A Childhood Dream Come True

As a child, I collected Archie comic books. I loved reading about Betty and Veronica in particular, but I also loved all the cool things advertised in the comic books that you could clip and order. The one thing I ALWAYS wanted to order was Sea Monkeys. Oh, magical, “loveable” sea monkeys!

I wanted to dash off $1.25 immediately for a colony of sea monkeys that were “sure to amaze me and my friends.” They looked so cute! Like Dr. Seuss drawings. I wanted these “Real Live Pets” so much! A “Live Sea Circus Show” in my very own home!

But my dad said no.

“It’s just brine. You’re not wasting money on that. You’d be just as well off buying fish food.”

Childhood ruined. (Haha) I could have tried to argue; after all, they were offering a Lifetime Guarantee. But a part of me couldn’t help but wonder if my dad was right, even while I imagined having a little Dr. Suess-ish colony of sea monkeys that I would hurry home to see every day.

Oh well. My childhood turned out pretty good despite never getting those magical little creatures. Eventually, I forgot all about sea monkeys.

Until I started looking at things to do on my trip to Salt Lake City and was amazed to find a chance to own “real-life” sea monkeys again!

The Great Salt Lake

CATCH live sea monkeys?! I immediately booked the tour

The Tour

On the way to the Great Salt Lake, our tour guide Valerie told us about Antelope Island, the largest island out in the lake. It is home to ~400 bison who are apparently so healthy that park rangers will routinely remove some (to manage herd numbers) and relocate them to areas where they hope genetics will help strengthen other herds.

Once we arrived at the Visitor’s Center and marina, Valerie encouraged us to walk out into the soft sand which acts as an incredible exfoliant. I was eager to try it and my feet did feel less rough when we left. We were also welcome to swim out into the water to experience its famous buoyancy effect and “float like a cork.”

If you’ve ever bobbed around in the ocean, imagine how much more buoyant you’d be in Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Whereas the oceans are about 3.5% salinity, the Great Salt Lake ranges between 5-26% salinity. Of course, the Dead Sea is saltier; it measures 34% salinity.

But I’ll be honest: the water was not all that appealing to me. It was brown and full of microbes — the famed sea monkeys I’d come to catch!

Brine Shrimp

So, what are sea monkeys? Brine shrimp. Just like my dad said.

The brine shrimp that grow in abundance in the Great Salt Lake bring in a harvest of roughly $50 million dollars. Brine shrimp thrive in salty lake water; it’s quite the delicate ecosystem. And what are brine shrimp harvested for, you ask? For fish food.

Sea Monkeys

Sea Monkeys are the invention of a novelty company who hoped to teach children more about science. The Sea Monkey kits include instruction on how to add salt to filtered water and raise it to the right temperature. Once the water becomes habitable to them, the sea monkeys hatch and grow into adults in a few days. Instant pets, but hurry up and enjoy them; their life span is only about 30 days. But for that one month, I guess you’d have that “loveable sea circus” that you hatched yourself and a little more knowledge of salt water microbes. As it turned out, they were even on display in Salt Lake City’s Museum of Natural History.

So, did I catch any sea monkeys? Yes! I cupped them in my hand. It was as easy as scooping up — a handful of water. They were that dense.

After a minute, I let my little pets go. They belonged back in the wild, where sea gulls and pelicans (you’ll see both birds diving for brine shrimp at the Great Salt Lake) can enjoy their fish food. They were never mine to keep.

And you know what? My dad was right. I am kind of glad I didn’t waste $1.25.

Have you ever fallen prey to buying sea monkeys or any other kind of advertised novelty?