Go Wild! Under the Sea…Aquarium of the Pacific Celebrates Its 25th Year Since Opening its Doors to the Undersea World By Photographer and Contributor Steve Tabor
Aquarium of the Pacific Celebrates Its 25th Year Since Opening its Doors to the Undersea World By Photographer and Contributor Steve Tabor
The Aquarium of the Pacific (Aquarium) in the City of Long Beach is celebrating its 25th year of providing visitors with a glimpse of the marine life that inhabits the waters and shoreline of the Southern California coast as well as other creatures that inhabit our planet’s oceans.
In celebration of their anniversary the Aquarium unveiled its newly renovated “Southern California Gallery.” The area houses over ten exhibits that highlight the variety of aquatic zones found along our coastline and in our open ocean environment.
Among the Gallery’s exhibits is the (Catalina Island) Casino Point exhibit based on the giant kelp forest that lies in close proximity to the iconic Catalina landmark. The giant strands of kelp that reach from the ocean floor to its surface serves as shelter to the varieties of small fish that live along the flowing blades. The exhibit highlights the importance the kelp forest plays in maintaining a healthy ocean environment and our environment as well.
Another area along the Catalina coastline highlighted in the Gallery is the Farnsworth Bank. Although the reef is located about 1.5 miles along the back side of Catalina it reaches depths of nearly 300 feet. It serves as home to jellies and anemones as well as scorpionfish, sardines, mackerel and yellowtail.
Although oil drilling off the California coast has created controversy over the years and at times created a challenge to the environment, there is no doubt that it has provided a benefit to our environment for establishing artificial reefs. The exhibit simulates the environment that is created by these fabricated structures near the Huntington Beach shoreline.
Also inspired by the Orange County coastline, the Aquarium created an exhibit that highlights the seagrass meadows found along the shallow bays of Newport Beach that shelter small juvenile fish as they grow into adulthood.
Two other ocean environments found in the Gallery are the Rocky Reef exhibit that is home to the California Spiny Lobster. These lobsters do not possess the large claws found on their New England cousins, but they utilize the gaps in our underwater rocky reefs for shelter and protection. The Open Ocean exhibit displays jellies that can be found in what is known as the blue water environment.
Among the species found in the new exhibits are the California two-spot octopus, leopard sharks, horn sharks, giant sea bass, California scorpionfish, Catalina gobies, and California’s state fish, the bright orange garibaldi.
Other portions of the Gallery include previous visitor favorites, the Honda Blue Cavern, the Seal and Sea Lion Habitat, and the Ray Habitat Touchpool.
The Aquarium continues to offer its exhibits of the Sea Otters, Diving Birds, such as puffins, guillemot, and auklet, and June Keyes Penguins. Other exhibits include its Babies! exhibit with young and juveniles marine life, a tropical reef environment, and its Shark Lagoon.
In addition to providing its visitors with an enriching and entertaining experience over its 25 years, the Aquarium has become a leader in conservation and global climate change education and activities. In addition to their visiting hours the Aquarium allows visitors a unique opportunity to learn about prominent issues in marine animal husbandry, climate issues, and efforts being made to preserve and protect our oceans through their First Wednesday Series. Lectures are scheduled on the evening of the first Wednesday of each month in the Aquarium’s Honda Pacific Vision Theater and feature staff members and researchers presenting on these important topics.
Over the years, the Aquarium has expanded its impact on the environment by utilizing the talents of its staff members to improve or reverse negative impact on the ocean environment. The Aquarium collaborates with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Surrogacy Program aimed at nurturing orphaned sea otters pups with the goal of returning the pups to the wild.
Additionally, the Aquarium is responding to the near extinction of the white abalone population along our coastline by collaborating with partners on breeding efforts, raising white abalone, and outplanting them in the wild. Aquarium staff members use their laboratory’s protective environment to help breed and grow the abalone until they reach a size where they can be safely placed in the waters along our coast line.
According to Jennie Dean, Vice President of Education and Conservation, the Aquarium is joining with scientists and staff members from UCLA, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Berkeley, CSULB, Point Blue Conservation, and other universities and marine environment organizations to create an easy-to-understand reporting system that will provide description of the current state of the marine environment along the California coastline and the impact humans are having on that environment.
The study calls for researchers and scientists to annually assess the populations of key species. Currently the list includes several small and large marine creatures such as purple urchins, the largest mammal on earth, the blue whale, and other creatures of assorted sizes that reside in and around the California coastline, including marine birds and species of kelp. Eventually the list of potential species to be included in the study will be narrowed to a few dozen species.
Some species such as the purple urchin will be gauged because of their current state of overabundance. Dean shares, “The overabundance of a particular species may indicate a lack of natural predators in their environment, as is the case of purple urchins. Purple urchins consume the kelp’s holdfast, thus destroying our kelp forest. The destruction of the kelp forest impacts the variety of fish and has a broad negative impact on our environment.”
Other species will be included because their populations have been greatly reduced numbers. White abalone is an excellent example of this. Once commonly found subtidally to depths of 200 ft. in rocky environments, they are near extinction. Although the abalone graze on kelp they clear locations on the sea floor that spawn greater diversity in kelp populations. In turn, the new kelp environment creates a nurturing environment for a variety of fish populations and has a positive impact on our environment.
Dean shares, “The group is also looking at species that have stable populations. Changes in these populations can signal changes in the environment that may stand alone or coincide other changes in other populations we are evaluating.”
In addition to volunteer activities at the Aquarium, volunteers can participate in Aquarium sponsored volunteer activities designed to monitor and improve our coast line. The first Saturday of each month, the Aquarium hosts restoration activities at the Los Cerritos Wetlands. Activities include collecting seeds and removing non-native plants and debris.
Also, since 2012, the Aquarium is utilizing trained volunteers in the local San Gabriel River environment. Using its data for this activity, the Aquarium was able to publish a paper on how the sea turtles were interacting with the environment and found the sea turtles are most active near Zedler Marsh, a restored habitat in a portion of the Los Cerritos Wetlands.
For information about the event visit the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority or email:
iwanttohelp@tidalinfluence.com
It is clear the Aquarium is ready to enter its future with a clear eye on providing fun and engaging activities for children and adults as well as taking an active role in sustaining our ocean environment and improving our planet’s health.
The Aquarium is open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily, with extended summers hours on selected weekends. The Aquarium is located at 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach. Visit their website:
Steve Tabor
This South Bay native’s photographic journey began after receiving his first 35 mm film camera upon earning his Bachelor of Arts degree. As a classroom teacher he used photography to share the world and his experiences with his students. Steve began his photography career photographing coastal landscapes and marine life. His experiences have led him to include portraits and group photography, special event photography as well as live performance and athletics in his portfolio. As a contributor and photojournalist, he has published stories about the people, places and events in and around the Palos Verdes Peninsula and beyond.
Interested in seeing more of Steve’s work, visit website at: www.stevetaborimages.com
