Quiz: Who’s your tropical reef alter ego?
To celebrate the Ocean Pavilion’s August 29 opening, we created a fun quiz. Meet some of the amazing species that will call the Ocean Pavilion home, and discover which is most like you!
Author: Emma Leiser
The ripple effect: Former youth volunteers make conservation a career, part 2
In our recent web story, we highlighted a number of former Youth Ocean Advocates, or YOAs—folks who participated in our teen volunteer program and then went on to a variety of ocean-related careers. Today, we’re happy to share several more.
These are just a few examples of the many young marine enthusiasts (over 2,500 since the program launched in 1994!) who learned and grew at the Seattle Aquarium—and then, in a wonderful ripple effect, went on to make a difference for the marine environment in their jobs and communities. We hope you enjoy reading their stories.
“The Seattle Aquarium shaped my journey and helped me see the tremendous impact of science education in informal settings.”
—Bethany Shimasaki, YOA 2012–2015
Imagine spending your days on the water, helping people discover the wonders of the ocean and the animals that live there. That’s what Bethany does: She works in ecotourism in Washington and Hawai‘i, specifically for small businesses that follow whale-watching guidelines. She shares knowledge with tour guests and, by taking photos of the whales she sees, she’s able to contribute data to researchers.
“I’ve been inspired by humpback whales since I was little,” she says. “I grew up in the San Juan Islands and spent a lot of my childhood on a boat.” Her curiosity and love for humpbacks only grew with time; in high school, she worked as a deckhand for a local whale-watching tour.
“Attending a career fair at the Seattle Aquarium helped me realize that people can do this for a living,” she comments. “I was shy and didn’t see my potential, but becoming a YOA helped me realize that I could talk to people.” She continues, “Education is key to changing policy. And if I can give people a connection to humpbacks, they’ll start caring and acting to protect them.”
“It defined my high school years and gave me a community that I’ll forever belong to. I became a part of the Seattle Aquarium and never left.”
—Trinity Conn, YOA 2012–2015
The first time Trinity walked through the Aquarium’s Pacific Coral Reef habitat, she was captivated. “The corals blew my mind,” she says. “They looked so weird that I just had to know more.” By then, Trinity already knew she wanted to be a scientist. “I loved animals, marine life, the ocean and being outdoors right from the start,” she comments.
Trinity joined the YOA program in high school because she wanted to learn more about careers in marine conservation and see how she felt working in that world. Her years of volunteer service only fueled her interest in coral. “It felt like an unexplored world with so much to learn,” she explains.
That curiosity is still driving her. Trinity recently earned her Ph.D. from Penn State University, where she studied coral genomics and conservation. She is now continuing that work as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Shedd Aquarium.
“Being a YOA was the spark that ignited my lifelong passion for conservation and driving larger social change—it provided a platform for me to learn, grow and hone my advocacy skills.”
—Derek Baker, YOA 1995–1997
Sometimes former YOAs make their way back to the Aquarium—like Derek Baker, our senior director of strategic initiatives and government affairs. After graduating from Western Washington University with a double major in political science and communication, he held numerous roles in government and the private sector related to public policy, community organizing and communications. When the opportunity arose to join our staff in 2018, he jumped at it.
“I’ve always had a passion for our marine environment and effecting change,” he notes. “I was excited to take the skills I learned around public policy, community organizing and the power of connecting with people through storytelling, and apply them to ocean conservation at the Aquarium.”
Derek continues, “The challenges facing our ocean and planet can appear daunting, but educating and bringing government stakeholders to the table can make large-scale change possible for our communities. Just like our ocean, government and its policies touch us all—and bringing policymakers to the table will ultimately lead to a healthier future for everyone.”
“Meeting and working with Seattle Aquarium staff members made me realize I could make my love of the ocean my job.”
—Hyejoo Ro, YOA 2012–2015
Hyejoo grew up in the Pacific Northwest where, she says, “I was always interested in the marine environment, always outside and surrounded by nature—which really helped foster my empathy for animals.” Field trips to the Aquarium, the University of Washington and various labs opened her eyes to the idea that her love of animals and nature could become more than just a hobby.
