On May 16th 1989 a female harbor seal was born in Brooklyn, New York. She was named Elga in honor of a local philanthropist. In 1998 Elga found her way to California where she helped open the new Aquarium of the Pacific as one of the main attractions in the Southern California Baja Gallery. At the Long Beach-based Aquarium, the seal’s East Coast sounding Elga became the more SoCal sounding Ellie. On May 16th, 2009 the Saturday marine mammal crew celebrated her 20th birthday.
Aquarium History
A History of the Aquarium of the Pacific
Since opening on June 20, 1998, the Aquarium has achieved many milestones over the past ten years, including our successes in animal breeding, ocean education, celebrating cultural diversity, volunteerism, and more.
As a nonprofit organization, we thank all of our more than 12 million guests, tens of thousands of members, generous donors, the City of Long Beach, and our dedicated employees and volunteers for 10 outstanding years.
