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During Halloween, skeletons and other dead creatures make for great decorations. But did you know corpses play important roles in aquatic ecosystems year-round?
When animals die, their bodies are still full of nutrients. Nutrients are chemical substances that help living beings grow, repair themselves or maintain life. Humans need nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins and minerals.
Nature is not wasteful and there are many ways these nutrients can pass to other parts of the ecosystem. If an apple falls from its tree, straight to the ground, an animal might come along and gobble up its nutrients. Or the fruit might stay there and decomposers like worms, fungi and bacteria will help return its nutrients to the nearby soil.
Animal carcasses end up in similar scenarios: Someone eats them or they decompose into their environment. Often, both happen with the same carcass! Here are three fascinating types of marine corpses that play key roles in their ecosystems.
Pacific salmon embark on the journey of a lifetime when they travel back from the ocean to the freshwater rivers and streams where they were born so they can reproduce, or spawn. When salmon return to rivers, their bodies bring with them important nutrients from the ocean. Along the way, some salmon are eaten by predators, who eagerly take in those nutrients for themselves.
After spawning, Pacific salmon naturally die and their carcasses feed many animals, including bears, wolves, small mammals, birds and insects. Those land-based animals can further pass nutrients from salmon to their environment through their waste. Whatever part of the salmon carcass is left over also gets broken down by microbes and erosion, giving nutrients to the surrounding soil and plant life. Salmon play a key role in supporting tree growth near riverbeds.
The nutrients from salmon have a distinct isotope signature that scientists use to track salmon’s impact in the local ecosystem. Researchers found that nutrients from salmon in Washington ended up in over 100 species of microbes and animals. The nutrients can reach animals up to seven miles away from their stream of origin.
During late summer and early fall, you can join Seattle Aquarium naturalists on the Cedar River to observe salmon. Because the Cedar River Salmon Journey occurs during the final days of salmon reproduction, we often see their carcasses along the river. And you can see salmon year-round, at various stages in their growth, on a visit to the Seattle Aquarium.
The massive, decaying corpse of a marine goliath would be hard to miss. Whale carcasses that wash up on shore are a big deal. And miles below the ocean’s surface, the scavengers and decomposers who live in the deep, dark waters of the seafloor also take notice.
When whales die in open waters, their bodies sink down to the bottom and end up as a buffet for these creatures of the deep, feeding them for years or even decades. This phenomenon is called a whale fall.
Entire ecosystems can pop up around whale carcasses. Different creatures feast on the carcass during different stages of its decomposition. The first to move in are the scavengers, including crabs, lobsters, sharks, octopuses and eels. These animals eat the whale’s meat and other soft tissue. When they’re done, other creatures like worms and snails move in to have their fill. Bone-eating bacteria and other microbes will spend years on the remaining skeleton. Nutrients from the carcass also enrich the seafloor’s surrounding sediment.
It’s rare for scientists to come across a natural whale fall. To study them in greater detail, researchers will sometimes intentionally sink whale carcasses that wash ashore. Now that’s an experiment that would make Frankenstein jealous!
Marine snow, seen here in the Gulf of Alaska, is made of “flakes” of bits of animal carcasses, dead plants, feces and sand, among other materials, that fall down to the seafloor. Video courtesy of NOAA/UAF/Oceaneering.
Snow in October? It might not be happening in Seattle, but down in the ocean’s depths, flurries of white are the norm. Marine snow is made of tiny plant-like organisms called phytoplankton combined with small bits of natural materials. That includes pieces from animal carcasses along with dead plants, animal feces and sand. When drifting through the water, these tiny specs look like the snow we see on land.
Like whale corpses, marine snow drifts downward. The snow “flakes” get larger as they go, gaining speed, but they still take weeks to reach the seafloor.
Along the way, some of the snow will be eaten by fish or marine mammals near the top or middle of the water column. Many benthic creatures, which are animals that live on the seafloor, rely on marine snow as a food source. They may filter the snow from the water directly or scavenge for it on the seafloor.
Uneaten marine snow accumulates in the “ooze” that covers the seafloor. And the bone-white snow also dusts the sunken ships and other marine debris of the ocean’s graveyard.
