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Each year since 2004, the Seattle Aquarium has presented two outstanding individuals with our highest honors during a special event celebrating their accomplishments. The annual Ocean Conservation Honors dinner raises the visibility of ocean conservation, highlighting and celebrating the honorees’ aspirations and impact, and sharing the passion for the work and the difference our actions make on behalf of ocean health. 

Despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and our temporary closure to the public, the Aquarium continues the important work to fulfill our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment. We do this in a variety of ways, including engaging the community through activities on our website, hosting virtual events like our upcoming Lightning Talks: Octopuses and Ocean Career Series, advocating for policies that protect the ocean and the animals that call it home…

The nearshore waters of the Salish Sea, around the Olympic Peninsula and south to the Columbia River, sustain diverse and fragile marine life as well as many human communities and cultures. Already faced with stressors like climate change and ocean acidification, this marine environment may soon confront another compounding danger: seabed mining. 

Salmon play a key role in our economy and are the cornerstone of our local ecosystem, which supports us all. These amazing creatures are also critical to the health and well-being of Coast Salish peoples, who stewarded these lands and waters for generations and continue to do so today. 

Millions of tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, and plastic debris is now found everywhere from polar sea ice to the bottom of the deepest ocean trench. Whales, dolphins, seabirds, sea turtles and other animals die every year because they get tangled up in plastic or fill their stomachs with plastic they mistake for food.

Get ready to be mesmerized by moon jellies, awed by octopuses and fascinated by fur seals: the Seattle Aquarium will reopen to the public on February 9, 2021! We can’t wait to welcome you back through our doors.

Although things will look different in the Olympia legislature this year due to COVID-19, the Seattle Aquarium is still gearing up to advance science-based measures to protect the ocean. Keep reading to learn about some of our top priorities for 2021.

In preparation for our upcoming Ocean Career Series, we’re happy to share with you the story of one of our staff members, Bailey Johnson, who first came to the Aquarium as a youth volunteer and eventually joined our staff. As she transitioned from high school student to young professional, she discovered her passion for marine life and what she wanted in her career, and the Seattle Aquarium able to be there every step of the way.

Looking for some family fun on December 31? Even though we’re temporarily closed to the public, we’ve got you covered withRockin’ Rockfish Noon Year’s Eve, a free, virtual event with music from local favorite Mikey the Rad Scientist, a dance party, fun animal facts and more. Better yet, you won’t have to stay up past bedtime to enjoy all the fun: as the name implies, we’ll be ringing in 2021 at noon!

Now, we can’t have a party without introducing you to the guest of honor, can we? Since New Year’s celebrations are all about countdowns (and our Noon Year’s party will feature one too), here come our top 10 cool things to know about rockfish…countdown-style!

‘Tis the season for gifting and we have options for everyone on your list—young and old, near and far! And not only are these great gifts, they’re gifts you can feel great about, because your purchases help us continue our work to protect Puget Sound and the world’s one ocean through our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.

“I’d never seen a scallop (that hadn’t been breaded and/or deep fried),” says Jacquelyn Simmons, reflecting on her time before joining the Aquarium volunteer team. “But after seeing them live comfortably and learning a few facts about their radiant eyeballs, my appreciation for them has poured over to general love of eyeballs and retinas of all beings.” 

We’re at a turning point in the climate change discussion: The ocean is now fully recognized for the critical role that it can and will play in solving the crisis.