Sea Monkeys

(Photo Courtesy: Homeschooltools.com)

These aquatic creatures were billed as intrigue meets fish tank fun as the viewer gazes into their world through an adapted water game tank.  Do you remember these handheld water tank games where we had two round buttons that propelled jets of water in an effort to either float a marble sized basketball into a net or loop/rings onto pegs?

Do you recall ads or perhaps remember seeing them in the department store aisles?  

Nevertheless, our adventurous, almost fuzzy looking sea animals would surf and float around while magnified "bubbles" allowed us a slight, close up view at what exactly a Sea Monkey  truly looked like.  Well, they did not look like any primate that I have been educated on; nor do they have any resemblance, unlike a Sea Horse that actually looks similar to the mammal horse in which the Range Rider (H.M. Murdock) would fictitiously ride upon.

(Photo Courtesy:Planet Mermaid)

Their appearance looked more as if they were an aquatic centipede.  At first glance, they had at least a couple of dozen legs, a tail, and two dots that were their eyes.  These ever so minute sea creatures are labeled as a brine shrimp.  Growing up to approximately 3/4 inches or 19 millimeters in length which can live for over a year and produce offspring, even within their enclosed environment.  While I never attempted any manipulations or gymnastics, some advertisers claim that the pet owner can, in fact, teach them to perform tricks.  While one may be able to teach them to spin horizontally, or perhaps perform loop-de-loos, however, I am not too confident in their ability in peeling a banana.

The sea monkey seemed to be a familiar staple within the 1980s.  Whether they were received as a gift, a random parental satisfaction for the "wanting a pet syndrome," or simply a why-not addition to your home, they were comical and interesting to have nonetheless; evoking curiosity and conversations.

I recall getting these creatures when I was around ten or eleven.  My mother thought it would be entertaining for us to watch the Sea Monkeys swim around while we cared for them.  Although I have seen the recent instructions while conducting this research, I faintly recall that there was not much involved into setting everything up and witnessing the end result.

There were three packets, the tank, and a plastic (perhaps wood) stirring stick within the kit consisting of a packet of the salt (brine) solution to mix with water and we had to wait for a period of time for the water to completely combine.  Once the stirring and combining timeframe had elapsed, we could add the egg packet into the water.  Within a couple hours, the incredibly tiny Sea Monkeys could be seen, one-by-one, swimming about.  Then the final packet was the food packet and I remember is was a very small amount to provide them too.

They were extraordinarily small and very challenging to spot, especially after hatching.  I recall my mother pointing the first few swimming but she only noticed them as they whizzed by the magnifying bubbles.  By the next day or so, they had grown enough for my sister and I to see them scurrying by the normal plastic tank.

Our late founder, Jason Gross, mentioned that he remembered seeing them on my kitchen countertop within my childhood home in our Memory Jogger: Meet the Hosts episode.

What about your experiences; do you have any memories of these little sea creatures?  Did you teach them any tricks?  Or have you introduced your children to Sea Monkeys?