Blog

On September 17, 2011 thousands of volunteers ventured out to hundreds of shorelines all over the world for the 26th annual International Coastal Cleanup Day. Here in Seattle, it was the last and coldest Saturday of the summer.

I look like I have a crew-cut on my head, but  some of my relatives are much more heavily decorated..

Day 6 - Aug 22: Shipping Day — Our first “non-collecting” day of the trip — today we send our first group of animals to Seattle. Since we were not going to a collecting site, we got to sleep in a little — although most of the group was up and moving before 6:30am anyway. Bryan and Alan took the fish that were collected last night (held in coolers in the van overnight) to the Waikiki Aquarium while the rest of us cleaned up the gear and gathered the supplies needed for packing and shipping the animals.

Ice toys are an important part of the Aquarium’s enrichment efforts, providing fun and development for the marine mammals in our exhibits. These enrichment efforts also provide us with the opportunity to educate our visitors and enhance their experience at the Aquarium.

What am I?
I am one of about 60 of what you see in the photo on the left. I may help my possessor see danger nearby or good habitat further off.

If you’re a Seattleite who has felt deprived of your beach-perfect summer days this season, you are definitely not alone. Beach days have been in rare supply this year, but on September 17, come rain or shine, the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup provides a great reason to head to the beach.

Day 4 – Aug 20:  The team returned to Hale’iwa on the north shore for another full day of collecting. The water conditions have been better here than anywhere else on the island so far and we have been finding some wonderful fish.

When touched by a predator such as a leather star, sunflower star, or any of several nudibranchs (including opalescent, striped, orange peel, and diamondback), sea pens have several defenses.

Day 2 — Aug 18: 5am start time. After breakfast and packing lunch to take with us, the team loaded up the vans and headed to the north shore of the island to begin a “shake down” collecting day at Hale’iwa.

What do you call more than one octopus? Although many believe the correct plural form of octopus is octopi, it’s actually octopuses.

Every other year, biologists from the Seattle Aquarium go to Hawaii to collect new warm water animals for our exhibits. This blog post, is part one of a four-part blog series that will cover what it takes to put together a collection trip and highlight the biologists’ experiences.

On August 6 – August 9, 2011 our Interpretation Coordinator, Darcie Larson had the opportunity to collaborate with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Monterey Bay Aquarium and other key partners to study the health of local sea otters as part of the Pacific Nearshore Project.