Hyejoo brought her love for the ocean to college, where she’s currently in graduate school at the University of California–Merced. Her research is focused on understanding the dietary patterns of predators with stable isotopes, which are a tool that traces and reflects diet and habitat. She’s studied how shark or grey wolf diets differ according to different life history traits, like age and sex or where they live. Her work is centered on whether these predators are considered to be keystone species and their impact on other populations.
She’s not stopping there. In the future, Hyejoo would like to continue her research with stable isotopes because, she says, “They are a tool that can shed light on complex ecological interactions between species in any system—marine, terrestrial, estuaries, rivers, lakes and more.”
“My time at the Aquarium helped me break out of my shell. I was super shy and it helped me grow.”
—Liz Allyn, YOA 2014–2015
As a marine mammal technician for Makah Fisheries, Liz has found a sweet spot in the space where policy and research meet. She’s focused on evaluating strategies to restore local salmon, including studying seal and sea lion populations in Puget Sound. In what she describes as “a little of everything,” her role involves both fieldwork and data analysis.
“My childhood was centered around the ocean,” Liz says. She spent weekends on the beach at Golden Gardens and visited the coasts of Oregon and Maine. “I wanted to be either a marine biologist or a human rights lawyer—and, as it’s turned out, my career is kind of an intersection of those things,” she explains.
Participating in what was then called our Citizen Science program through her high school marine biology class in 2012, Liz researched sea stars. “That’s when it hit me: people do this for work,” she says. She soon joined the YOA program, one of the many steps that helped lead her to where she is today. Going forward, she aims to finish her Master of Science in fisheries at the University of Washington and continue working at the intersection of marine ecology and treaty resource management.
Be part of the next generation of Youth Ocean Advocates
With the opening of the Ocean Pavilion this year, the YOA program’s capacity will grow even further. Offering school-year and summer sessions, it’s open to young people enrolled in grades 9–12 in a high school, Running Start, GED or homeschool program at the time of application. Interested in becoming a YOA—or know someone who might be? You’ll find details on our Youth Ocean Advocates webpage.
Let tropical corals inspire you
Coral reefs are symphonies of nature. Each member plays a unique and essential role.
Even in this community of exquisite players, corals themselves stand out. Rock? Plant? Alien? Corals can resemble any of these. Yet they are, in fact, animals.
Slowly and masterfully, in tropical and temperate waters, corals grow. They form colonies and, in some cases, large reefs—structures that many other animals adapt into hiding places and homes. In total, around one in four ocean animals makes their home in a coral reef.
The vibrant tropical reefs of the Coral Triangle inspired our new Ocean Pavilion—coming soon to the waterfront. And right now, corals you’ll encounter at the Ocean Pavilion are growing at our offsite Animal Care Center, tended to by skilled teams.
In the wild, coral populations are fragile and disappearing at astonishing rates because of human-induced climate change and ocean acidification. To avoid impacting wild populations, we help the corals in our care reproduce asexually through a process called fragmenting or propagation.
Enjoy a sneak peek at these marvels. And when the Ocean Pavilion opens, come see them in person. We can’t wait to inspire you with the beauty of coral reef ecosystems and stories of how people are working to protect them.
Immerse yourself in our coral portraits
Dive deeper into corals at the Aquarium
The ripple effect: Former youth volunteers make conservation a career, part 1
Our volunteer program for high-school-aged teens, Youth Ocean Advocates (YOA), launched in 1994—and since then, has attracted over 2,500 marine enthusiasts. These youth volunteers (known as YOAs) often share that the experience has either furthered their existing desire for a career in marine conservation, or helped them discover a new one.
Here, we bring you the stories of a few of the many YOAs who have followed their dreams and, in a beautiful ripple effect, are continuing to benefit the marine environment through their careers. Watch for part two of this series, where we’ll introduce you to more former YOAs making a difference for ocean health!
“Having a sense of purpose and understanding the value of your opinion and knowledge was a really important lesson, especially as a young woman of color. It opened doors for me.”
—Jasmine Prat, YOA 2010–2013
Jasmine Prat went snorkeling for the first time during a family vacation when she was in 4th grade. “It blew my mind,” she says. “Seeing a whole new world underwater for the first time.” After moving to Seattle in the middle of high school, she jumped at the opportunity to join the YOA program to learn more about the ocean and meet new people.
“It was priceless,” she says, describing her experience. “It taught me how to inspire others and have an open mind and ear—and developed my own confidence too. Feeling like an expert at that age was really formative.”