While corpse stories make for a frighteningly fascinating Halloween read, animal carcasses support living creatures all year long. With death, comes the chance for life to flourish. You can check out hundreds of types of thriving marine life at the Seattle Aquarium. Plan your visit today!
One of the Seattle Aquarium’s newest residents weighs 20.5 pounds, sports eight arms and hails from the chilly waters of Neah Bay. She’s already helping visitors understand the importance of her species—the giant Pacific octopus—to local ecosystems.
The young octopus also has a special name—sqiqələč (skee-sku-luch)—that reflects the Aquarium’s place on traditional and contemporary Coast Salish land. sqiqələč means “baby octopus” in the Lushootseed language. The name was chosen by middle- and high-school students in a language and performing arts class at Muckleshoot Tribal School.
The Salish Sea is rich not only in biodiversity, but also in linguistic diversity. The language of the land and headwaters where the Aquarium resides is Lushootseed. As noted on the Muckleshoot Tribe’s website, “The Lushootseed language was nearly lost through the forced assimilation of the boarding school era beginning in the early 1890s. Today, Muckleshoot, as well as many other Coast Salish Tribes, are working to restore and preserve Lushootseed by developing robust language and culture programs that teach our youth and keep our Native language alive.”
In early 2024, Aquarium team members Malik Johnson and Kaitlin Brawley—who help care for giant Pacific octopuses—contacted the students’ teacher Teresa Allen about naming the octopus. The naming process reflects the Aquarium’s aim to further integrate more languages, stories, names, faces and knowledge of the Indigenous peoples we partner with throughout the region. Recent work has also included new signage in Lushootseed, the integration of Indigenous languages into Aquarium camp and youth curricula, presentations that highlight our relationship with Makah waters and other projects that amplify Indigenous languages and traditional ecological knowledge at the Aquarium.
Arrangements are being made for the Muckleshoot Tribal students to visit sqiqələč this fall. Like other giant Pacific octopuses, sqiqələč will live at the Aquarium temporarily. Aquarium divers carefully collect a certain number of octopuses with a special permit from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. They typically stay with us for around a year, and when they show signs that they’re mature and ready to mate, our divers return them to their original collection location so they can complete their life cycles and reproduce.
In August, the Aquarium and the Muckleshoot Tribe announced a new partnership to enrich cultural and marine science education work.
The Seattle Aquarium teamed up with Rome and Falesha Johnson—parents to Caliyah Joy and Romen—for a day of family fun on the Seattle waterfront. Dive in to see their adventures!
Click the image below to see the full-size itinerary.
Follow along as we make it a day on the Seattle Waterfront. It’s time for some family fun!
1: Seattle Aquarium
Our favorite spots are Window on Washington Waters and Caring Cove, a play space where kids can learn about animal care.
2: Lunchtime: Ivar’s Fish Bar
The food here is a hit for both parents and kids every time. You can’t go wrong with a fresh basket of fish and chips.
This Seattle classic is known for its dazzling views of Elliott Bay. Plus, there’s stroller parking.
4: Aquarium café for gelato
The Seattle Aquarium has Nutty Squirrel Gelato now! Creamy and flavorful, it’s the best sweet treat on the waterfront. They even have vegan options. P.S. The Aquarium allows same-day reentry. Make sure to get a hand stamp before you head out!
It takes a lot of work—not to mention time—to get living systems like the Ocean Pavilion’s habitats ready to welcome new animals. On the surface, it might seem simple: make a plan, construct the habitats, fill them with water, move the animals in and you’re done, right? Not surprisingly, it’s far more complex than that (read our web story to take a deeper dive).
For this story, we’re going to focus on a particular aspect of preparing the habitats for new animals—one that involves everyone’s favorite topic: poop! But first, some background.
Cycling in the world of aquariums is different from biking around your neighborhood. It refers to the process of building a population of beneficial bacteria that make an aquarium habitat ready for animals.
The Ocean Pavilion’s habitats are filled with fascinating sharks, rays and schooling fish—and guess what accompanies them? You guessed it: poop (and pee).
