Education | Mammals
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Leading an Animal Encounter: Sea Otters | Staci 
In addition to continuing to blog about some of the goings-on in the Marine Mammal Department, I thought it would be nice to share some stories from other parts of the Aquarium as well! I’ve recently started as an Aquarist Volunteer in our Tropical Gallery, and I continue to be part of the paid staff in the Education Department. Each job brings new and exciting duties, and this past week was the first time I was able to lead one of our Animal Encounters focusing on one of my favorite animals: the sea otter. Ever wondered how we prepare for our Sea Otter Encounter and what happens during the two-hour tour?
Education | Volunteering
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Teamwork between agencies makes port area safer | Josie
Thanks to our inter-departmental Emergency Operations Center-which works to ensure that we can handle emergencies to safeguard the well-being of our guests, staff, and animals-and the cooperation of area emergency response agencies, I feel quite safe here, at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Education | Volunteering | Reptiles | Turtles
Monday, April 28, 2008
Chickens aren’t the only ones | Josie
I spent another day with the kindergarteners at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, with which the Aquarium of the Pacific has a partnership, helping Emily teach this month’s science lesson on eggs. We showed the children that chickens aren’t the only animals that lay eggs, and they were totally amazed when they saw how large a leatherback turtle grows, after being born from an egg that is roughly the size of a ping-pong ball.
Education | Volunteering
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Water Works: Where Our Water Comes From | Staci
Roughly 12,500 Pacific Ocean animals representing almost 500 species reside here at the Aquarium. No matter what their differences in appearance or habitat, all of them rely on one very important ingredient in their daily lives: seawater.
Conservation | Education | Mammals
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Some Things You ‘Otter’ Know! | Staci
They’re undeniably entertaining, extremely resourceful, and have the densest fur of any animal on the planet! What animal am I talking about? Why, the sea otter (Enhydra lutris), of course!
Education | Volunteering
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Kindergarteners Learn Characteristics of Living Things in Aquarium Science Class | Josie
Kindergarteners at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in downtown Long Beach learned about the characteristics of living things during a recent science lesson presented by an Aquarium of the Pacific educator. The Aquarium and Cesar Chavez Elementary have been in a partnership since the school opened a few years ago; the science lessons, provided for all grade levels, are a component of that partnership.
Conservation | Education | Volunteering
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Green Team Community Trash Pickup a Success | Josie
More than half a ton of trash disappeared from the streets of Long Beach on a recent Saturday morning as about 340 people helped pick up refuse in the Downtown Long Beach area surrounding Cesar Chavez Park.
Education | Volunteering
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Inviting Myself To ‘Hang Out’ With Kindergarteners | Josie
Every now and again it’s great fun to tag along with a school group of touring children, to enjoy their enthusiasm for the Aquarium of the Pacific as well as to enlighten them with facts about our wonderful animals and our waves exhibit.
Conservation | Education | Mammals
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tracking a Seal by Satellite | Hugh
Back in the summer of 1999, a visitor watching our sea lions swim past the pinniped tunnel at the Aquarium of the Pacific mentioned to me that she had taken a vacation up to Hearst Castle recently and while there had seen elephant seals resting on the beach. She noticed that a few had faded orange tags on their flippers and that one of the seals had a tag that read 3709. The number sounded familiar so I looked it up in my records. It was quite a revelation. The seal that the woman saw on the beach was “Mac”, an elephant seal that I helped track by satellite two years before. I thought it might be cool to share with everyone the details of Mac’s voyage that year.
Conservation | Education
After Learning ‘MPAese’, What Comes Next? | Corinne
Now that you are conversant with MPA jargon as a result of reading my last blog, MLPA, MPA, SMR, SMP, SMCA: Speaking ‘MPAese’, you may be wondering what happens next.