Jasmine went on to earn a master’s in environmental science at Washington State University and is now a foreign affairs specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Silver Spring, Maryland. In her role, she helps draft and implement international policy regulating the high seas and marine mammal bycatch.
“My time at the Aquarium was my base. It locked me into wanting to be a marine biologist.”
—Emma Strand, YOA 2012–2014
Emma Strand grew up loving the ocean and fantasizing about being a marine biologist. She says that, in addition to solidifying her career ambitions, participating in the YOA program helped increase her communication skills and confidence.
Scuba diving played a key role too. During a dive in Honduras, she saw the effects of coral bleaching firsthand, and found it fascinating that some corals were bleaching while others still appeared to be thriving.
“That experience sparked a curiosity that’s become the basis of my research,” she says. After earning her Ph.D. in biological and environmental sciences with a specialty in evolution and marine biology from the University of Rhode Island, she joined Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute as a postdoctoral scientist. Her current research is focused on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture—developing genomic tools to advance research-based sustainable management of marine environments; and climate change resilience— investigating how marine organisms respond to rapidly changing environments.
“It was a transformative experience for me. The program showed the potential to bridge passions into careers.”
—Noah Chesnin, YOA 1997–1999
Noah Chesnin was 16 when he joined what was then called our teen naturalist program in 1998. “I was shy and nervous,” he recalls. “But putting on a Seattle Aquarium t-shirt gave me the confidence to share my passion with visitors.”
After earning a master’s in environmental management from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, Noah went on to a stint at the Conservation Law Foundation, shaping policy related to ocean issues. That experience helped him realize that he wanted to focus on engagement and build a public movement.
He’s now the director of policy and outreach for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Seascape Program, the conservation initiative of the New York Aquarium, where he leads policy advocacy work, including nominating and building a coalition to advocate for the designation of Hudson Canyon as a National Marine Sanctuary. He also serves as vice chair of the proposed Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and on the executive committee and as policy work group co-chair of the Aquarium Conservation Partnership—a consortium of 29 U.S. aquariums and zoos working collaboratively on conservation policy.
“Becoming a YOA gave me confidence to talk to anyone—as well as confidence in what I did and didn’t know.”
—Anja Brandon, YOA 2008–2012
As a young child, Anja Brandon loved animals and dreamed of working at a zoo. But a field trip to the Seattle Aquarium changed all of that. “I fell in love with the tiny invertebrates and was inspired by how everything appeared to be connected and worked together,” she says.
She joined the YOA program as soon as she was able, and credits it with helping to develop her public speaking and customer skills. “Having exposure to staff members and volunteers alike helped build connections that I’ve been able to use throughout my career,” she comments.
And what a career it is! With a Ph.D. in environmental engineering at Stanford University, Anja is now the associate director of U.S. Plastics Policy at Ocean Conservancy, where she helps write legislative text for states working on policy. Among her many achievements, she helped write the federal “Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act” (S. 984) and California’s “Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act” (S.B. 54).
Be part of the next generation of Youth Ocean Advocates
With the opening of the Ocean Pavilion this year, the YOA program’s capacity will grow even further. Offering school-year and summer sessions, it’s open to young people enrolled in grades 9–12 in a high school, Running Start, GED or homeschool program at the time of application. Interested in becoming a YOA—or know someone who might be? You’ll find details on our Youth Ocean Advocates webpage.
How will the Ocean Pavilion model sustainable design?
This summer, the Seattle Aquarium’s campus will expand when our new Ocean Pavilion opens.
As we began this project, we asked ourselves a key question: How can a technically complex building like an aquarium—which must keep animals healthy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year—model sustainable design?
Navigating that answer has spanned years and included architects, regenerative designers, engineers, builders, animal experts and many others! Dive in with us:
The Ocean Pavilion’s sustainability features
When it’s complete, the Ocean Pavilion will be owned by the City of Seattle. It will serve as a living laboratory dedicated to ocean health. With that in mind, we designed the building to use energy, water and materials efficiently and with care. The Ocean Pavilion will:
- Operate 100% fossil fuel free.
- Recirculate 96% of the salt water in its habitats—meaning that once water enters the building from Elliott Bay, it remains in the building.
