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What better way to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend—what many consider to be the unofficial beginning of summer—than with a week devoted to the amazing animals that make their homes on local shorelines? Join us online May 25–29 to learn about the intertidal zone and its inhabitants, how to visit the beach without harming the habitat or its residents, and more.

Below is a schedule of events that you can tune in for throughout the week, plus activities for kids of all ages. We’ll also be featuring videos, fun facts, trivia and other great content on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Join us for a week of online learning and fun!

Pacific Northwest Birds Week is about to fly the coop! But before we take wing, we wanted to share just a few more fast facts about the bird species in our care. Check out our library of animal fact sheets to learn more!

BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS

Any guesses about this species’ favorite food? If you’re thinking it’s oysters, think again! These birds are actually more commonly seen eating mussels, chitons and limpets. We call fowl! (Sorry, couldn’t help ourselves.)

If you’ve been following along with our weekly themes, you already know that the marine mammals at the Aquarium are trained to voluntarily participate in their own health care—just like you voluntarily participate in yours when you open your mouth to say “ahhh” or step on the scale at the doctor’s office.

Turns out the Aquarium’s birds participate in their own care as well—even if that’s not through more skilled training like the marine mammals. How do they do it? Simply by eating!

Greetings from the Coral Triangle! We are excited to share some news from Bali, Indonesia, about a special place, home to fascinating marine creatures like southern sunfish and manta rays.

But first, have you heard of the Coral Triangle?

The Coral Triangle is a geographic area in the tropics that includes waters of six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands. Unlike countries, which are delineated by political boundaries, the Coral Triangle is defined by its marine biodiversity. More than 500 species of hard corals are found in these waters.

This week our online engagement is for the birds—literally! Join us online May 18–22 to learn about the fascinating feathered friends that make their homes at the Seattle Aquarium with videos, activities, trivia and more.

Below is a schedule of events that you can tune in for throughout the week, plus activities for kids of all ages. We’ll also be featuring fun facts and other compelling content on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Join us for a week of online learning and fun!

Just as a sunny getaway goes by all quickly, so did this week—how is it Friday already?! We had a great time virtually traveling to the tropics with you, showing you some of the research we’re doing and offering you fun, educational activities to do at home.

Speaking of activities, we're happy to offer you a couple of bonus, coral-focused activity videos to round out the week. Take a look and learn something new!

The Seattle Aquarium has been conducting research in the waters off the Big Island of Hawaii every year since 2009—and this year’s trip was fortunately scheduled and completed before the COVID-19 crisis took hold in the U.S.

Follow along as Seattle Aquarium Curator of Conservation Research Dr. Shawn Larson shares her travel journal (and incredible photos) from the experience!

You can still enjoy a virtual trip to the tropics, even while staying home. Grab your virtual sunscreen because this week, May 11–15, we’ll be spotlighting some of the amazing animals that make their homes in the warmer waters of the Pacific!

Below is a schedule of events that you can tune in for throughout the week, plus activities for kids of all ages. We’ll also be featuring fun facts and other fascinating content on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Join us for a week of online learning and fun!

What an amazing and humbling week it was, as so many of you stepped up and made a commitment to GiveBIG to the Seattle Aquarium. With your generous support, we reached our full $50,000 match and then some! Thank you again to Pat & Al Friedrich, Brad & Lesley Canfield, Susie Sheppard Wyckoff, and the Kongsgaard Goldman Fund for providing the match funds—and to every single individual who supported the Aquarium this week!

Eating sustainably means more than making conscientious choices when purchasing seafood*, meat and dairy—it also means reducing waste and making the most of what you have on hand, which is especially important as we all stay home and reduce shopping trips to curb the spread of COVID-19 through our community.

And this week, we’re excited to share a recipe from the Aquarium café’s Executive Chef Molly DeMers, who got creative and flexible with some staples in her home kitchen to create a simple, delicious, meatless meal.

What do humans have to do with the Seattle Aquarium? Well…just about everything. And this week, May 4–8, we’re going to introduce you to some of the many people who make the Aquarium experience possible, even when—ESPECIALLY when—we’re temporarily closed to the public. Check out this video of our staff working in the exhibits and behind the scenes!

You might be surprised to know that there’s a lot more to working at the Seattle Aquarium than caring for our animals (although, of course, that’s our top priority). Regardless of our roles, we work at the Seattle Aquarium because we’re passionate about the marine environment—and we want to share that passion with you. Online for now and—as soon as it’s deemed safe—in person.

What has three hearts, about 1,600 suckers and is using eight arms to wave goodbye to Cephalopod Week? If you’ve been following along, you know we’re talking about the giant Pacific octopus! We hope this latest week of at-home engagement has been fun, educational and inspirational.

And we couldn’t close out the week without squeezing in a few details about the annual giant Pacific octopus survey in Puget Sound, which we launched in 2000. While there’s no way to know how many octopuses are living in our local waters, these annual surveys provide a good sense of population trends.