Exhibit Updates
May 20, 2013
Snowy Plover Season
Our snowy plover eggs are hatching behind the scenes! Each year from March through September, birds in distress and eggs that have been abandoned are brought to the Aquarium, one of the main rehabilitation sites for shorebirds in northern California.
Learn more on our blog
May 08, 2013
Whales in the Bay!
Did you know that whale-watching season is in full swing? There have been sightings of humpbacks, blue whales (the largest creature on earth) and even a pod of orcas recently. Enjoy a cruise, or perhaps get lucky just looking off our decks! (Ali Barratt photo)
Learn more about whale watching in the bay
April 19, 2013
Did you know that our aquarists are always experimenting with new species to help introduce visitors to the wonders of our oceans? Right now staffer Wyatt Patry is working behind the scenes with these amazing leopard jellies!
Learn more about “The Jellies Experience”
Exhibit: The Jellies Experience
April 10, 2013
A Stunning Sea Slug
What’s lime green with white racing stripes? We’ve added beautiful Taylor’s sea hares to the Wetlands Gallery. Romance is in the air for these tiny animals—you can also see egg masses nearby!
Learn more on our blog
April 03, 2013
Older than dinosaurs? Indeed! Horseshoe crabs have been around for hundreds of millions of years and are said to be “living fossils.” We've added tiny, quarter-size juveniles to “The Secret Lives of Seahorses” special exhibition.
Learn more about “The Secret Lives of Seahorses”
Exhibit: The Secret Lives of Seahorses
March 27, 2013
Traveling Turtle Goes on Exhibit
Remember the young loggerhead sea turtle who enjoyed an excellent adventure across the country, receiving red-carpet treatment from US Airways and arriving at the Aquarium in time for the holidays? It's now on exhibit!
Exhibit: Open Sea
March 07, 2013
Is it a dance? An embrace? No one on staff had ever seen the likes of this recent exchange between a wolf eel and volunteer diver Mike Guardino in our Kelp Forest exhibit.
View the YouTube video
February 27, 2013
Love sharks? We just added a hammerhead to the Open Sea exhibit, measuring 5-foot-11 and weighing 68 pounds. That makes three large hammerheads on exhibit—as many as we've ever had!
Watch them now on our live web cam
Exhibit: Open Sea
February 19, 2013
Come watch our otters romp, wrestle and play, just like their brethren in the bay! You'll see some familiar faces, and perhaps an otter or two you've never met before!
Watch them now on our live web cam
February 11, 2013
Congratulations to Durban the African blackfooted penguin, who turned 21 February 7! He’s the oldest of our penguins, and is about to celebrate his 12th year with us. In the wild, this species only lives 10-15 years. At zoos and aquariums, they can live to be in their 30s!
Watch Durban now on our live penguin cam!
January 30, 2013
Actually, yes! We just added two 65-pound sunfish to our Open Sea exhibit, and they’re already learning to come over at feeding time.
Learn more on our blog
Exhibit: Open Sea
January 23, 2013
How big can a giant clam grow? Would you believe more than four feet? They’re the largest clams in the world! You can see this one now in our Splash Zone exhibit, along with the beautiful copperband butterfly fish.
Learn more about the giant clam
December 26, 2012
Is the mahi mahi the most beautiful fish in the sea? Some people think so, thanks to its iridescent body colors—metallic blues and greens on the back and sides, with white and yellow underneath. We recently added two to our Open Sea exhibit!
Learn more about the dolphinfish
Exhibit: Open Sea
November 19, 2012
How will we remember Mae, who passed away recently at age 11? According to staff, she was endearing and enraging all at once, a feisty and personable otter known for destroying puzzles and sucking on her paw.
Learn more
November 07, 2012
Love sharks? We’re happy to report that we added a sevengill to the Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit, seven feet in total length and 97 pounds.
Learn more about the sevengill shark
November 01, 2012
Ever wonder what happened to the olive ridley sea turtle that beached itself near the Aquarium a year ago? It was cared for at the Aquarium for several weeks, then transferred to SeaWorld San Diego, and released in August 2012. Tracking data indicates she’s traveled hundreds of miles to Baja California and is doing well!