- Recapture heat from the warm-water habitats to warm the building.
- Feature carefully chosen materials, like the Alaskan yellow cedar exterior panels on the building’s west face, which are Forest Stewardship Council-certified and come from an Indigenous-led company.
- Use large windows to reduce the amount of electricity needed for indoor lights.
- And much more!
Explore salt water in the Ocean Pavilion: The Ocean Pavilion’s saltwater habitats are what’s called a “closed-loop” system. Watch our video to learn more:
Get nerdy with us: Learn how our Water Quality team uses science to maintain healthy saltwater habitats.
What “green building” certifications is the Ocean Pavilion pursuing?
The Ocean Pavilion will be LEED Gold-certified. We’re also targeting Zero Carbon Certification from the International Future Living Institute (ILFI), which includes requirements beyond LEED.
The ILFI is a global nonprofit that certifies advanced sustainable and regenerative buildings. ILFI Zero Carbon Certification is a rigorous international standard for buildings that are highly energy efficient and have fully neutralized their carbon emissions, meaning that they do not add any net carbon to the atmosphere.
Earning this certification requires neutralizing both operational and embodied carbon:
- Operational carbon comes from emissions required to heat, cool and power the building.
- Embodied carbon is different. It refers to emissions generated by raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation and installation of building materials (in other words, the emissions generated by creating the building’s materials and constructing it).
Zero Carbon Certification requires us to offset 100% of the building’s operational energy use with new renewable energy. Some buildings meet this requirement by adding rooftop solar panels, but our rooftop will be a space for the public to enjoy. So, instead we’re working on an agreement that will add additional renewable energy capacity to Seattle’s electric grid.
The best part? This additional capacity will meet our needs and provide additional renewable energy that others can use. Stay tuned for more details on that step.
Many green building experts consider ILFI certifications like Zero Carbon Certification to be especially challenging. Why? They’re based on actual performance over 12 consecutive months—not plans or estimates. We’re proud to be the first aquarium building in the world to pursue an ILFI certification. We hope to be the first of many.
A growing number of organizations are adopting this certification:
- Climate Pledge Arena here in Seattle (world’s first arena to be certified)
- Google’s 6 Pancras Square office in London (world’s first building project to be certified)
- Microsoft’s Puget Sound and Silicon Valley campuses (pursuing certification)
Why the focus on carbon?
We all impact the ocean through our actions. The Aquarium is no different!
Too much carbon in the atmosphere is warming the ocean and planet. These changes are wreaking havoc on delicate ocean ecosystems. As coastal storms intensify and seawater levels rise, human communities are feeling the impacts too.
Since 2012, the Aquarium has been carbon neutral, meaning that we’ve offset any emissions we’ve produced so that we don’t add net carbon to the atmosphere. And since 2014, we’ve offset more carbon than we emit for scope 1 and 2 emissions. In 2020, we took that further by also offsetting more than we emit for select scope 3 emissions. (Learn more about scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions on the EPA website.) When purchasing carbon offsets, we work with a climate consultant to select options that are third-party verified and align with our values.
Plans are in the works to revitalize the other buildings on the Aquarium’s campus—and we’ll continue challenging ourselves to meet tough green building standards. This goal complements the work we’re doing every day to conduct marine conservation research, advocate for ocean-friendly policies, rescue animals, provide exceptional animal care and restore endangered species—all of which are possible with support and engagement from our community members—like you!
Health care for feathered friends at the Aquarium: A birds-eye view
This story is part of our series, The Doctor Is In—highlighting our veterinary team’s expertise in service of animal wellbeing.
It’s not just marine mammals at the Aquarium who are trained to cooperatively participate in their own health care. The birds entrusted to us participate in their own care too. How do they do it? By eating!
“Animal care staff can closely monitor food consumption to help assess health,” says Supervisor of Birds and Mammals Sara Perry. “We count how many and what type of fish or bug each bird eats during the day. Overall behavior during a feeding can tell us a lot about the wellness of the bird as well.”
Working toward the clean plate club
When feeding alcids (including the common murres, rhinoceros auklet and tufted puffins in our care), staff can also deliver specific vitamins or necessary medications, expertly hidden in a tasty fish. It’s similar to how parents of young children may “hide” vegetables in a favorite food!