While we humans have bathrooms to get rid of our wastes, aquatic animals swim in the very same water with them. Bacteria to the rescue! It’s the key to getting rid of those wastes and keeping the water healthy for all the animals in the habitats. And it has to be present, by the millions, before any fish and invertebrates can move in.
Bacteria, bacterium? The word bacteria is plural—meaning multiple organisms. Bacterium is the word for a single organism.
Although they’re commonly made out to be villains, associated with infections and disease, bacteria can also be superheroes. The populations in the Ocean Pavilion fall into that category.
How come? Because they oxidize* and break down toxic nitrogen, which comes from ammonia in animal wastes, into less toxic forms: nitrite and, eventually, nitrate. That’s why they’re referred to as beneficial bacteria.
These bacteria do important—but slow—work and also have needs of their own. First, the temperature needs to be just right. They like it warm. And, because they don’t float freely in the water, they need surfaces on which to live.
*Put very simply, oxidizing is like bacteria’s version of eating—similar to the way we humans eat and break down food.
Bio balls are small orbs, just about an inch in diameter, that offer plenty of surface area for the beneficial bacteria to settle on and grow. Here at the Aquarium, we placed nearly half a million bio balls in a holding pool, then jumpstarted the typically slow bacterial growth process by adding nitrogen (aka bacteria food) to the water.
When the time was right, our team loaded bio balls into sacks and transplanted them to habitats in the Ocean Pavilion to continue the growth process (see how it worked in our video). This method helped reduce the overall cycling time—meaning that we could welcome animals to the habitats that much sooner.
Throughout the entire process, our water quality team kept feeding nitrogen to the bacteria, not only to help them grow, but also to help them get very familiar with animal pee and poop. (Luckily for our team, the nitrogen they used is less messy than actual pee and poop; it’s a fine, white powder.)
When the water quality team determines that the habitat is ready, animals move in and take over the process.
How does the water quality team know that the habitat is ready and the bacteria are populating the way we need them to? They start by testing for nitrogen—which, as you’ll remember, is serving as a proxy for animal waste—in the water.
If the team adds nitrogen to the water, tests it and discovers the same amount is still there, they know that the bacteria haven’t populated yet. A decrease shows that the bacteria are consuming the nitrogen.
And that’s just the beginning! As mentioned above, the bacteria break down nitrogen into nitrite and, eventually, nitrate. So the team also tests for nitrite. A decrease in ammonia followed by a spike in nitrite tells them that the bacteria are doing exactly what they’re supposed to.
This process takes time and involves many rounds of testing to ensure the bacteria are thriving and ready to eat their fill of waste. Each habitat in the Ocean Pavilion has hosted thousands of bio balls, doing their good work in preparation for the arrival of schooling fish, skates, rays, sharks and more. Pee and poop: it’s what’s for dinner!
While the bacteria that do all this good work aren’t visible to the naked eye, you know what is? All the incredible animals that depend on them for a healthy, clean habitat. Plan a visit to explore the Ocean Pavilion today!
Barney the harbor seal was born right here at the Seattle Aquarium on September 14, 1985—that’s right, 39 years ago! And he’s been stealing the hearts of staff and guests alike ever since, while inspiring millions to help protect his beloved and charismatic species.
“Barney remains one of the oldest harbor seals in human care—possibly the world—that we know of,” notes Curator of Birds & Mammals Veronica Seawall. Here at the Aquarium, we have a number of geriatric, or elderly, animals entrusted to our care, and our expert team works hard to create environments that meet their evolving needs as they age. (Interested in learning more? Read all about how we provide expert animal care at every age.)
Now that Barney’s in his golden years, he enjoys the simple things in life, like a nice nap in the sunshine, getting his teeth brushed daily and eating some of his favorite snacks, including all things fish. He’s also a fan of his birthday celebrations, as you’ll see in the photos below. Dive down memory lane to revisit some of those celebrations with us as we commemorate Barney’s 39th!
According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), of which we’re proud to be an accredited member, the median life expectancy for harbor seals in zoos and aquariums is about 25 years. At 39, Barney has lived well beyond that. In fact, his biological age is about the equivalent of a 100-year-old human!