Learn more about Research and Conservation at the Aquarium
Exhibit: Not on Exhibit
October 11, 2012
If you have kids, you know bath time is never easy. So imagine this: we just gave three black sea bass freshwater baths. This helps maintain the health of this endangered species, but also involves a lot of lifting, splashing and teamwork. They've gained between 4 and 13 pounds since June; the largest is 210!
Learn more about the Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit.
September 28, 2012
To help inspect the underside of birds' feet, our clever staff built a "mirror" box, then trained our Laysan albatross Makana, to walk over it. For Makana, it's a fun game; for our staff, it's a great way to keep our birds healthy!
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
September 12, 2012
In a first for any aquarium worldwide, we added stunning crown jellies to "The Jellies Experience" special exhibition. These are unlike any jellies we've had, with beautiful, purple colors and an array of "spikes" emanating from the broad, four-inch, circular bell.
Watch the video on YouTube
Exhibit: The Jellies Experience
September 06, 2012
Remember the weedy sea dragons that hatched in July? They’re growing nicely! At birth they were just 1.5 cm. More than 80 of the inch-long fish—Australian relatives of the seahorse—were hatched in our “Secret Lives of Seahorses” special exhibition and moved behind the scenes for care.
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: The Secret Lives of Seahorses
August 15, 2012
In a first for the Aquarium, a male weedy sea dragon has had a brood of more than 80 babies. Like their seahorse cousins, it's the male sea dragons that carry and hatch the babies. We're only the fifth aquarium in the U.S. to breed "weedies."
Watch the video on YouTube
Exhibit: The Secret Lives of Seahorses
August 03, 2012
A Brood of Sea Dragon Babies
More than 50 weedy sea dragon babies have now hatched and are being cared for behind the scenes. The father, who carried more than 80 eggs in a brood pouch under his tail, has been delivering the young in a sea dragon display that’s part of our special exhibition, “The Secret Lives of Seahorses.”
Exhibit: The Secret Lives of Seahorses
August 01, 2012
The Aquarium is sad to announce the death of Joy, its "Super Mom" who raised a record number of stranded sea otter pups, many of which were returned to the wild, where they’re raising pups of their own.
Joy, who was 14 years old, was humanely euthanized on August 1 in the Aquarium’s animal health lab, because of failing health as a result of the infirmities of age.
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
July 25, 2012
Go free! Did you know that we rescue, raise and release threatened snowy plover chicks at the Aquarium? So far in the summer of 2012, we’ve taken in more than eight chicks from as far south as Santa Barbara, and have released several back into the wild.
Learn more on our blog
July 04, 2012
Look what we found in the middle of the night! A clever red octopus went on a midnight ramble at the Aquarium. Even more surprising, he was a stowaway, and had gone undetected in our exhibit for more than a year!
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
June 27, 2012
In a first for any aquarium worldwide, we added stunning crown jellies to "The Jellies Experience." These are unlike any jellies we've had, with beautiful, purple colors and an array of "spikes" emanating from the circular bell.
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: The Jellies Experience
June 11, 2012
The newest member of our sea otter exhibit is a 44-pound, five-year-old female otter named Abby who loves frozen treats and ice baths! Rescued as a newborn by the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Rescue Center, Abby was hand-raised at Sea World San Diego, where she became a popular exhibit otter. She’s settling in well so be sure to visit her on exhibit or watch our live web cam.
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
June 06, 2012
The recent sighting of a pod of orcas created quite a stir here at the Aquarium. So we wondered: What else can you expect to see off our decks? We asked the folks who know best: our expert guide staff!
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: Not on Exhibit
May 30, 2012
Rescued otter pup number 572, who went on exhibit on Valentine’s Day (February 14) of this year, went behind the scenes on May 29 to prepare for his eventual transfer to the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn.
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
May 23, 2012
Curious and gentle, green sea turtles have always been one of the most popular animals at the Aquarium. Recently we added a young turtle, Azul, to the Open Sea exhibit for the first time.
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: Open Sea
May 16, 2012
People love our exhibits, but did you also know you can see amazing things right off our ocean-view decks? In May we were seeing humpback whales!
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Exhibit: Not on Exhibit
May 09, 2012
Look what’s happening behind the scenes at the Aquarium! We’re working with this species, the California two-spot octopus, for possible future exhibit. Aquarist Alicia Bitondo looks pretty happy about how it’s going so far!
