Blog

What’s soft, squishy, able to spill its guts and found in most Seattle Aquarium habitats? The sea cucumber! These invertebrates (animals without backbones) can confuse or harm predators by expelling their internal organs—literally spilling their guts—along with a toxic substance, in the direction of an attack. The missing organs regenerate in one to five weeks.

Aggregating anemones are the most abundant species of anemone along the North American coast. Found attached to rocks, they prey on small fish, snails, crabs and other animals that they immobilize with venom from their tentacles, then devour through their mouths, located at the top center of their bodies.

As part of ongoing efforts to help save our southern resident orca population, a task force convened by Governor Jay Inslee has been meeting regularly over the past six months to help determine how we can take measurable steps to better protect our local orca population. Photo: Center for Whale Research.

Trick-or-treaters in costume are a common sight on October 31—but did you know that some of the animals at the Aquarium have their own ways of “dressing up”? If you’re still figuring out what you’ll wear on Halloween, maybe these saltwater costume experts can provide some inspiration. Take a look, then come see the animals in person at the Aquarium: dressed up or in “plain clothes,” they’re sure to captivate!

A few weeks ago members of our Fish and Invertebrates team released Umbrella, the giant Pacific octopus (GPO), back to Neah Bay where he was originally collected from just over a year ago.

The love of sea otters led Diane Tomecek to establish the Sea Otter Foundation & Trust (SOFT) in the heart of land-locked Colorado.

We have all been gripped by the heartbreaking images of our Southern resident orca Tahlequah (also known as J35) as she mourned the death of her calf this past week. At the Seattle Aquarium we are all grieving along with the rest of the world. And though we are sad, we are viewing this as a wakeup call around the health of the Salish Sea and our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.

My latest shift on the beach was a bit of a slow one. It was not a very low tide and the overcast and drizzle kept families from heading down. The folks that did come down were really great and knowledgable.

I spent every day on the beach during this past super low tide series and it was wonderful! We will have more of the lowest tides of the summer this week and weekend, I hope you all get out to enjoy them.

Get ready to skip the straw and help the ocean! On July 1, the City of Seattle’s ban on single-use plastic straws and utensils will go into effect. The measure banning these items was originally passed in 2008, but exemptions were made each year because viable alternatives weren’t widely available.

A couple of Saturdays ago I was out at Lincoln Park for one of the lowest tides of the season. It was an absolutely beautiful summer day in the PNW. It felt great to be out in the sun and smell the salty air.