Give him—and his caretakers—some love on our Facebook or Instagram to mark the occasion.
Barney’s 38th birthday bash was complete with a “cake” made from ice and 38 frozen fish!
We welcomed harbor seal Casey earlier in 2022, and all three “roomies”—Barney, Hogan and Casey— dug into a delicious, fish-filled ice treat together.
Barney rang in his 36th birthday by tucking into a towering ice treat “cake.”
While we couldn’t invite the public to celebrate with Barney because of our temporary, pandemic-related closure, our incredible animal care team made sure he felt the birthday love.
Animals at the Aquarium receive enrichment every day (read more about it on our webpage). Special occasions, like Barney’s 30th, give our animal care team a fun reason to get creative with it.
In 2013, Barney celebrated his birthday with cake in his habitat’s new haul-out space*! Generous support from people like you allowed us to renovate and expand the harbor seal habitat back then.
*What’s that? Space that the seals use to go onto dry land to nap, groom, cooperatively participate in their own health care and, in Barney’s case, eat a birthday treat.
Your gift today will make a difference too: Please consider a donation of $19.85, $39 or any amount on behalf of Barney’s birthday!
Shown here in the habitat’s previous haul-out space, Barney looks ready to devour the ice treat that our animal care team prepared for him.
What’s better on your 26th birthday than a delicious ice treat, just waiting for you to notice it as you casually swim by?
Here’s a throwback to Barney’s 25th! Our animal care team went all out with an ice treat complete with “candles” for him to crunch and munch.
Photo: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
How’s this for a sweet, vintage photo of newborn Barney alongside his mom, Clyde? For perspective on how long ago that was in terms of other Pacific Northwest icons, Barney was born the same year that downtown Seattle’s tallest skyscraper, Columbia Center, opened; two years before the band Nirvana was formed; and 15 years before the Kingdome was demolished. Just our humble opinion, of course, but we think he’s the best and most charming icon of the bunch. Happy, happy 39th to beloved Barney!
It’s the final countdown to opening the Seattle Aquarium’s Ocean Pavilion. This expansion of our campus and our mission has been over a decade in the making. Follow along as we prepare to open to the public on August 29!
The day we’ve all been waiting for is finally here! Our Ocean Pavilion expansion welcomes its first public visitors today. We’re thrilled to share the vibrant underwater world of the Coral Triangle with guests. Plan a trip to see these immersive reef habitats for yourself.
Visual artist Paige Pettibon (Confederated Salish and Kootenai) created this amazing seasonal round for the Ocean Pavilion. Depicting the cycle of life here, in the lands and waters of the Coast Salish people, it features beautiful illustrations of marine animals, phases of the moon, plants, people and more. Come give it a gentle spin when you visit!
Meet the elusive devil scorpionfish, a new resident of our closer-look habitat, At Home in the Ocean. Scorpionfish are known for their venomous spines and the canny camouflage that helps them hunt. In the wild, their prey, including invertebrates and small fish, should keep an eye out for these ambush predators.
The Coral Reef Encounter at the Ocean Pavilion allows youngsters and families to explore what it might be like to live on a coral reef—discovering the sights, sounds and textures below the surface in a cozy, kid-size tunnel. You can even see what it’s like to be a clownfish, nestled within the tentacles of an anemone, in a colorful, cushioned nook! Learn more about the Ocean Pavilion’s habitats on our webpage.
Can you identify this species that recently moved into the Ocean Pavilion? Here’s a hint: He’s often spotted gliding through the building’s largest habitat, The Reef, with his tail trailing behind. Plan a trip to the Ocean Pavilion to see all of him for yourself!
Not all Ocean Pavilion highlights are underwater. We’re also finishing “dryside exhibits,” as we call them, that tell stories about people inspiring hope and action for a healthy ocean. Can you guess which legendary marine scientist and ocean conservationist peered through this scuba mask decades ago? Hint: She famously said, “No water, no life. No blue, no green.”