The comparison to human children doesn’t stop there: Animal care staff often need to be creative and patient when feeding birds. “They’re not like a sea otter who will usually eat anything at any time, or a seal who just gulps fish down. Ask any of our staff, feeding the birds takes finesse!” Sara laughs. “We rely on our knowledge of each bird, their behavior and their preferences—depending on time of year—and apply it to a group setting.”
"You look like you haven't aged a bit!"
Here at the Seattle Aquarium, we have a good number of elderly birds in our care. But it’s hard to know that just by looking at them. Why? Birds don’t show graying of feathers as they age, unlike the graying or lightening of hair and fur of mammals (including us humans!)—so it’s not possible to estimate age based on that indicator.
Birds do show other age-related changes that are seen in mammals, though. For instance, their mobility and vision may deteriorate over time, their appetites may change, and they may rest more than younger birds. “Our Aquarium staff know each bird as an individual, which allows us to adjust feeding and spaces to help the older ones,” comments Director of Animal Health Dr. Caitlin Hadfield. “It’s all in the name of taking the best possible care of each bird at the Aquarium for their whole lives.”
Did you know?
All the birds (and mammals) at the Seattle Aquarium fall into one of two categories—they were either born at a zoo or aquarium or they were rescued and have been deemed non-releasable according to the guidelines established by government agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and policies such as the Migratory Bird Act.
Providing the very best care and quality of life for the animals entrusted to us—at all stages of their lives—is a vital part of our mission, Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment. Learn more about birds at the Aquarium on our website or, better yet, plan a visit with us soon!
What is biodiversity and why is it important to us?
If you took a time machine back to four billion years ago, life would look very different. Because all life forms would look nearly the same! All life on Earth shares a common ancestor, but billions of years of genetic mutations took us from microscopic organisms to millions of unique species, adapted to live all around the world. This wide variety of life is known as biodiversity.
Biodiversity has three components: genes, species and ecosystems. All living things have genes, which guide how the organism will look and behave. Genes mutate, and these changes can impact how well organisms survive in their environment. Over time, genetic changes build up, eventually leading to distinct species. Many different species and nonliving environmental factors—including water, minerals, currents, wind and temperature—interact to function as an ecosystem, where they fulfill different roles. The global ecosystem of all Earth’s living beings is called the biosphere.
For example, an organism’s genes determine whether it grows a shell to become a mussel, sprouts many tentacles like a sea anemone or grows wings like a black oystercatcher. In a rocky shore ecosystem, these species all coexist. Each fills a different role, like how mussels filter water, anemones provide other organisms shelter and black oystercatchers maintain balance in the populations of their prey species.
Biodiversity's importance
A diverse ecosystem with many different species is more likely to survive natural and human-made catastrophes like floods, storms, wildfires and marine heat waves. The members of that ecosystem offer a wide range of possible strengths and defenses. Each adaptation represents a potential way to help the ecosystem bounce back from challenges.
Species within an ecosystem are connected, which means a threat to any one species could have surprisingly widespread effects.
Sea otters represent a classic example of the dangers of disregarding biodiversity. During the 18th and 19th centuries, hunters and fur traders nearly drove sea otters to extinction. The decline in sea otters led to an explosion of sea urchins, their prey, since there were no longer enough sea otters to fill the role of predator. The urchins overgrazed kelp beds, which are vital habitats for many marine species, including rockfish and salmon. Sea otter populations are on the rebound thanks to conservation efforts, but recovery of these ecosystems is a lengthy process.
Think of an ecosystem like a car. A car is made up of many different parts, some of them small or unseen. If your car were to lose one bolt, would you still want to drive it? What about two bolts or a headlight or even a whole tire? How many parts would you be willing to lose before you no longer feel safe?
Marine species face many human-caused threats, including overfishing, climate change, habitat loss and pollution. Losses of marine biodiversity have brought huge changes to ecosystems. And since Earth’s ecosystems connect to create the biosphere, losses of biodiversity could mean planet-wide changes, affecting us all.
Billions of people—including you!—rely on the ocean for food, medicine and other resources. Changes in marine ecosystems, like the continuous problem of overfishing, could threaten these resources. In addition, your job might be connected to the sea. Your favorite vacation spot or even your home might be located near a body of water that is vulnerable to coastal erosion, dangerous storms or species losses.
