the boat waiting for lobey to get delivered so i can release her... it's like i said i knew her enemies would come out to try and get her.

i hope she get here soon!

the man with the wooden boat (undercover part 1)

64.38 million BC

okay i have plan of action to save lobey. now all i need is the gear to accomplish my goal...

first things first i'm going to need a boat. now do happen to be the proud owner of an entire fleet of ships (like an superspy should). problem is their my game pieces for battleship, which by the was NOT sunk! Despite that I'm still going to need a bigger boat...

as of such i had to use my cover as an employee of the aquarium to acquire myself a vessel that is actually seaworth.

to do that i had to wander further into downtown vancouver! what a busy bustling place. which for me was a little daunting. i'm from smalltown alberta. the most foot traffic i've seen in drumheller was during the canada day parade! this was like ten of those all on one block!

it is good too though, in that i blended in, and would be hard to follow.

where to you might wonder. i did too. i just took a phonebook with me and aimed for the closest boat retailer. which in this case was a place called classic boatwares and sales...


getting there i was amazed to find they sold a wide range of old boats. not like used boats either. i mean they sold REALLY old boats. stuff they used in the stone age or uh i guess the wood age?

i was unconvinced this place had what i needed till the salesperson told me these were perfect for smooth boating, and be pretty low impact on the environment.

that was perfect. if i was going high impact i'd be easy to trace! that and such a weird boat would be SO weird no one would think a secret agent would dare use it. i took it!

now time to arrange for the transport of lobey to the boat at the peer, and get ready to release her later this afternoon.

though i'm still worried about lobey's enemies making their move. if they don't act soon they'll miss their chance...

you only evolve twice (aquarium part 8)

64.2 million BC

i'll take a water thawed not frozen...

the reason for my celebration i've found what i need to release lobey. the answer was so simple. i don't know why i didn't see it before...
it was the last tank i had to look at here in the whole aquarium. i was worried. what were the odds that this would hold the answer that i needed. out of all the tanks you'd think the i'd have run into this one already...

checking it out though i was amazed to see an archelon! it may have been a tiny one, but don't hold that against him. i myself know what it is like to be a small individual of a big species!

seconds later a myledaphus swam by... my hopes were realized! i'd found a tank that was the oceans of the BCs!!!

unfortunately ending my celebrations, swam by the last component of an authentic BC ocean... a shark!

now don't get me wrong... i'm liking the true too prehistory assemblage (though i don't want to stick around for a xiphactinus to come by... those guys are just bad scary news all round!), but lobey just won't stand a chance in this tank... the oceans of the BCs could be a scary eateny place... xiphactinuses, cretoxyrhinas, and mosasaurs oh my!

so you're wondering how is it i'm going to save lobey by throwing her in a tank of death...

simple i'm not.

i'm just going to release her into the ocean outside the aquarium... the reason it is the REAL sea of BC!!! she'll have a better chance in the open BC ocean then closed in a small tank with the killers of the prehistoric maritimes (or is the maritime a time period of it's own?)...

so my next task is to get the gear needed to facilitate this transfer...

though i'm still no closer to finding out whose behind the plot to kill lobey...

prehistory never dies... (aquarium part 7)

64.2 million BC

well after the whole beluga/ghost whale fiasco i was worried i was in over my head... cause superspies don't have things go that badly do they?

as i resumed the search though i realized that i must be at the midpoint of the crisis! the ghostbusters and peter being all mad was just like in a movie... i can't save the day if things don't get worse before they get better! and get better they are looking!

i have just made a key discovery here... though it may be more related to my quest in finding 65 million BC it holds out hope for lobey too!

searching the tropical displays i've found further ties here to me and lobey's part of BC...

just like lobey the aquarium has other living fossils!


in a tank area they have a couple crocodilians, distant cousins of mine. i think on my mom's side, but i'm not sure?


later on they had a bunch of birds. my descendents... making this part of the aquarium a dinosaur relative zone! which can only mean one thing...

this is a recreation of 65 million BC!!! meaning that i am almost home! more to the point where better to release lobey then where we both come from!!!

now i still have a slight problem. this is the perfect environment for a tyrannosaur to live and thrive, but not so much so for a coelacanth... i need to find out what the ocean looks like at 65 million BC

contracts are forever (aquarium part 6)