Get the latest updates on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: Not on Exhibit
April 25, 2012
Want to exercise your artistic skills? At “The Jellies Experience” you can draw a digital jelly and launch it into a virtual ocean with creations made by other visitors, and get a copy via e-mail! It’s turning out to be one of the most popular features of the new exhibit.
Learn more
Exhibit: The Jellies Experience
April 18, 2012
Every five years since we opened in 1984, the Aquarium has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This includes exhaustive on-site inspections and interviews, including animal care, veterinary, conservation, research, education, safety/security and pretty much everything we do! We’re so proud of this honor, and our team!
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: Not on Exhibit
April 12, 2012
Are they real, or not? Our new special exhibition, “The Jellies Experience,” features these stunning, illuminated acrylic models suspended from the ceiling.
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: The Jellies Experience
March 21, 2012
The upside-down jelly is one of the species you can see in the “Jellies Experience,” which opens March 31. The special exhibition immerses visitors in a world of animals that have no heads, hearts, brains, bones or true eyes yet have survived for hundreds of millions of years and rank among the ocean’s major predators. We cultivate many of these species right here at the Aquarium!
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: Jellies
March 15, 2012
Want to get a better feel for our oceans? Our Touch Pools allow you to reach out and touch animals like this knobby sea star, and many other animals.
See more photos on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: Multiple Exhibits
March 03, 2012
We are saddened to announce the death of Toola, a female sea otter who was arguably the most important animal in the 28-year history of our Sea Otter Research and Conservation program. The first otter ever to serve as a surrogate mother for stranded pups, Toola raised 13 pups over the years and was a visitor favorite in our sea otter exhibit. She was approximately 15 years old when she died on March 3rd of natural causes and infirmities of age.
"Toola was without question the most important animal in the history of our program," said Andrew Johnson, manager of the aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation program. "She showed us that exhibit otters could successfully raise orphaned pups for return to the wild. She inspired a critical piece of legislation that is helping protect sea otters. And she inspired millions of visitors to care more about sea otters. We will miss her."
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
February 29, 2012
Our newest gallery uses art installations and sculptures to explore the impacts of marine debris on ocean wildlife like Laysan albatross, humpback whales and green sea turtles. The stunning artwork is made from everyday plastic items that frequently find their way into our waterways and into the oceanic food web.
Learn more on our Tumblr blog
Exhibit: Open Sea
February 23, 2012
This may look like just a pile of fur, but it’s actually the newest addition to our sea otter exhibit: a male pup, shown with his companion, Joy. At 10 weeks old, he spends most of his time eating, playing with toys and grooming!
Get the latest exhibit updates on Tumblr
February 08, 2012
A Rare Spotting: the Beautiful Spotted Comb Jelly
We only exhibit spotted comb jellies (Leucothea pulchra) when they’re present in the bay—and we had them in early 2012 in the Drifters Gallery, which is part of the Open Sea exhibition. We’re the only aquarium to exhibit these fragile jellies, so it's always a good idea to have a look while they last!
Exhibit: Open Sea
January 31, 2012
We're Culturing Cuttlefish!
Love cuttlefish? Our husbandry staff has cultured several generations of pharaoh cuttlefish behind the scenes, and you can often see them in our Splash Zone exhibit. Sign up for our text alerts when here and watch a lively feeding session!
January 19, 2012
Leopard Sharks
Did you know that leopard sharks
sink unless they’re swimming? Fortunately, being close to the bottom is a good thing, since these sharks like to graze the seafloor for crabs, clam siphons, fish eggs, and the burrowing, hot-dog-shaped fat innkeeper worm.
November 02, 2011
We are deeply saddened to announce the death of the young great white shark released nine days ago off the coast of southern California. The 4-foot, 10 inch, 52-pound shark, was transported south to Goleta (Santa Barbara County) by the Aquarium's animal care staff on October 25 and released that afternoon. He appeared to be doing well before the release team lost sight of him as he swam away. According to data from an electronic tracking tag, he died soon afterward.
"This is a very difficult day for all of us, and for everyone who saw and cared about this animal," said Jon Hoech, the Aquarium's director of husbandry. "Based on the shark's behavior and condition prior to release, we had every confidence that he'd do well back in the wild. Unfortunately, that's not how things turned out. We're surprised and saddened by the outcome.”
Learn more on our SeaNotes blog