An Indo-Pacific leopard shark has glided into our largest habitat, The Reef. Once abundant in the Coral Triangle, these slow-swimming reef sharks are now nearly extinct due to overfishing and habitat loss. As a founding member of the international ReShark collective, we’re working with partners to restore their wild populations to marine protected areas.
Our dive team is taking the Ocean Pavilion’s immersive experience to a whole new level. They’ve been cleaning The Reef habitat each day for weeks—even before any of the new animals had moved in—and will continue to do so after all the sharks, rays and schooling fish have settled in. Plan a visit to see the results of their hard work!
The first fish have entered The Reef, the largest habitat in our Ocean Pavilion expansion. These fish have been busy exploring their new space. We introduce animals, like this spotted sweetlips, to new habitats through a carefully-monitored method to ensure their safety. Learn more about that process (plus creating The Reef) in our recent web story.
Check back soon for more updates!
The chef, author and Seattle Aquarium member recently partnered with the Aquarium to map a food-centric day at the Seattle waterfront. Kenji’s itinerary includes several snack stops—and a pause to pet sea cucumbers at our Life on the Edge habitat.
Follow along with me as I make it a day on the Seattle Waterfront. Nothing beats food with a Puget Sound view!
1: Khachapuri from Skalka
If you like the idea of really good flatbread—like fluffy pita or charred pizza dough—filled with cheese, butter and eggs, you’ll have a good time.
2: Seattle Aquarium
Work up an appetite while visiting their many habitats. We love interacting with the sea cucumbers in the touch pools and feeling their slick, leathery skin.
3: Antojito from Maíz
This Mexican spot starts with fresh masa and serves up tacos, tamales and more, all filled with delicious, dripping guisados of the day.
4: Hoagie from Post Alley Pizza
The pizza is fantastic but the hoagies are the sleeper hit. Built on freshly-baked rolls, piled with cold cuts, provolone, greens, oil, vinegar and “jazz” seasoning.
Famously beautiful and fiercely important, coral reefs are bursting with many different forms of life, making them hubs of biodiversity. With the opening of our Ocean Pavilion expansion, the Seattle Aquarium will say hello to The Reef, a multistory habitat that mirrors an Indo-Pacific coral reef. Its warm waters will house fish, including sharks and rays. This thriving reef ecosystem will also be visible to anyone walking by the Aquarium via the building’s public oculus window.
But what does it take to transform a slice of downtown Seattle into a tropical reef? A lot, it turns out.
With the Ocean Pavilion, Aquarium leaders wanted to create a window into the Coral Triangle, a region of unmatched marine biodiversity in the Indo-Pacific. Guests would experience both the stunning natural beauty of the area and learn more about the connections between the Coral Triangle and our local marine ecosystems—and the challenges both regions face. After the experience, guests would be motivated to take action to regenerate the health of Earth’s one ocean.
Throughout the Aquarium’s years-long planning process, the decision of which animals could live in The Reef and how to design the habitat were intertwined. Over several years the Aquarium’s animal care, engineering, and engagement teams worked alongside the Ocean Pavilion architect (LMN) and habitat designer (Thinc) teams to create environments that support animal wellbeing and facilitate connections between the animals and guests.
That collaborative process resulted in plans for The Reef to include an open swimming area, crevices created by corals and rockwork, and flat, sandy enclaves. Each area provides critical habitats for the different tropical animals that comprise a reef ecosystem. The open swimming area gives animals, including spotted eagle rays and other cartilaginous fish known as elasmobranchs, plenty of room to move freely. The sandy areas give bottom-dwelling elasmobranchs, like Indo-Pacific leopard sharks, a place to rest. And the corals and rocks—including a large rock wall near a central viewing window—provide the kinds of protective spaces that smaller fish naturally seek out.
Our teams designed The Reef with the animals in mind. Animal care experts knew the habitat would need to support resident species throughout their lives. And all these different species needed to coexist, so large predator species would not be a good fit. Finally, we focused on getting these animals through sustainable means. All of the elasmobranchs in The Reef came from other zoos and aquariums or were diverted from the commercial fish trade.