64.2 million BC

well you might say that my hiding in the staff washroom for over an hour is cowardly. especially since now i'm a superspy... but that's why i'm the superspy and your not! i know the battles i have to fight, and ghosts aren't one of them.


i've never once seen a movie where a superspy agent's job description included fighting a ghost. i do know however that it is in special talent agents' job descriptions... in particular my agent bond, peter bond's.

in our contract there is a stipulation that he HAS to prevent any preventable harm to both me and my career. i'd say a ghost attack is a threat to both!!!

calling peter up i explained my current... problem (more like crisis!!!). he told me to sit tight until he could implement a solution...

so peter has a plan for everything to do with his clients, and hearing of my fear of ghosts during our first meeting he put into place a haunting action plan. which entailed his calling the ghostbusters... the REAL ghostbusters, not one of those cheap knock offs or anything! not only that he geared up to personal oversee the busting to make sure they did it right!

man what an agent i have!

well peter and the ghostbusters showed up, and checked on me in my hiding place. after seeing i was okay they headed down to clear up that tank... getting back 5 minutes later they informed me that i'd made a mistake.

those were beluga whales not ghosts...

uh oh... the ghostbusters were a little more then mad for the emergancy call, and peter wasn't too pleased about having to pay them their rush fee... but better to be on the safe side right. right?

oh man. i'd better get back to helping lobey so that everyone will be impressed by me rather then angry...

the living ghostlights (aquarium part 5)

64.2 million BC

alright so i've arrived at a new tank here, and man is it cold... the closer one gets to the glass the more chilly the air gets... i thought the sign saying arctic leading to this tank was just a product placement or something (you know for gum or a condo development)...

didn't see to much in the tank initially. i started to get cold standing there so i decided to get further away to try and warm up...



while my back was turned the crowd "ewwww ahhhh"ed at something. turning around i saw only an empty tank... so i resumed my thermal retreat only to hear the crowd react again... and again an empty tank when i looked!!!

well then i was going to head up to the glass and see once and for what they were all on about!


peering closer to the glass i still couldn't see anything, but this was a HUGER tank then spinnaker's. i leaned in as close as i could... still nothing... looking back and forth i thought i saw some motion in the left corner of the tank... then suddenly just out of the corner of my eye WHOOSH!!!

something big swam by!!!

then i saw it... it was a pale white apparition in the form of a whale! a GHOST WHALE!!!

now even though i'm now a superspy i have to admit i did scream, and really loud. probably like a little girl even... but in my defense ghosts are REALLY scary!!!

making it even scary, and making my scream last a little longer then is acceptable suddenly two more of them showed up...

well i'm now hiding in the staff washroom hoping they didn't follow me!

at least the haunted tank isn't going to be any help with lobey... it was way too cold and haunted for her!!!

from oceania with love (aquarium part 4)

64.2 million BC

well lobey is getting worse, and despite my recon yesterday of the aquarium i'm no closer to helping her. this is a big place though... i only made it part way through it turns out.

today i'm back to the search in hopes i get an idea from a different area...

as of this point i may not know what to do to make lobey feel better, but i got a morale boost!

checking out one of the huge tanks they have here at the aquarium (i'm serious it's a HUGE tank of water... you could hold like a thousand million and four fish in this thing!!! though i won't risk a thousand million and five...), and there was an icthyosaur looking critter in there. noticing me it started to swim towards me!

i've read books where icthyosaurs try to eat people so i was a little alarmed for a second... especially now that i'm a spy!

it approached the glass real slow like, and i may have let out a little yelp... but only a little one i swear!

if this was like the movies any second it would rush the glass and smash through, and i'd be monster food.......

to my surprise it just stopped and floated there starring at me... i returned the favour.

after a minute or two of this starring competition (i lost like 9 times... this thing just doesn't blink at all!!!) i recognized what it was, remembering john acorn the nature nut's movie on marine reptiles at the tyrrell! it's was a dolphin...

i relaxed. dolphins are really friendly, peaceful, and smart. it was just curious about me is all. not going to eat me... though to be fair i won't put it past it to try and eat lobey... dolphins are fishyvores after all!

reading the sign i learned this dude's name was spinnaker, and he is a pacific white siding dolphin... that's kinda cruel making the dolphins being the decoration for the ocean!