Threats to biodiversity could mean the loss of culturally important species or activities, especially for Indigenous communities. Some endangered marine species—including sea otters and southern resident orcas—are considered culturally significant by people native to the Pacific Northwest. Indigenous peoples have stewarded coastal areas since time immemorial and continue to lead efforts to protect marine biodiversity. Their traditional knowledge is vital to conservation work.
Our biodiversity initiatives
The Seattle Aquarium is involved in many conservation projects that aim to protect and restore biodiversity in the Salish Sea and beyond. Among our longest-running projects are seasonal and annual surveys of Washington’s sea otter population. The more information we have on sea otters, the better we can understand what conditions they need to thrive.
We are also involved in recovery projects for Indo-Pacific leopard sharks, kelp and xʷč’iłqs, which is the Lushootseed word for pinto abalone. The Seattle Aquarium values the expertise of Indigenous people and has partnered with tribes, Indigenous leaders, and local communities in Washington State and in the Coral Triangle on research and conservation efforts for these species.
Celebrating biodiversity at the Ocean Pavilion
Our new Ocean Pavilion expansion will bring the jaw-dropping biodiversity of the Coral Triangle to Seattle. Coral reefs are hubs of biodiversity. They support about a quarter of known marine life, despite taking up less than 1% of the seafloor. Known as the “Amazon of the ocean,” the Coral Triangle is a reef system in the Indo-Pacific that is considered the most biologically diverse marine ecoregion in the world. It contains 75% of known coral species, including at least 15 endemic species that are found nowhere else on the planet.
The Ocean Pavilion is designed to celebrate the biodiversity of Earth’s one ocean. The design process included cross-cultural collaboration between local Coast Salish and urban Indigenous leaders and the Aquarium’s design and architectural team.
When the building opens this summer, you’ll have the chance to come face to face with over 100 different tropical marine species. Through the Ocean Pavilion’s publicly accessible oculus window, you’ll see the beauty of a healthy reef ecosystem just by walking by. And native plantings on the rooftop and public artwork will highlight the relationships between Coast Salish communities and shoreline ecosystems.
By surrounding yourself in the ocean’s bounty of life—whether on a visit to the Aquarium or a trip to the shore—you can appreciate your part in the global web of biodiversity. And the role you can play in protecting it.
Inside the world of “enFISHment”—enrichment for fish!
You’ve probably seen pictures or videos of animals at the Seattle Aquarium enjoying enrichment. Maybe you’ve caught sight of a sea otter receiving a treat during training or a giant Pacific octopus solving a puzzle. But did you know that every animal at the Aquarium receives enrichment—including the fish?
In animal care, enrichment includes experiences and care that allow animals to exercise their natural behavior or instincts, stimulate themselves physically or mentally, and experience an environment that meets their needs. And while that can look like toys, puzzles and training, it also includes sensory experiences, feedings, habitat elements and social opportunities.
For fish, enrichment usually includes changing up their environment, providing appropriate habitats for each species, thoughtful feeding techniques and other good animal care practices. In fact, much of the daily care for these animals contributes to enrichment in some way.
As an institution accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)—a global independent nonprofit that holds its member zoos and aquariums to the highest standards—the Seattle Aquarium submits our enrichment plans for AZA review and approval. Our team also keeps detailed enrichment logs, to ensure we’re meeting each animal’s requirements.
Mindful meals
Our team puts a lot of thought into how they feed fish, as mealtime is a great time to satisfy different species’ physical and behavioral needs. The method of food distribution plays a part in this. In most large, mixed-species habitats—where fish often share space with plants and invertebrates like sea stars, anemones, corals and crustaceans—food is dispersed throughout the water. But that doesn’t mean food is simply dropped in.
Aquarists can release food near the pump in a habitat, so the current carries it away. The fish chase after it, just like they would hunt food in the ocean. Team members can also vary where in the habitat they release food, to give the fish a sense of novelty and allow them to find food independently. To mimic natural grazing behaviors, animal caretakers give tropical fish lettuce for them to munch on. And aquarists at our offsite Animal Care Center—where future Ocean Pavilion residents now live—regularly place Manila clams in the spotted eagle rays habitat, which fulfills the rays’ natural desire to sift through the sand for food and exercise their plate-like teeth.
