As a kid growing up in Palos Verdes I would often look north along the coast and wonder what was in the octagonal-shaped pavilion at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier. I discovered the answer many years later. Inside the iconic “Roundhouse” is an amazing aquarium and an oceanographic teaching center for marine science.

The Roundhouse Aquarium educates and inspires over 300,000 visitors every year. It’s managed and operated by the nonprofit oceanic and environmental organization, Oceanographic Teaching Stations, Inc. (OTS). Their mission is to connect and engage visitors and students to the ocean through hands-on interactive experiences with marine life and habitats of Southern California, and to inspire them to become good stewards of our environment.

OTS’ programs at the Roundhouse Aquarium promote the study of the oceans, tidelands and beaches of Southern California through science-based education programs with its immersive and engaging exhibits of diverse marine life. Over 100 marine animals from Southern California’s waters live at the aquarium, many are native to their local waters in the Santa Monica Bay. Notable marine life include moon jellies, sharks, octopus, sheephead, moray eels, round rays, seahorses, anemones, garibaldi, lobsters, and more. There’s also a touch tank with sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and sea snails.

There are four main galleries in the Roundhouse Aquarium — a marine habitat gallery, an education gallery, a marine science gallery and an immersion gallery. The marine habitat gallery has a rocky reef tank and a kelp forrest tank. The education gallery has a deep kelp forrest tank, tide pool tank and a pier piling tank. The marine science gallery has an octopus tank, pipefish tank, seahorse tank, jewel tank, artificial reef tank, kids kelp corner and a discovery scientist center. The immersion gallery is an immersive floor-to-ceiling audiovisual experience of the Pacific’s waters.

There are a number of on-site, off-site and virtual programs and classes that the Roundhouse Aquarium Teaching Center conducts. The on-site classes are typically on Monday through Friday between 9am and 12pm. With their Roundhouse Aquarium Outreach Van for Education (ROVE), they bring the aquarium to school classrooms, fairs, festivals, and public and corporate events. The Teaching Center also offers summer camps (fee-based) at the beach with ocean-themed games, activities and crafts. They even offer one hour themed birthday parties (fee-based) where one can choose from shark, dolphin or squid themes.

The Roundhouse Aquarium operates the Coastal Bottlenose Dolphin Project, which is a citizen science research project studying the coastal bottlenose dolphin populations and behaviors. This project captures data, photos, videos and general dolphin information from their staff and volunteers.

Roundhouse Aquarium admission is free. The Roundhouse Aquarium public hours of operation are as follows: April through September: Monday to Friday 2pm-7pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am-7pm; October through March: Monday to Friday 2pm-5pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am-5pm.

For more information on the Manhattan Beach Roundhouse Aquarium Teaching Center activities or to volunteer, please visit RoundhouseAquarium.org. 🐬🐋🐠

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My goal as your (former) elected official is to make it easy for you to be informed about Manhattan Beach and our activities. I hope to always have important public information available for you to review and refer to. Your comments and suggestions are very much welcomed and greatly appreciated. Open communication and inclusive government is very important to me.

It is my sincere pleasure serving you and our wonderful Manhattan Beach community as a member of the City of Manhattan Beach Senior Advisory Committee, founding/current Board Director of the Manhattan Beach Fire Department’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), L.A. County Commissioner, L.A. County Assessor Advisory Council, and as a longtime, dedicated volunteer for numerous Manhattan Beach community organizations and events.

Together we can make a positive difference!

Yours in service,

Wayne Powell

https://www.waynepowell.net/

Former Two-Term Mayor/Councilmember

City of Manhattan Beach ManhattanBeach.gov

Host/Producer, 'Powell to the People' Radio Show