so after three minutes of the two of us just sitting there and looking at each other i got the feeling spinnaker likes hanging out with me... the sign says that he usually swims around the tank fast... and sure enough after about the 4th minute he resumed his swimming. i'll have to remember to come hangout with him again if i can.

however it is back to business! time to help out lobey!

a view to a fishy (aquarium part 3)

64.2 million BC


okay so now i kind of responsible for the life of one sick coelacanth. regradless of whether i've been given the task under fake to not so real pretexts... a fishys life hangs in the balance, and i'm the only one who can save it!

now as i've become an undercover agent of sorts (factiod for you other spywannabes like me: it really helps to dress like the people your inflitrating) i need to handle this like a spy...

first i'm going to need a codename as to not let anyone follow a trail back to lobey. hmmmmmm i got it! hammerjaw! we t-rexs have a VERY strong bite.

alright so now i need to find a place where lobey can survive. alright so for me to achieve this a few things are going to have to go down first...

• figure out how lobey needs to live
• find a good place to release her
• get the gear needed us there
• put it all together and get her back into the wild!

alright so first thing is first... then uh... right, i'm kinda new to lists and stuff. not so used to organization... i sure hope this doesn't ruin my being a spy. NO must stick to the task at hand. no time to worry about this. lobey is counting on me!

okay so figure out how she should live... well i have no idea, but fortunetly i'm in a place that should have the answer... cause this place is full of fish!



okay so when i said they have a lot of fish i had no idea! have to say this is kind of a fun part of being a spy so far! i do love watching fish!

also as a sidenote based on these fish of the tropics i now know where to find nemo should the need arise!

i think i may have found the first of my spy rivals. these so called garden eels are kinda of shifty little things. poking their heads up to watch me, but shot back into their hidey holes when i come to look at them... not trusting these guys... wonder if their from russia?

okay i think the stakes are rising in this game! now i've met a trigger fish! i frisked him, and he may not be armed... but for how long???

who knew the world of marine biology was so dangerous? there are some big burly ones hanging around here too. despite their size i know their not the big fish... who is he or she, and why do they want lobey to die???

alright now i know i've seen this kind of fish somewhere... i think it was in a spy movie too...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! piranhas!!! i know what they do to spies!!!

okay so my findings so far in my investigation... no wonder lobey is in danger. the aquarium is a dangerous place!

undercover discovery! (aquarium part 2)

64.2 million BC...

i'm not sure what the events of today mean... i'd like to say i'm excited, and that really cool stuff is going to happen... but i'm also keeping my luck of the last 2 months in mind...

so what i do know is that indeed sarah and other employees at the aquarium think i work here. the only reason my uniform is almost exactly the same as theirs. other then my tyrrell logo on my shirt (which i've made sure to cover up with the nice new name tag these guys gave me!)...

i was going to fess up, and tell them that this was all a big mistake... that is till i got to see what the job was...

it may just need a dinosaurs touch!

sarah took me down into a locked down part of the aquarium where there was a tank with a weird looking fish... then i realized i knew what kind of fish this was! it was a coelacanth!!!

coelacanths are a fish from the time of dinosaurs (and way before actually), but unlike us they managed to survive in some areas outside the BCs... however this one was in the BCs... as in this one probably came from where the dinosaurs are still hanging out in the BCs!!!

sarah explained that lobey (the coelacanth) was not doing so good, and was getting sicker and sicker. there was just nothing that the aquarium could do to make her feel at home. as of such they wanted to release her back into the wild, but they had no idea where to do it.

this is where i came in. as an expert on prehistoric critters (i'm not claiming this... that's what they called me) i was to help them try and make sure lobey would find a new home...

well this is an interesting pickle i'm in here people of ciderspace. but that's nothing compared to standing here close to poor lobey. she's actually looking kinda like a pickle...

she's counting on finding a new home, and unlike me she needs someone else to do it for her!... it's nice of the aquarium to try and help... i wonder why the tyrrell didn't do that for me?

also as a fellow prehistoric beast i feel for her. apart from here in the BCs we don't exist in many places out there... well at least we dinos (except in museums) don't, and i know the few non BC coelacanths live FAR away from here...

so i'm going to keep up my aquarium staffer cover for now, and help lobey find a home. then i'll set the record straight... wonder what peter's advice here would be?