Some of the larger fish at the Animal Care Center, like sharks and rays, participate in target training during certain feeding times. Aquarists signal feeding time using a whistle and have the animals touch a target—which is a different shape and color for each species—before being rewarded with food. This training builds trust and prepares the animals for how they’ll eat and receive veterinary care in their buzzing, multi-species habitat at the Ocean Pavilion. See the process for yourself in our Animal Care Stories!
Change is a good thing!
We could all use a change of scenery every once in a while. To keep fish stimulated and mimic the ever-changing conditions in the ocean, aquarists regularly change up parts of their habitats. That can mean moving around rockwork or other physical pieces of the habitat. Team members can also adjust the water flow for a change of pace.
Habitat cleaning keeps things fresh in more ways than one! It’s a great time to make some positive changes to a space. Cleaning walls, rockwork and substrate naturally shifts the habitat’s landscape.
The cleaning process—undertaken by knowledgeable aquarists—also introduces something new to animals’ environments. Usually, that novelty comes in the form of a scrubber, scraper, grabber or even a pair of hands. During a cleaning, aquarists are attuned to any animal that seems particularly startled by a new object in their environment, though most animals at the Aquarium quickly acclimate to these routine cleanings.
Keeping an eye out
But how can aquarists know that fish enrichment is effective? Through observational work!
By paying close attention, aquarists can make note of how the animals respond to enrichment time. If animals seem bright and alert during feedings—like a bay pipefish hunting for its food—that’s a good sign. Aquarists also keep an eye out to make sure all animals in a habitat get a chance to eat.
Through their daily care, aquarists get to know the behavior of individual fish pretty well. Understanding these animals’ habits helps inform decisions about their care. For example, a clown triggerfish at the Animal Care Center had such a bold personality, that aquarists decided to move him to a habitat with larger fish where he could really assert himself.
We can learn a lot about the fish in our care this way. Fish are smarter and more alert than some people give them credit for. They take notice too! Don’t believe it? Then you should see the way some fish follow an aquarist’s movements during feeding time. They know when it’s time for some tasty enrichment.
Urchins, anemones and sea stars, oh my! Invertebrate care at the Seattle Aquarium
This story is part of our series, The Doctor Is In—highlighting our veterinary team’s expertise in service of animal wellbeing.
Invertebrates—animals without backbones—are found in every habitat at the Seattle Aquarium. And, like all animals entrusted to us, they need expert care to thrive. “Our goal is to provide great quality of life in an enriching environment for the animal’s whole life,” says Director of Animal Health Dr. Caitlin Hadfield, MA VetMB MRCVS DiplAZCM DipECZM, “And that goes for all the animals under our care.”
“All the invertebrates get checked by Aquarium staff at least once every day,” she comments, “Their environmental conditions are checked as well—that includes evaluating the water and the systems that support it.” Although some invertebrates may seem like fairly simple animals on the surface, managing their care, says Dr. Hadfield, presents some interesting challenges. One of them stems from tracking the number of animals of each species because some, like corals, can be colonial. “It gets tricky,” says Dr. Hadfield. “Do we track this as one animal—a coral head certainly looks like one structure—or as the thousands of polyps that make up that structure?”
Even invertebrates need primary care providers
Regardless of how they’re counted, invertebrates, like all the animals at the Aquarium, are part of our preventative medicine program. Aquarium biologists are on the front lines of animal care, making careful observations of each animal at least once a day. “Our staff are experts at evaluating the animals they’re caring for and are able to identify subtle changes in their appearance or behavior,” says Dr. Hadfield. Because all animal care staff have the training and experience to make these evaluations, each animal at the Aquarium has the equivalent of a PCP, or primary care provider, who has the best understanding of their health history and needs.
Routine exams, in many cases, are also part of the Aquarium’s preventative medicine program (yes, even for invertebrates!). “A big part of that is reviewing the animal’s history,” says Dr. Hadfield. “For that, we rely on the knowledge of our animal care specialists and the information in our record systems.” Along with that review, an invertebrate checkup might involve a physical exam, fluid collection or ultrasound, depending on the animal’s needs. Sea urchins need their teeth checked, too!*
*Surprise—sea urchins have teeth! They’re arranged in circle at the bottom of the urchin’s body.