Corals presented an animal care concern. Reef-building stony corals need an intense amount of light, which is difficult to simulate and maintain deep in an aquarium habitat. Stony corals also need water with high levels of calcium and other supplements, which is challenging to replicate in a closed environment with other animals. Ultimately, the team chose to include only handmade corals in The Reef, representing about 40 different species. Over 30 species of living corals will occupy other habitats in the Ocean Pavilion where they can safely thrive.
The animal care work for the Ocean Pavilion began over two years ago when the first animals came to the Aquarium’s off-site Animal Care Center. Since then, our aquarists have become very familiar with the needs of these fishes, invertebrates (animals without backbones) and even mangrove trees!
Unlike our habitats at Piers 59 and 60, the Ocean Pavilion has a closed loop system, meaning once water enters the building, it generally stays and recirculates. The water comes in from Elliott Bay and completes a treatment process that includes heating, filtration and disinfection so it can safely mimic the water found in the Coral Triangle. But before animals can safely swim in the water, a different group of organisms needs to set up shop: bacteria!
Two different types of nitrifying bacteria break down ammonia-rich animal waste. The first type transforms ammonia into nitrites. The second turns nitrites into nitrates, which are safer to have around. The Aquarium’s Water Quality team cultivated populations of these bacteria in about a month by creating the ideal conditions for them to reproduce and thrive.
Before animals enter the habitat, the Engineering team thoroughly tests elements of the life support systems, which maintain all habitats and water throughout the building. These tests make sure the temperature regulation, filters, pumps, pipes and more run smoothly. The team always has failsafe redundancies built into habitat systems and backup plans in case of an emergency to ensure animal wellbeing.
Habitat? Check. Water? Check. Systems? Check. Time for the animals!
The team starts by carefully planning the transport of each animal to the Animal Care Center so they can quarantine. This is an important time to help the animals settle into their temporary habitats and assess their health status.
When fish are ready to move into The Reef, the team starts by introducing groups of small schooling fishes. These smaller fish need ample time to get to know their new home and find the hiding spots where they feel most comfortable. Then we move on to introducing larger fishes, with the elasmobranchs brought in later in the lineup.
Moving animals into The Reef is an unhurried, carefully monitored process. Each new addition requires a period of observation to make sure the animals are adjusting well. Once the animal care, veterinary, water quality and engineering teams agree that the animals and the habitat are doing well, the next wave of animals can come in.
This highly involved process can take weeks or even months, but it is the best way to ensure animal wellbeing.
The Reef at the Ocean Pavilion may have taken years to come together, but wild coral reefs take even longer. Large reef systems, like barriers and atolls, can take millions of years to fully form.
Reef-building corals—which are animals that live in large groups called colonies—use calcium carbonate to build their stony skeletons. Build rates vary from species to species, but in the Coral Triangle, even the fastest corals add less than an inch per year to their skeletons.
Despite the fact that they take up less than 1% of the seafloor, coral reefs are incredibly important marine ecosystems. They support about 25% of known marine life, providing crucial habitat space and other resources. Humans benefit too because these reefs protect shorelines and provide food, medicine and more. Unfortunately, corals face many threats including climate change, rising ocean temperatures, pollution and unsustainable fishing practices.
When you visit the Ocean Pavilion, you’ll experience the wonder of coral reefs and learn more about how people around the world are working to restore these ecosystems. No matter where you are, from the Coral Triangle to the Salish Sea and beyond, you can join them today.
To reduce your carbon footprint, try walking or taking public transit. You can even pick up litter when you see it on the beach. Keep our waterways clean by limiting fertilizer usage in your greenspaces. Some sunscreens have chemicals that hurt corals. Choose reef-safe formulas to protect yourself and corals! Visit our Act for the ocean page to learn more.
Our ticketing and membership systems will be undergoing maintenance starting at 10pm Pacific on Wednesday, March 5. Maintenance is expected to last a few hours. During the maintenance window you may not be able to purchase tickets or access the membership dashboard.
Thank you for understanding.
End the year with a gift for our one world ocean! Support the Aquarium’s work as a conservation organization by making a donation by December 31, 2024.
Today only, your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $20,000 thanks to the generosity of Betsy Cadwallader, Jess and Andy Peet, and an anonymous donor.