All for one, one for all
When doing health checks, it’s important to consider all the animals in a habitat. “If an animal isn’t eating well,” notes Dr. Hadfield, “It could be normal for that time of year or life stage, but it could also be because there’s something wrong with that animal, the other animals around it, or the world it’s living in.” In those cases, animals that show symptoms first can become “canaries in the coalmine” for issues that might affect neighboring animals. Closely monitoring individual animals can keep smaller problems from spreading and becoming bigger.
Providing the very best care and quality of life for all the animals entrusted to us is a vital part of our mission, Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment. Learn more about invertebrates at the Aquarium on our website or, better yet, plan a visit with us soon!
Expert animal care at every age
This story is part of our series, The Doctor Is In—highlighting our veterinary team’s expertise in service of animal wellbeing.
Our highest priority is providing the best possible lives for the animals in our care—nearly 18,000 fish, invertebrates, birds and mammals with the opening of the Ocean Pavilion. At the forefront of this work are our veterinary, water quality and animal care teams, whose members monitor the health of the animals every day.
Director of Animal Health Dr. Caitlin Hadfield, MA VetMB MRCVS DiplAZCM DiplECZM, is the veterinarian in charge: performing routine observations, interpreting records with animal care staff, providing treatments for animals when needed, and undertaking physical examinations routinely and when concerns arise.
Not surprisingly, some of those issues of concern are related to aging. Geriatric* medicine has become a focus for animal care specialists at zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)—including yours truly—for the best possible reason: as we continue to learn and share information, animals are living longer and longer lives.
*The term “geriatric” refers to older individuals, whether human or another kind of animal. Just as elderly humans require specialized medical care, other elderly animals do as well.
Caring for aging animals at the Seattle Aquarium
Here at the Aquarium, we have a number of geriatric animals in our care. For instance, Barney the harbor seal turned 38 in 2023, reaching a biological age that’s about the equivalent of a 100-year-old human!
And, at age 22, Adaa the sea otter was the oldest sea otter living at an AZA-accredited zoo or aquarium in the U.S. at the time of his passing in 2022. He was also the oldest male sea otter on record in the AZA studbook.*
*What’s a studbook? It’s a document that keeps track of information such as age, significant events like births or deaths, parentage and taxonomy (or the science of classifying and naming organisms). Staff at zoos and aquariums like the Seattle Aquarium work with the AZA to maintain regional studbooks for a wide variety of species. This demographic history is an invaluable tool to help guide conservation projects.
Aging is a complex process that refers to changes in all the systems and functions of an animal’s body; however, aging develops at different rates in different species. Some species of Pacific salmon, for example, have a very brief life (chronologically), dying soon after a single spawning event when they are a few years old. Spotted lagoon jellies also have shorter life spans—just three to four months. Rockfish, on the other hand, may live for over a hundred years!
Evolving care over time
The goal of geriatric care is to maintain the best possible quality of life for the individual animal during a time when they would normally be vulnerable to predation or unable to source food for themselves in the wild. Geriatric care at AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums, like ours, is respectful to each individual animal—for their life and its intrinsic value.
What that care involves differs by species and by individual. Our animal care staff work hard to create and maintain environments for aging animals that are safe and easy to use. This can be challenging for the variety of species living together in our larger habitats, such as the Window on Washington Waters and Underwater Dome. In those instances, Aquarium aquarists use their understanding of animal behavior and feeding preferences to provide the best environment possible.
How does care evolve over time for marine mammals at the Aquarium? As these species begin to reach—and exceed—their chronological life expectancy in the wild, animal care staff may begin to adjust how they work with them. For instance, as mammals age, their risk of contracting several age-related eye diseases (such as cataracts and macular degeneration) increases, just as it does in aging humans. If visual acuity (or keenness of perception) is reduced, the Aquarium’s animal care specialists introduce more verbal and tactile cues, such as gently brushing past their whiskers. Arthritis (also known as degenerative joint disease) is also common in all mammals as they age. Just as it does for humans, management may include anti-inflammatories, joint supplements, diet modifications and adapting the environment to meet the mobility needs of the individual.
Providing the very best care and quality of life for the animals entrusted to us—at all stages of their lives—is a vital part of our mission, Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment. Learn more about animals at the Aquarium on our website or, better yet, plan a visit with us soon!
